December 2014 WASHINGTON UPDATE In this Issue 113th Congress Comes to a Close…1 Congress Finalizes FY 2015 Spending Bill…3 DOL Announces American Apprenticeship Grants…5 Commerce Seeks National Partner in New Regional Partnership Program…6 Youth Performance Pilots Announced…7 DOL Announces WIOA Transition Funds…8 What the 2014 Elections Mean for Skills…9 113th Congress Comes to a Close On December 16, the Senate adjourned for the year, marking the end of the 113th Congress. The past two years has been a period of major progress and sizeable challenges for the workforce development field. Most important, Congress in July 2014 passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), legislation to modernize our nation’s public workforce system. Following months of bipartisan negotiations, WIOA was passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis—415-6 in the House and 95-3 in the Senate. WIOA’s passage came 16 years following passage of its predecessor, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The law reflects a number of the best practices that have been developed in the field over the past 16 years that NSC and our partners have long promoted and advocated for, including industry-led sector partnerships, career pathways, cross-program data and measurement, and job-driven investment. As states move to implement the law, these core strategies and practices are certain to stand out. The 113th Congress also saw a number of vigorous debates over federal funding. Sequestration took effect in March 2013, triggering $85 billion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts. Months later, following a 17-day October 2013 government shutdown, Senate Budget Committee chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) crafted a bipartisan budget agreement, the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA), which set topline spending levels for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, and provided $63 billion in sequester relief over two years. FY 2014 also marked the first time since 2012 that Congress was able to pass a Labor-HHSEducation funding bill, signaling a return to the normal appropriations process. Following the 2014 elections, Congress was able to pass an FY 2015 spending bill to fund the vast majority of the government through the end of the fiscal year. NSC weighed in with policymakers frequently during these federal funding debates. In early 2014, Congress passed a Farm Bill that included significant new www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 2 resources to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training (E&T) program. NSC worked closely with congressional staff to help expand the program, as well as with the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to implement the law. Congress also waded into comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), with the Senate passing bipartisan legislation in June 2013. National Skills Coalition weighed in with policymakers on CIR, proposing a skills strategy for comprehensive reform. The past two years have also been critical for Administrative action on skills. During his January 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called for action to “empower all Americans with the skills needed for in-demand jobs.” The President’s skills strategy included an across-the-board review of federal job-training programs, which was helmed by Vice President Biden. The Administration’s Job-Driven Training Action Plan, released over the summer, will bring to bear significant new resources and a new focus on jobdriven training across federal agencies. “There will be opportunities to work with Congress to ensure that WIOA is funded at a level that ensures its successful implementation.” Looking ahead to the 114th Congress, there is still much to be done to strengthen our nation’s investments in skills. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee will have new leadership in presumptiveChairman Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and presumptive-Ranking Member Senator Patty Murray, and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce will have a new Ranking Member, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) (Rep. John Kline (R-MN) will continue his tenure as chairman). Congress may attempt to reauthorize the Perkins Act, which funds career and technical education, as well as the Higher Education Act (HEA), and with it the Pell Grant program. Reauthorization of these pieces of legislation and others could provide opportunities to improve cross-program alignment and make federal investments more effective for U.S. workers and employers. There will also be opportunities to work with Congress to ensure that WIOA is funded at a level that ensures its successful implementation, as well as new opportunities to work with the Administration to implement its job-driven action plan and promote and expand job-driven strategies such as apprenticeship and industry partnerships. Federal funding is certain to be a prominent issue in the 114th Congress as well. The BBA will have expired, meaning that absent congressional action, sequestration will return in FY 2016. National Skills Coalition looks forward to working on these and other critical issues with the Administration and the 114th Congress in the new year. www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 3 Congress Finalizes FY 2015 Spending Bill On December 16, the President signed the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act “CRomnibus” spending bill, H.R. 83. The measure was narrowly passed by the House of Representatives last week by a margin of 219-206, and was approved by the Senate on December 11, 56-40. The CRomnibus follows weeks of negotiations between leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees. The bill was termed a “CRomnibus,” because it funds the majority of government operations through the end of the