H-1B SKILLS TRAINING GRANTS
WHEREAS, the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant
Program was established in 1998 to address the shortage of skilled workers in
the United States, and was enhanced in 2000 with H.R. 5362, which raised the fee charged to employers who
petition for H-1B foreign workers from $500 to $1,000 of which fifty-five percent funds the H1-B Technical Skills Training
Grants, and the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000
(AC21 2000), which increased the number of H-1B temporary workers to 195,000
for each of fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003; and
WHEREAS, the H-1B Technical Skills
Training Grant Program- administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) --
has offered thousands of Americans the opportunity to learn and master the
skills necessary to acquire jobs that will provide upward mobility and
long-term job retention; and
WHEREAS, reviews of the H-1B Skills Grants
program by the Government Accounting Office and the Office of Inspector
General, indicate that these grants are accomplishing what Congress intended
and affirm and strengthen the value of the program; and
WHEREAS, by providing grants to local governments, workforce boards and
other entities across the country, the H-1B program has enabled cities in urban
and rural areas to meet the needs of their business communities by providing
more highly skilled workers; and
WHEREAS, as of September 30, 2003, the $1,000 fee placed on
employers was eliminated because the legislation which authorizes the H-1B
program, AC21 2000, expired and has not
been extended or reauthorized, and the H1-B visa level was reduced from the current
cap of 195,000 to 65,000, and there is still $100 million for the H-1B Skills
Grants program generated from employer fees; and
WHEREAS, effective on January 16 of this
year, the Department of Labor (DOL) canceled the solicitation for grant
application for H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants that was published in the
January 6, 2003 Federal Register and stated that DOL would review applications
received prior to this cancellation to consider possible funding for those
found eligible; and
WHEREAS, on February 2 of this year, in their FY 2005 Budget proposal, the
Bush Administration proposed to eliminate the H-1B Skills Training Grants
program and to rescind a $100 million of the funding currently available for
these grants which was intended to fund approximately 33 additional grants estimated
at $3 million each; and
WHEREAS, canceling the grant solicitation for available H-1B Skills Grants
funds and eliminating the H-1B program will do away with an important job
training program that strengthens America's own workforce, and lessens dependency
on foreign workers,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of
Mayors opposes the Bush Administration's elimination of the H-1B Technical
Skills Training Grant program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference of Mayors opposes rescinding funds from the
H-1B program in the FY 2005 Budget proposal and calls on the Department of
Labor to use the $100 million available in H-1B employer fees to fund H-1B
Skills Training Grants as was intended by Congress; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for any reauthorization of
the H-1B program and or any legislation applying to a nonresident foreign
worker program, the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to continue the
technical skills training grants program awarded to local governments and local
workforce boards and funded by employer fees at a level of at least a $1,000
fee.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 