By Shannon Holmes
July 24, 2006

Before adjourning for the Fourth of July recess June 29, the Senate moved the reauthorize The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), S. 1021. The version passed by unanimous consent was a manager’s amendment offered by Senator Michael Enzi (WY), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and was slightly different from the committee passed version, including 100 percent transfer ability between WIA adult and dislocated formula funding streams. The HELP Committee originally passed S. 1021 September 5, 2005.

The movement of S. 1021, passed by voice vote, resulted from a lift of the hold on the bill regarding the issue of a faith-based hiring preference. The agreement reached calls for no conferees to be appointed until two of the major issues, the faith-based hiring preference and consolidated block granting, are resolved in pre-conference. The House would like to complete the reauthorization of the Perkins Vocational Act before turning to WIA.

The House had passed its version of WIA reauthorization, H.R. 27, during the first session of the 109th Congress March 1, 2005 on a vote of 224-200. Other issues for conference will include the split between serving in'school and out-of-school youth; the administrative cost definition; and One-Stop infrastructure funding. For further information please contact Kathy Amoroso at kamoroso@usmayors.org.