fiscal year – as a typical omnibus spending bill does – while funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through February 2015. The decision to extend DHS funding through February is related to President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration. Passage of the CRomnibus avoids a damaging government shutdown, or another continuing resolution (CR), which would essentially allow the nation to run on auto-pilot, and could have resulted in funding cuts later in the fiscal year. “National Skills Coalition strongly supports the abilityto-benefit provision as a means to improve the economic mobility of lowskilled adults and youth seeking postsecondary credentials to increase their jobs prospects.” www.nationalskillscoalition.org The measure, which sets overall funding for the federal government at the level established by last year’s Bipartisan Budget Act, $1.1 trillion, makes small increases in funding to several workforce development programs. National Skills Coalition wrote to members of the Senate urging passage of the legislation. Importantly, the CRomnibus partially reinstates the “ability-to-benefit” (AtB) provision of Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA). This provision allows students lacking a high school diploma or its equivalent to access federal financial aid if they are enrolled in an eligible career pathway program and can demonstrate college readiness. AtB was previously eliminated as part of the FY 2012 omnibus spending law as a cost-saving measure. The new measure retroactively applies to students who first enrolled in an eligible program of study on or after July 1, 2014, and allows those students to receive up to $5,730 in Pell grants, the maximum award. However, students who enroll in an eligible program on or after July 1, 2015 may only access up to $4,860 in Pell, the amount available through appropriations. The maximum Pell grant available to all other students in 2015 will be $5,830. National Skills Coalition strongly supports the ability-tobenefit provision as a means to improve the economic mobility of low-skilled adults and youth seeking postsecondary credentials to increase their jobs WASHINGTON UPDATE 4 prospects. Several other federal education and training programs, including programs authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) received slight funding increases, or were funded at FY 2014 levels. One notable exception was the Workforce Data Quality Initiative, which saw onethird of its funding eliminated. Department of Labor (DOL): • • • • • • • • • • WIOA Adult: $776,736,000 ($10.7 million above FY 2014) WIOA Youth: $820,430,000 ($11.4 million above FY 2014) WIOA Dislocated Worker: $ 1,015,530,000 ($13.9 million above FY 2014) WIOA Governor’s reserve (set-aside): 10 percent (up from 8.75% in FY 2014) Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker program: $81,896,000 (level funded) WANTO: $994,000 (level funded) Native American programs: $46,082,000 (level funded) YouthBuild: $79,689,000 ($2.2 million above FY 2014) Ex-Offender programs: $82,078,000 ($2 million above FY 2014) Workforce Data Quality Initiative: $4,000,000 ($2 million below FY 2014) Department of Education (ED): • • • Career and Technical Education: $1,117,598,000 (level funded) Adult Education State Grants: $568,955,000 ($5 million above FY 2014) Pell grants: $5,830 maximum award (up $100 from FY 2014) The CRomibus also extends authorization for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers program through 2015. Authorization for TAA lapsed on December 31, 2013 and the program has been operating under the 2002 amendments to the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act for the past year. Had Congress not extended the program, it would have fully lapsed at the end of 2014. While the CRomnibus does make important increases to several workforce development programs, funding for these programs remains below pre- www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 5 sequestration levels. “…workforce development programs could again be exposed to significant funding cuts.” Soon after the new Congress is seated next month, the House and Senate Budget committees will begin work on the FY 2016 budget. Unlike in FY 2014 and 2015, when topline spending levels were set by the Bipartisan Budget Act, there is no agreement in place to reduce the impact of sequestration or the budgetary caps in FY 2016. As a result, workforce development programs could again be exposed to significant funding cuts. Last month, National Skills Coalition wrote to the Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, urging the Administration to ensure that its FY 2016 budget request includes adequate investments in job training and adult education programs. National Skills Coalition will provide updates on the budget process as it moves forward. DOL Announces American Apprenticeship Grants On December 11, the Department of Labor announced the availability of $100 million in American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grants to support the development and expansion of apprenticeship programs. The grants will support activities to develop registered apprenticeship programs in high-growth occupations and industries for which employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, including IT, advanced manufacturing, health care, and business services. AAI grants will fund approximately 25 public-private partnerships that: support the expansion of quality and innovative apprenticeship programs in high-growth occupations and industries; create career pathways that encompass apprenticeship and align with other postsecondary educational offerings; use strategies to significantly increase apprenticeship opportunities for workers and jobseekers, particularly for women, minorities, and other populations underrepresented in apprenticeship; and leverage and develop public policies that increase demand for