By Shannon Holmes
September 27, 2004

The Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (WDC) 16th Annual Congressional Forum was held September 20-21 in Washington (DC). At the forefront of the discussion were the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and appropriations for fiscal year 2005 and 2006. The Congressional Forum also included a special session, Raising Our Profile in Our Communities and With Congress, to share best practices from the workforce development system.

WDC members attended the meeting from various cities from across the country including: Akron (OH), Albany, Arlington (TX), Baltimore, Boston, Canton (OH), Carson (CA), Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus (GA), Detroit, El Paso, Fort Wayne (IN), Gary (IN), Hartford, Highland (IN), Houston, Indianapolis, Long Beach (CA), Los Angeles, Louisville, Macon (GA), Nashville, Neenah (WI), New Haven, New York City, Norfolk (VA), Park Ridge (IL), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Providence, San Diego, Scranton (PA), Seattle, South Bend (IN), and Vincennes (IN). First Vice President of the Workforce Development Council Ray Worden, Workforce Development Bureau Manager for the city of Long Beach (CA) chaired the meeting.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

Jane Oates, Senior Education Advisor for Senator Edward M. Kennedy (MA), Ranking Member, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Ilyse Schuman, Majority Staff Director for Senator Michael B. Enzi (WY), Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; and Stephanie Milburn, Majority Professional Staff for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Committee, discussed the status of the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act during the remainder of the 108th Congress and the outlook for reauthorization in the 109th Congress.

Milburn stated that the House would likely be moving forward with the same bill that was passed early this year in the 109th Congress. Schuman stated that the election could have significant impact on the legislation depending on who wins the presidency and which party holds the majority in the Senate. Oates concurred and stressed that no matter the outcome of the election there is agreement that the bill would a be bi-partisan effort. The intention in both chambers is to address WIA reauthorization in the first 6 months of the 109th Congress, with little hope that it would be addressed in the event of a lame duck session.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Beck Shipp, Majority Health Policy Advisor for the Senate Finance Committee; Kate Kahan, Minority Professional Staff for the Senate Finance Committee; Matt Weidinger, Majority Staff Director of the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee; Nick Gwyn, Minority Staff Director of the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee provided an outlook for the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act during the 109th Congress.

The Senate Finance Committee again passed a bipartisan agreement, almost identical to the bipartisan bill passed last year by the Committee, but it is still awaiting floor debate. There are several matters blocking reauthorization of TANF, which is due to expire for the seventh time on September 30. These include an increased change in working hour requirements and marriage incentives. Weidinger indicated that there will more than likely be an eighth clean extension of the TANF program to March 30, 2005, at which time the new Congress will address reauthorization. Shipp warned that if reauthorization does not happen near the beginning of the 109th Congress, the welfare program will be targeted for reconciliation, where its funding will be decreased in order to deal with the growing deficit.

Appropriations for FY 2005 and 2006

To address fiscal year 2004 and 2005 budgets was Lee Foley of Lee Foley, Partner at Foley, Maldonado and O'Toole. Foley stressed that the timing of the FY 2005 appropriations process is uncertain and will more than likely be determined by the outcome of the presidential election. Whether addressed during a lame duck session or in the 109th Congress, the FY 2005 appropriations for all remaining bills will have a continuing resolution passed prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year on October 1, 2004. Foley stated that the most likely outcome for FY 2005 is that the remaining bills will be rolled into an omnibus package.

James Bergeron, also of Foley, Maldonado and O-Toole, stressed that policy makers are starting to understand the importance of the workforce system and indicated that this is reflected in the near level funding, and in some cases the slight increases, in the FY 2005 appropriation bills. He implored the members of WDC to keep informing their congressional delegations about what they are doing in the district, particularly because there will be more linkages with WIA during the reauthorization of both the Higher Education Act and the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act, which are expected to be considered in the 109th Congress.

Other speakers that addressed the WDC included Sigurd Nilsen, Education, Workforce and Income Security at U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO), who gave an overview on the reports on workforce development that GAO has released and those that are still underway to be released within the next 12 months.

Paul Harrington, Associate Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, provided WDC members with information about the impact on cities across the country of the ever-growing employment gap between low and high wage workers and the implication it holds for the future.

Jared Bernstein, Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute, opened the meeting discussing with members of the WDC the ever-evolving status of the workforce system and the uniqueness of the recession and recovery the economy is facing. Bernstein stated that the future of work is about training for future jobs and that the current policies were not crafted to be effective for creating jobs or to stimulate the economy.

To address the linkage between adjudicated youth with the workforce development system, Nancy Gannon Hornberger, Deputy Executive Director of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, provided information about the importance of serving this population early so the cycle of recidivism is not perpetuated.

Raising Our Profile in Our Communities and With Congress

In an effort to raise the profile of workforce development within communities across the country and with Congress, a special peer-to-peer session was put together to share best practices from around the workforce development system. WDC members shared with colleagues ways to interact with media both in print and television, ways to strengthen the relationship with Congressional members, and how to get workforce on the mayor's agenda. WDC members were also provided with insight on how things in Washington work and how they can impact the process for both the authorization and appropriation process.

WDC Hears from Presidential Campaign Representatives

In a joint session between the WDC and the National Center on Education and the Economy, the outlook of the workforce development system was discussed based on the outcome of the November election. Bruce Mehlman, Executive Director for the Computer Systems Policy Project, Co-Founder of Mehlman & Vogel, Inc. and Former Assistant Secretary for Commerce for Technology Policy under the Bush Administration, presented the U.S. jobs prospective and outlook with the increasing impact on employment opportunities due to outsourcing based on current policies from the Bush Administration. Marco Trbovich, Director of Labor Policy, Kerry-Edwards 2004; Yvette Meftah and Tim Barnicle, Co-Chairs, Workforce Policy Task Force for Kerry-Edwards 2004 informed participants about what a Kerry Presidency would mean for the workforce development system and jobs in the United States.

The Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council provides a forum for mayors and their employment and training administrators to examine all workforce development issues and to strengthen the ability of cities to meet the needs of their citizens; particularly economically disadvantaged individuals, those with serious skill deficiencies, dislocated workers, and others with special barriers to employment, including youth.