IAWP LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION August 2005 Archives Home Page ***Weekly Update*** From Legislative Committee Chair: Todd Kolden, Aberdeen Central Office Week of August 2, 2005 CONGRESS SET TO RECESS WITH WORKFORCE ISSUES ON HOLD UNTIL SEPTEMBER Congress is spending its last hours today before beginning a month-long recess wrapping up a number of legislative priorities and leaving until at least September the approval of legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and establish FY 2006 appropriations for labor programs. A number of workforce system advocates met informally this week to share the latest information from Capitol Hill on both WIA and appropriations with a consensus that no one really knows when either will be completed. The following is a recap of the most interesting intelligence and prognostication gathered from the meeting: WIA Reauthorization The lack of remaining floor time and the threat of amendments to add faith-based language and consolidate WIA programs are the biggest impediments to the scheduling of S. 1021 on the Senate floor. Members of the Minority do not want floor amendments considered as they are apparently very pleased with the legislation as approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Some in the meeting framed the future of WIA as one of accepting the lesser of two evils. Could workforce system stakeholder groups agree to Congressional reauthorization and be willing to lose in some areas or accept the Administration's ongoing granting of waivers that accomplish much of the Administration's reauthorization goals anyway. According to some, over 30 states have requested waivers for full transferability of funds in WIA programs. Some viewed this as state level consolidation all ready. Many are keeping a close eye on the Administration's waiver approval process, especially locality based interest groups like the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Conference of Mayors. FY 2006 Appropriations The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Labor, HHS and Education spending bill is $3 billion more expensive than the House spending bill and $4 billion above the Administration's request. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education changed the payout date for monthly social security disability benefits to give the Senate Appropriations Committee an additional $3 billion to appropriate. House majority party members have said they will not accept Specter's budget gimmick and will insist, much as they did last year when the same scenario occurred, that the Senate bring down the total cost of its bill in conference. Some fear the savings will be applied to workforce programs - i.e. workforce programs would be cut. No one knows exactly how appropriations will be wrapped-up, whether a stand alone bill (unlikely), omnibus bill (more likely) or year-long continuing resolution with an across-the-board cut to meet budget limits (least likely). In all regards, appropriations for workforce programs appear in greater jeopardy this year than in previous years because the Senate is more sympathetic to cuts as it scrapes for savings. Some in the meeting said appropriators will increasingly look to cut funding for WIA programs because it has not been reauthorized. Some in the meeting said the longer the reauthorization of WIA takes, the more it looks like it is of little importance to Congress and the Administration, opening its programs to further appropriation reductions. Ralph Regula (R-OH) should be thanked for restoring the $58 million to WIA programs on the House floor. This amount was taken originally to fund the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). This cut could resurface in conference because it was Representative David Obey (D-WI) who offered it and he will be a conference participant. Mr. Regula's final year to serve as appropriations subcommittee chair is 2006. Mr. Regula lists funding for workforce programs in his top three priorities. Many believe cuts to workforce programs would have been greater over the past few years had it not been for Chairman Regula. NASWA URGES FURTHER REVIEW BEFORE HOUSE MOVES BILL TO STANDARDIZE DVOP/LVER QUALIFICATIONS NASWA this week urged a House panel considering draft legislation that would authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish professional qualifications for disabled veterans' outreach program (DVOP) specialists and local veterans' employment representatives (LVER) to review state personnel systems before instituting nationwide standards. The Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity conducted its hearing on the draft bill along with a handful of others impacting veterans' services. Subcommittee Chairman John Boozman (R-AK) opened the hearing stating "anyone believing in program status quo is not supportive of the highest quality of service to our nation's veterans." Two separate panels of Washington based veterans' service organization (VSO) representatives testified before the Subcommittee, with all supportive of the Subcommittee's goal of improving DVOP and LVER professional qualifications. A representative of the National Military Family Association said her members believe DVOP and LVER personnel must make significant steps forward in improving their skills sets before services are improved. The Vietnam Veterans of America representative said pay for DVOP and LVER personnel should be based on experience, performance and productivity and stressed the need for state personnel systems to account for the unique role of these workers. He said being a DVOP and/or LVER is a tough job with high job turnover rates reflecting this. Not until John McWilliam, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations and Management with the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), did the Subcommittee learn that the integration of a federal employment standard into diverse state personnel systems might be more difficult than proposed. Mr. McWilliam's said he too supports the goal of improving DVOP and LVER qualifications, but a study of state personnel systems including analysis of skills gaps is needed before legislation is enacted. The Subcommittee's Ranking Member, Stephanie Herseth (D-SD) asked Mr. McWilliam if VETS would complete the work he outlined without Congressional prodding or legislation. Mr. McWilliam said VETS was already reviewing training provided at the National Veterans Training Institute (NVTI) and is looking at other ways to improve DVOP and LVER qualifications NASWA's statement, developed from feedback received from the NASWA Vetarans' Affairs Committee expressed support for the goal of improving DVOP and LVER qualifications and echoed the VETS statement by pointing out a need to review state personnel system complexities. NASWA recommends the Subcommittee study state personnel hiring systems and assess how these systems would affect and be affected by the proposed legislation. NASWA also recommended more than the 90-day time period proposed in the draft bill for states to implement any new requirements after the Secretary establishes such qualifications. NASWA's statement also expressed concern with the requirement to meet the minimum qualifications for all DVOP and LVER staff hired prior to the date the Secretary establishes. Week of August 15, 2005 CONGRESS ON RECESS - RETURNS TO SESSION ON SEPTEMBER 6 Congress wrapped up work on Friday evening, July 29, and immediately began their summer recess. The Senate and House are scheduled to start the fall session on Tuesday, September 6 following the Labor Day weekend. Some Congressional committees may meet during the recess period. Week of August 30, 2005 WELFARE REAUTHORIZATION UPDATE September could turn out to be the pivotal month if reauthorization of TANF is to occur this year. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) is hoping he could bring his welfare reauthorization bill (S. 667) to the Senate floor for consideration in early September. However, a significant hurdle is the bill's cost. As Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) has said the bill's cost must be reduced significantly for it to come in under the budget caps established earlier in the year. Senator Grassley could attempt to reduce the cost of the bill by eliminating some of the $6 billion in additional child care funding, but would risk losing the support of Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and other members, making it impossible to pass on the Senate floor. If Senator Grassley is unable to reach an agreement with Senator Snowe early in September, Senator Gregg has said he could include language for a long-term reauthorization of welfare in the Senate's budget reconciliation bill. The budget reconciliation bill is a tool used to enact overall spending levels established early in the year by Congress. Moving welfare reauthorization via a budget reconciliation bill would allow the Senate majority party to bring down the overall cost of the bill while making it easier to pass the full Senate because of the tight restrictions imposed on the budget reconciliation bill debate. A significant wrinkle in moving welfare reauthorization through the budget reconciliation process is that policy changes may be considered only if they have budgeting implications. Senator Grassley's welfare reauthorization bill includes language to change the current law's work requirements and other issues. If these are determined to be policy changes without budget implications, they would not be allowed to remain in the reconciliation bill. Congressional approval of a long-term welfare reauthorization bill would be furthered if the Senate is able to approve its bill this fall, but the House must make significant progress as well. The House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources approved its legislation (H.R. 240) on March 15, which would require adult recipients to work more hours. The legislation has yet to be approved by the Ways and Means Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee, the two authorizing Committees required to approve the bill before it is considered by the House of Representatives. The House bill would require adult recipients to work 40 hours per week, an increase of 10 hours over current law. It would mandate that at least 24 hours per week be devoted to "direct" work activities, such as private or public employment, on-the-job training or supervised community service. The remaining hours could be education or other training activities. The legislation would provide an increase of $1 billion in child care subsidies over a five year period. The federal government now provides $4.8 billion annually to subsidize child care. It also could reduce the number of months - from twelve to three, in most cases - that recipients could count vocational education and training as a direct work activity. The Senate Finance Committee's bill would make a number of changes to current law. With regards to work requirements, it would: increase the work participation rates for states five percentage points each year, from 50 percent in 2006 to 70 percent in 2010; eliminate the caseload reduction credit and replace it with an employment credit emphasizing "good" jobs; adopt a tiered approach, assigning credit for work along a range of hours, with standard hours set at 34; and, establish a separate lower standard for mothers with children under age six with standard hours at 24. With regards to state flexibility, the legislation would: allow states to claim partial credit for hours worked below standard hours; allow states to engage individuals in a broader range of activities, including job search, substance abuse treatment, post-secondary education and training and other activities; allow states to determine on a case-by-case basis whether to count families toward their participation rate in the first month of assistance. The Senate Finance Committee's bill would increase spending on child care by $6 billion over a five year period. Week of August 8, 2005 CONGRESS ON RECESS - RETURNS TO SESSION ON SEPTEMBER 6 Congress wrapped up work on Friday evening, July 29, and immediately began their summer recess. The Senate and House are scheduled to start the fall session on Tuesday, September 6 following the Labor Day weekend. Some Congressional committees may meet during the recess period. CAFTA PASSES CONGRESS AND SIGNED BY PRESIDENT ON AUG 2 On July 28 both the House and Senate passed H.R. 3045, the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CAFTA). The House vote was 217 - 215; the Senate vote was 55-45. The President signed the legislation on August 2 making it Public Law 109-53. The purpose of CAFTA is to strengthen and develop economic relations between the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. CAFTA establishes free trade between these same countries through the reduction and elimination of barriers to trade in goods and services and to investment. It also lays the foundation for further cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of the Agreement. The pact's effective date must still be worked out among the parties. The new statute states, "Effective date of certain proclaimed actions - Any action proclaimed by the President under the authority of this Act that is not subject to the consultation and layover provisions ...may not take effect before the 15th day after the date on which the text of the proclamation is published in the Federal Register." Also, "Initial regulations necessary or appropriate to carry out the actions required by or authorized under this Act or proposed ... to the maximum extend feasible, be issued within 1 year after the date on which the Agreement enters into force." The statute uses the term "CAFTA-DR country" many times; the term is defined as "Costa Rica, for such time as the Agreement is in force between the United States and Costa Rica;" then lists the same phrase for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. CAFTA amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to make products or services of any foreign country or instrumentality that is a party to the Agreement eligible for U.S. government procurement. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate for this legislation says, "Implementing the CAFTA-DR could have a negligible effect on the Trade Adjustment Assistance program (TAA). TAA provides extended unemployment compensation, job training, and health insurance tax credits for individuals who lose their jobs due to an increase in imports. Based on information from the International Trade Commission regarding projected employment loses in various industries, CBO estimates that the added costs to TAA would be less than $5 million over the 2006-2015 period, and less than $500,000 in each year over that period."