apprenticeship and support sustainability. Grant awards will range from $2.5 million to $5 million. Successful applicants will incorporate the following elements into their projects: • • www.nationalskillscoalition.org Promoting apprenticeship to employers, workers, and other key stakeholders; Increasing apprenticeship opportunities for all apprenticeships; WASHINGTON UPDATE 6 • • • • • Promoting career pathways and aligning apprenticeship with institutions of higher education and workforce investment systems; Sector focus and employer commitments; Innovative public policies and public-private partnership models; Planning for a sustainable expansion; and Program evaluation. Allowable activities include on the job learning (OJL), job-related technical instruction (RTI), pre-apprenticeship training, and other activities, including the development of sector strategies and career pathways, partnership building activities, provision of skill and prior learning assessments, and the provision of supportive services. Eligible primary partnerships must include at least one public and one private sector entity. Eligible public sector entities include the workforce investment system, public education or training providers, and DOLrecognized state apprenticeship agencies. Eligible private sector entities include businesses, consortia or businesses, business-related non-profit organizations, or private organizations functioning as workforce intermediaries. Applications are due April 30, 2015. Commerce Seeks National Partner in New Regional Partnership Program In November, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced a Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), seeking a national partner to help lead its new Accelerating Industry-Led Regional Partnerships for Talent Development program. The Accelerating Industry-Led Regional Partnerships for Talent Development will establish a learning exchange to identify, promote, and expand upon best practices for building local and regional job-driven industry partnerships. Along with the national partner, EDA will: convene and facilitate learning across regional partnerships with demonstrated success in addressing the skilled workforce needs of business and industry; identify the characteristics of successful industry-led partnerships and the barriers to success at the local and regional level; and develop best practice reports, learning tools, and case studies within and across regions to build, sustain, and scale existing and new regional partnerships. National partners www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 7 will be responsible for: • • • Developing selection criteria and administering a competitive selection process to identify participating regions; Administering a learning exchange, including convening participating regions at a national level to learn about best practices, and visiting participating regions to facilitate development and adoption of best practices; and Devising ways to disseminate guidance on best practices to regions not participating in the learning exchange. This effort incorporates elements of the Job-Driven Training Checklist, which was developed as part of the Administration’s Job-Driven Training Action Plan. State, local, and tribal government entities, as well as institutions of higher education, and public or private non-profit associations are eligible to apply. Applications are due by January 9, 2015. Youth Performance Pilots Announced “The grants will allow states, localities, and tribes flexibility in the form of blended funding and waivers of certain programmatic requirements to test innovative strategies to improve outcomes for disconnected youth.” In late November, the Department of Education issued an invitation for applications for new Performance Partnership Pilot (P3) grants, which will enable up to ten pilot sites to test strategies to improve employment and educational outcomes for disconnected youth. The Performance Partnership Pilot program is a joint effort of ED, the Departments of Labor, and Health and Human Services, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences. The grants will allow states, localities, and tribes flexibility in the form of blended funding and waivers of certain programmatic requirements to test innovative strategies to improve outcomes for disconnected youth. Pilots are required to: • • • • www.nationalskillscoalition.org Conduct a needs assessment to identify the pilot’s target population; Use data and evaluations to determine the most effective strategies for serving the population; Propose which funding streams to blend to support the strategies identified; Identify the flexibility (both federal and non-federal) needed to WASHINGTON UPDATE 8 • implement the strategies; and Enter into a performance agreement with a lead federal agency and pilot partners that specifies goals, outcome measures (including interim indicators), accountability and oversight mechanisms, and responsibilities of each entity involved. The agencies will award successful applicants start-up grants ranging from $400,000 to $700,000. State, local, and tribal government entities, represented by a chief executive, are eligible to apply for the P3 grants. Eligible applicants must apply as a partnership that involves public and private entities, including non-profit, business, industry, and labor organizations. The invitation for applications includes a number of examples of potential pilots, including pilots that would help create a more integrated and effective system to provide job-driven training. Potential strategies include developing career pathways, work-based learning opportunities, and engaging employers. The grants, authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, were originally proposed by the Obama Administration as part of its FY 2013 budget request. Potential applicants must file a notice of intent to apply by January 8, 2015. Applications