IAWP LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION
January 2006 Archives
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***Weekly Update***
From Legislative Committee Chair: Todd Kolden, Aberdeen Central Office
Week of January 9, 2006
U. S. HOUSE AND SENATE ON MID-TERM RECESS
The United States House of Representatives and Senate are on holiday recess until later in January. The second year of the 109th Congress will begin with the Senate reconvening on Wednesday, January 18; the House reconvenes on Tuesday, January 31. There are many programs still requiring Congressional reauthorization; however, Congress faces many priorities and it is questionable which programs will be placed on their calendars.
The current status of WIA reauthorization is: The House passed H.R. 27 on March 3, 2005; the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee passed S. 1021 on May 18, 2005; and the Senate has not passed legislation yet. When the Senate reconvenes on January 18, it could schedule consideration of the bill soon thereafter.
Congress has struggled to rewrite the 1996 welfare overhaul law since it originally expired in 2002. But a reauthorization of the law is expected to clear the House after its members return in 2006. Committees in both chambers approved overhaul bills in 2005, and the reauthorization was included in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget savings package (S. 1932) that did not pass in December. In the three years that members have tried to reauthorize and revise the program, they were unable to move beyond disputes over child care funding and work rules for adult participants.
The House and the Senate passed a short-term extension (H.R. 4635) in December that will keep the TANF program running through March 31, 2006 (P.L. 109-161). Congress has passed many short-term extensions since 2002; without the most recent extension TANF would have expired on December 31, 2005.
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Week of January 23, 2006
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The Senate reconvened this week amongst ethics reform packages and the start of the 2006 congressional campaigns. As reported two weeks ago, the current status of WIA reauthorization is: The House passed H.R. 27 on March 3, 2005; the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee passed S. 1021 on May 18, 2005; and the Senate has not passed legislation yet. The Senate has yet to schedule the bill for consideration.
The United States House of Representatives is still on mid-term recess until January 31, 2006. One of the first orders of business for the House is to select a majority leader. As a result of continuing lobbying scandals and investigation, three House members are seeking the majority leader position vacated by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), after his indictment on charges of laundering campaign funds. To win, the successful candidate needs 116 of 231 possible votes in a secret GOP caucus balloting.
In addition to appropriations legislation, the major legislative issues will be the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the reauthorization of welfare reform, particular the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act.
NEW USERRA REGULATIONS FOR RETURNING VETERANS IN EFFECT
New mandatory employer regulations regarding veterans returning to the workforce took effect this past Wednesday under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). All employers, public and private, regardless of size, are required to comply with these laws. The US Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) published the regulations in the December 19 Federal Register. USERRA protects against discrimination and retaliation because of military service, prevents service members from suffering disadvantages due to performance of their military obligations, and affords them ample time to report back to jobs following completion of their service obligations.
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Week of January 16, 2006
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The House and Senate have released their schedules for the 2006 legislative session. Although the dates are subject to change, they are instructive in establishing general work flow for the year ahead. The House is scheduled to convene its 2006 session on January 31, the same day President Bush is expected to deliver his State of the Union Address. The Senate is scheduled to convene on January 18. The Administration's FY 2007 Budget request is released shortly after the State of the Union address and is expected to be made available formally to Congress and the public on February 6. The release of the Administration's Budget request formally kicks off the budgeting and appropriations processes for the year and helps establish policy negotiations as it typically contains many of the Administration's priorities for the year. Congress sets the beginning of the next federal fiscal year, beginning on October 1, as its adjournment date, but often has difficulty completing all business before this date.
WORKER CLASSIFICATION UNDER WELFARE PROGRAMS WILL CHANGE IF CONGRESS APPROVES RECONCILIATION BILL
Congress is expected early in 2006 to renew consideration of a reconciliation bill (S. 1932), which among other things, would alter how states count individuals moving from welfare to work. The bill was nearly adopted before the end of 2005, but last minute technical amendments made by the Senate forced the bill's return to the House, which had already adjourned for the year. The House is expected to convene its 2006 session on January 31. Reconciliation bills are used by Congress to set spending limits and leaders in the Majority Party were hopeful the bill would be approved before the end of 2005, in part, because it would highlight fiscal restraint.
The Congressional budget reconciliation bill would revise the caseload reduction credit and participation rates used to gauge state success in moving individuals from welfare to work. The caseload reduction credit would be based on caseload declines from FY 2005 rather than the current FY 1996. This new provision, if approved, would mean all states in 2007 would face a 50 percent all-families participation rate, adjusted downward by the number of percentage points by which the caseload falls from 2005 to 2006 for reasons other than changes in eligibility rules.
The reconciliation bill also would revise work participation rates by including both families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance and families receiving assistance in "separate state programs." States have developed separate state programs to serve families not counted in the state work participation calculations, not on the 5 year time clock, and not subject to all federal TANF rules. States do this because these families usually have a harder time finding jobs and would bring down the state work participation rates. Some states also place two-parent families in separate state programs because two parent families are required to meet a 90 percent participation rate - often a difficult achievement. States may continue to place families in separate state programs if they are ineligible for federally funded assistance and/or do not want federal time limits to apply, but families will be part of the work participation calculation.
