2003 Adopted Resolutions
71st Annual Meeting
Denver

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STRONG LOCAL AUTHORITY AND FLEXIBILITY AT THE CORE OF THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

WHEREAS, within the next 25 years there will be 19 million more jobs than workers, many of these positions requiring education beyond a high-school diploma; employers estimate that 39 percent of their current workforce and 26 percent of their new hires will have basic skills deficiencies; and, 75 percent of the American workforce will need to be retrained merely to retain their jobs; and

WHEREAS, in order to remain competitive in the global market, the U.S. must invest in training its workforce; and

WHEREAS, the nation's locally-driven workforce development system is in place to meet the great needs of worker preparation, basic and occupational skills training, employment, job retention, upgrade training and the workforce needs of business; and

WHEREAS, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which is the current law governing the nation's workforce system and sunsets September 30, 2003, created a national network of statewide, locally-driven workforce systems, led by mayors, chief local elected officials, and their Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs); and

WHEREAS, Mayors and their WIBs have a unique role in the oversight of the funding and delivery of services of the entire local comprehensive workforce system; and

WHEREAS, WIA established an appropriate balance between federal, state, and local governments and the private sector; and

WHEREAS, WIA recognizes that Mayors and their WIBs are responsible for a local workforce system that responds to local labor markets, local employers and residents and local economic development,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that strong local authority and flexibility for Mayors and their local WIBs remains at the core of any WIA reauthorization, including appointment authority by local elected officials of local WIBs and joint guidance and oversight of One-Stop centers and the workforce system with local WIBs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that any WIA reauthorization strengthens the authority and flexibility of local elected officials and their WIBs to design and implement innovative local workforce systems that are responsive to the local economy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that the local workforce delivery system is maintained in WIA reauthorization and to oppose any efforts to take away local governance through expanded waiver authority for governors, elimination of the chief local elected official role in area designation, and mandated regional planning that would in any way lessen the authorities of the local elected officials and local allocations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that WIA reauthorization should empower local WIBs by expanding their authority to cover the current responsibilities for system-wide coordination of resources and services by establishing a separate title in WIA reauthorization to reinforce their strategic leadership over a comprehensive workforce system.