are due March 4, 2015. DOL Announces WIOA Transition Funds The Department of Labor in October announced that Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds may be used for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) transition activities. In an October 28 Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL), the DOL Employment and Training Administration (ETA) advised that two percent of WIA program year (PY 2014) funds, or about $51.4 million, will be available to states to support transition activities. Local areas must receive at least 50 percent of the total transition amounts allocated to states. Funds available for transition activities must be used to support activities relating to WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs. States and local areas are permitted to blend together the transition funds available under each funding stream. The TEGL also goes on to state that other programs authorized under WIOA Title I, including the Indian and Native www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 9 American program, the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker program, and the YouthBuild program may also use WIA funds for transition activities (though the two percent limitation does not apply to these programs). The TEGL also lists a series of priority activities where states could benefit from early planning, including: identification of contracts, subgrants and other agreements that will need to be modified or replaced; activities relating to state unified planning or combined planning; activities relating to new requirements for co-location of American Job Centers and Wagner-Peyser Employment Services; activities relating to new program requirements for Title I formula programs, including the increased emphasis on career pathways, sector strategies, and work-based training opportunities; and updates to workforce information technology systems. Provisions of WIOA take effect on July 1, 2015, the first day of the next program year. However, state unified plans and performance accountability measures will not take effect until 2016. Visit DOL’s WIOA page for more information on WIOA transition. What the 2014 Elections Mean for Skills “…workforce development continues to hold sway as a campaign issue with appeal on both sides of the aisle, particularly in local and state elections…” On November 4, 36 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2014 midterm elections resulting in what some have called a red wave. In Washington, Republicans flipped the Senate and increased their majority in the House. In the states, Republicans increased their hold on Governor’s mansions with a net gain of two, bringing their total to 31. Likewise, Republicans gained majorities in 11 state chambers, for a total of 68. The red wave has definitive implications for some issues that served as political markers for candidates – particularly issues like healthcare, the minimum wage and K-12 education. But what do these election results mean for less divisive issues like workforce development? NSC’s analysis suggests that workforce development continues to hold sway as a campaign issue with appeal on both sides of the aisle, particularly in local and state elections where policymakers are grappling with the day-today impact of the skill gap on the unemployed and on industry. In Washington, the successful bipartisan effort to reauthorize WIOA could foreshadow easier times ahead for career and technical education and possibly for higher education reauthorizations in comparison to more politically charged issues facing the next Congress. www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 10 While workforce training appears to have bipartisan support, there are some indications that both congressional Republicans and some Republican governors may be developing proposals to make job training a mandatory requirement for recipients of a range of public benefits, a move that has in the past been used to sanction people off of essential safety net programs. There is also likely to be some pushing for work requirements for public benefits that focus on short-term placement as opposed to long-term attachment to career path employment. And ongoing debates in Washington over federal funding will continue to pose a threat to all discretionary programs, including human capital programs. In the States Creating a skilled workforce is an issue that has been embraced by Republican and Democrat governors over the last five years as part of an economic growth and opportunity agenda. Earlier this year, during the stateof-the-state address season, more than a dozen governors announced new legislative and budget proposals to support workforce development efforts in their state. As state budgets recover from the recession, these governors targeted middle-skill training for increased investments, including proposals to provide support for employer-led sector partnerships, to align the state’s workforce system, to make technical and community college affordable, and to assist the long-term unemployed back to work. This year’s election proved that workforce development’s bipartisan appeal continues to hold for state leaders. A number of governors ran – and won – on platforms that prominently featured workforce training. In her acceptance speech to supporters, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley indicated that during her second term she would focus on workforce training. A number of other victorious Republican gubernatorial candidates spoke of workforce training on the campaign trail and in their acceptance speeches, including Governors Baker(MA), Branstad (IA), Kasich (OH), and Snyder (MI). Victorious Democrats also gave attention to the issue on the campaign trail, including Governors Hickenlooper (CO), Raimondo (RI), and Wolff (PA). This attention to workforce development as an economic growth strategy creates an opportunity