Finally, the bill would establish new procedures and internal controls on states for complying with the new requirements regarding activities counting toward participation, counting and verifying hours, and counting individuals in participation rate calculations. The Department of Health and Human Services may impose penalties of up to 5 percent of a state's block grant for failure to establish or comply with procedures.
EXPIRATION OF WOTC AND WtWTC PROGRAMS PLACES STATES IN FAMILIAR ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION
Congress has again let the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit (WtWTC) programs expire, placing the processing of applications in limbo as the US Department of Labor prepares administrative guidance for states. The tax credit programs expired on December 31, 2005. Many on Capitol Hill expect Congress will reauthorize the tax credit programs sometime after they convene later this month, even though the programs' effectiveness in promoting hiring of targeted workers has been questioned (for more on this, see Bulletin dated October 21, 2005). The tax credit programs are popular among business interest groups. Throughout 2005, Congress attempted unsuccessfully to reauthorize the tax credit programs by attaching language to a variety of legislation.
According to the Employment and Training Administration, (ETA) a draft Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) to provide guidance to states for the interim period between the expiration of the program and reauthorization is awaiting approval. The new guidance is expected to be similar to guidance provided early last year via TEGL 18-03, issued after Congress failed in 2004 to reauthorize timely the tax credits. TEGL 18-03, included "mandatory" and "voluntary" state workforce agency administrative procedures. On the mandatory side, state agencies were requested to accept and fully process WOTC and WtWTC certification requests for employer hires made prior to the date following the expiration date; accept, date stamp, log and retain certification requests for employer new hires made after the expiration date; and continue to issue conditional certifications. Voluntary procedures addressed the use of WOTC, WtWTC and Wagner-Peyser funds during the interim period.
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Week of January 30
AUSTERE FY 2007 WORKFORCE SYSTEM BUDGET REQUEST EXPECTED
Although specifics on the President's FY 2007 Budget will not be released until February 6, many on Capitol Hill believe it will request funding at levels consistent with or lower than those appropriated in FY 2006. Well timed leaks of the President's priorities for the coming year often occur during the week leading up to the President's State of the Union scheduled on January 31, but it is unlikely the nation's workforce system will have all details on proposed spending until budget documents are made available publicly. Release of these documents on February 6 marks the formal kick-off of the Congressional review of the Administration's spending priorities and sets in motion the budget resolution and appropriating processes.
Five minutes into his State of the Union last year, President Bush renewed his desire to train more workers and reform the nation's job training system. Leading up to last year's address, the President focused on his agenda for improving the nation's workforce system, largely centered on the High-Growth Job Training Initiative. The Administration's workforce focus has since evolved into the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative to fund eight-to-ten sites where universities, companies, government, and workforce and economic development organizations partner to transform and rebuild their regional economies. Applications for WIRED grants were due by January 5, 2006 and announcements on awards are expected early next month.
Following last year's address, the Administration released its Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Plus proposal to consolidate core WIA programs and give governors the discretion to combine others. Since that time, the House on March 2, 2005 approved its bill (H.R. 27) to reauthorize WIA. The Senate has stalled in its WIA reauthorization efforts possibly due to a legislative "hold" placed by an unknown Senator rumored to be preventing it from consideration on the floor. Neither bill contains the Administration's WIA-Plus proposal, but the House bill would consolidate a number of programs at the federal level as requested previously by the Administration. The Senate bill would not consolidate WIA programs but would authorize 100 percent transferability of funds at the state level between the WIA Adult and WIA Dislocated Worker programs. Next Tuesday, President Bush might again renew his call to reform the nation's job training system.
BIPARTISAN GROUP OF SENATORS TARGET IMPROVEMENTS TO QUALITY OF US WORKERS
A bipartisan coalition of Senators including Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-MN), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Barbra Mikulski (D-MD) this week announced a legislative package entitled the Protect America's Competitive Edge Act (PACE) to help the United States improve its leadership in science and technology. Although the legislative package focuses largely on education programs it highlights Congressional concern over the competitiveness of US workers in the global economy. Announcement of PACE comes a week before the President's State of the Union address (see article immediately above) and is intended to "complement budgetary efforts by the Administration." Initiatives included in PACE are estimated to cost $9.5 billion in the first year with expansion each of the next seven years.
The legislative package under PACE includes components relating to research and development, kindergarten through 12th grade education and higher education. Included in the legislative package are provisions that would: increase federal funding for basic research in the physical sciences by 10 percent per year for seven years; introduce teacher preparation scholarships for K-12 teachers in math and science; fund specialty math and science high schools; authorize 30,000 competitive, merit-based scholarships for math and science majors and graduate students and, target research grants for early career scientists and engineers.
SENATE VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING ON JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on February 2 is scheduled to hold a hearing to investigate how well provisions required from the Jobs for Veterans Act (P.L. 107-288) serves veterans. The hearing, entitled "The Jobs for Veterans Act Three Years Later: Are Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) Employment Programs Working for Veterans?" follows a recent Government Accountability Office report released in December on implementation of the Jobs for Veterans Act. The GAO study, required by law, recommended the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) provide clear guidance to integrate veterans' staff into the one-stops, ensure priority of service for veterans among all programs, and foster state use of incentives.
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