By Shannon Holmes
March 7, 2005

The House of Representatives passed the Job Training Improvement Act, (H.R. 27) March 2. The legislation's chief sponsor was offered by Representative Buck McKeon (CA), Chairman of the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee. The vote was 224-200, mainly along party lines.

Representative Bobby Scott (VA) offered an amendment, which was defeated, to strike out the provision that would allow "faith-based" groups receiving job training funding to use religious preferences in hiring. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce on February 17 passed H.R. 27 out of Committee after much debate over numerous amendments, on a party line vote 26-20.

H.R. 27 is a re-introduction of the bill passed by the House in 2003, H.R.1261, with some technical and a few other changes. McKeon has once again supported the local system through maintaining the local governance structure. The bill:

• Maintains local control;
• Includes a consolidated state block grant, which incorporates the adult, dislocated worker and Wagner-Peyser, funding streams, but does not include youth as was proposed in the President's FY 2006 Budget;
• Requires 70 percent of youth funding to be used for out-of'school youth and the remaining 30 percent on in'school youth during non'school hours;
• Includes Personal Reemployment Accounts (PRAs) as a demonstration program, which was dropped from HR 1261;
• Maintains the provision that allows youth formula funds to be reduced in order to shift these limited resources to fund National Youth Challenge grants; and
• Includes the faith-based initiative, which would allow organizations to discriminate based on religion when hiring staff.

H.R. 27 also includes the following:

• The development of rigorous training and education programs;
• Training of workers in the skills and competencies needed to obtain or upgrade employment in high-growth, high-demand occupations;
• Disseminating information on high-growth, high-demand occupations;
• Placing trained individuals in new jobs; and
• Increasing the integration of qualified training providers with the activities of businesses and the one'stop delivery system to meet training needs.
• Includes a place holder definition on administrative costs, pending further discussion. See language below:

"(1A) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. — The term "administrative costs" means expenditures incurred by State and local workforce investment boards, direct recipients, including State grant recipients under subtitle B and recipients of awards under subtitle D, local grant recipients, local fiscal agents or local grant subrecipients, and one'stop operators in the performance of administrative functions and in carrying out activities under this title which are not related to the direct provision of workforce investment services, including services to participants and employers. These costs are both personnel and non-personnel and both direct and indirect."

• Removes the calculation of program efficiency as a core indicator of performance for both adult and youth programs and requires instead that states report the cost per participant;
• Clarifies that in order to be eligible for WIA youth services, an out-of'school youth who has finished high'school and has low basic skills must not be attending any school;
• Allows funding for entrepreneurial business start ups for out-of'school youth;
• Reinstates business and community liaisons for Job Corp centers;
• Allows information and communication technology literacy activities to be intensive services;
• Allows for the funds to be utilized to purchase laptop computers for purposes of training;
• Requires the National Institute for Literacy to develop an internet tool to provide web-based access for adults who wish to improve their basic reading writing, speaking and math skills;
• Makes changes to the Labor Market Information System to allow governors to designate an agency to provide the labor market information; and
• Allows the Education Secretary to require states to assess adult education teachers and submit plans on how they intend to improve teacher quality, including professional development opportunities.

The Senate introduced S. 9, Lifelong Education Opportunity Act of 2005, but has yet to take action. Senator Michael Enzi (WY), Chair, and Senator Edward Kennedy (MA), Ranking Member, of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, have stated that they want to move WIA reauthorization early and again in a bi-partisan effort. There has been no date scheduled for action by the Committee, but Enzi has indicated he wants to move within the next two months.