for local advocates to weigh in on their governors’ agendas, particularly new governors working on transition plans. While the attention to workforce development in gubernatorial races is www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE “In the past…mandatory training [has been used] as a way to move large numbers of people off of essential safety net programs as opposed to helping to move them to self-sufficiency…” 11 encouraging, there are indications that some Republican governors championing workforce training may make job training a mandatory requirement for recipients of public benefits. In the past, such proposals have used mandatory training as a way to move large numbers of people off of essential safety net programs as opposed to helping to move them to selfsufficiency. Governor Walker has indicated that he wants to tie receipt of public benefits in Wisconsin to drug tests and mandatory job training. Governors Brownback (KS) and Mead (WY) have indicated that they would like to tie Medicaid expansion to “workforce development” requirements. In addition, some governors appear to be in support of imposing work requirements for certain federal benefits, despite eligibility for waivers that would allow recipients of these benefits to participate in employment focused adult basic education and job training programs. Workforce advocates will need to weigh in with their Governors and state legislatures to ensure that workforce and education programs are not being used to sanction people off of support service programs but instead that these programs are working together to help more people achieve career path employment. The forthcoming implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act will provide an opportunity for states to better align human capital programs and support services. States have the choice of submitting a unified plan that addresses the four titles of WIOA, or submitting a combined plan that also includes operational plans required by Career and Technical Education (CTE), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T), Temporary Assistance to Needed Families (TANF), and others. In Washington If there is anything to take from the divisive partisan gridlock of the 113th Congress, it’s that workforce development can be a bipartisan issue. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act – sponsored by Senators Murray (D-WA), Harkin (D-IA), Alexander (R-TN), and Isakson (R-GA), along with Representatives Kline (R-MN), Foxx (R-NC), Miller (D-CA), and Hinojosa (DTX) – passed the Senate on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, 95-3 and the House, 415-6. There are few issues that have received this kind of bipartisan, bicameral support in the current Congress. With the flipping of the Senate to Republican control, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will likely assume leadership of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, which is tasked with overseeing the www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 12 reauthorization of two major pieces of legislation of significance to those in the workforce development world – the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). It’s possible that these bills will be lost in the shuffle as the committee tackles two of the most politically divisive issues under its jurisdiction – the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Senator Alexander has been outspoken about his desire to reverse the President’s K-12 reforms (particularly Common Core and use of Race to the Top funds) and Congressional Republicans have identified repeal of ACA as a top priority in the next Congress. “the new WIOA authorizes specific funding levels for each fiscal year from 2015 through 2020…getting those authorized amounts appropriated in a climate of continued budget cutting will require concerted advocacy.” However, it’s also possible that the inevitable gridlock over these two high profile issues will create the desire to move less politically charged legislation. Perkins and HEOA could fit the bill, although HEOA is likely to draw partisan debate over certain issues. Within the context of these bills, data and accountability continue to be an area where Republicans and Democrats could come together. NSC’s Workforce Data Quality Campaign has put forward recommendations — for Perkins and HEA — that would support better data for accountability, transparency, and program improvement. On the funding side, workforce development advocates will likely continue to have considerable work to do to advocate for adequate funding levels and to protect programs from threatened cuts. Unlike its predecessor WIA, which simply specified that the program would be funded by Congress using “such sums as necessary,” the new WIOA authorizes specific funding levels for each fiscal year from 2015 through 2020. But getting those authorized amounts appropriated in a climate of continued budget cutting will require concerted advocacy. Beyond WIOA, the workforce field will probably see a return of budget proposals from Senate and House budget chairs to curtail other skill programs including Pell grants for working adults. Past Republican budgets have proposed eliminating Pell grants for part-time students, calling for Pell to be “reserved for students with a larger commitment to their education.” Low-income working adults trying to re-skill or up-skill at local community colleges would be most impacted by such cuts. It will be essential that the workforce field, including local employers, weigh in on these funding debates and educate policymakers about the impacts these programs have on local economies. It will be particularly important for Congress to hear from small and mid-sized employers who rely on their partnership with federally www.nationalskillscoalition.org WASHINGTON UPDATE 13 funded human capital programs to train their workforce. www.nationalskillscoalition.org