By Shannon Holmes
October 20, 2003

The Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (WDC) 15th Annual Congressional Forum was held September 29 in Washington (DC). President of the Workforce Development Council Larry Fitch, President and CEO of San Diego Workforce Partnership, Inc., chaired the meeting.

At the forefront of the discussion forum was the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Also, an update was given on the status of the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which has been extended through March 30, 2004.

WDC members attended the meeting from various cities from across the country including: Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Carson (CA), Chattanooga (TN), Chicago, Columbus (GA), Detroit, Fort Wayne (IN), Gary (IN), Hawthorne (CA), Houston, Kansas City (MO), Las Vegas, Long Beach (CA), Los Angeles, Lowell (MA), New Orleans, New York City, Norfolk (VA), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Providence, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vincennes (IN).

Workforce Investment Act

Bill Kamela, Minority Staff Director for Senator Patty Murray (WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Lindsay Lovelin, Legislative Assistant for Senator John Ensign (NV) of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, provided the WDC members with an update on the reauthorization of WIA. Through a bipartisan effort, WIA was modified to provide changes that will enhance and strengthen the current workforce system. Kamela stressed that job training has always been a bi-partisan issue and members from both sides of the aisle were committed to continuing that. Lovelin credited the recommendations of the Conference of Mayors as part of the Local Coalition for getting a large portion of the bill to its current state. The Senate staff used almost 90 percent of the recommendations offered by the Coalition.

red by the Coalition.

Neither Kamela nor Lovelin were able to say when the bill would reach the floor of the Senate, where it is expected to pass without opposition. The conference between the House and Senate versions of the bill will be worked out more than likely after the Christmas recess. Since the Congressional Forum, WIA was passed out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by unanimous voice vote after a brief mark up on October 2.

Representatives from the Local Coalition spoke to the WDC Board of Trustees on key local issues in WIA reauthorization and discussed how the groups were working together, and with the Senate. Local Coalition members attending the briefing were: Neil Bomberg, Associate Legislative Director of the National Association of Counties; Stephanie Powers, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards; John Twomey, President of the National Workforce Association and Executive Director of the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals, Inc.; Mary Gardner Clagett, Deputy Director of Workforce Development Policy of the National Center on Education and the Economy.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Becky Shipp, Health Policy Advisor and Doug Steiger, Professional Staff, for the Senate Finance Committee provided information on the status of TANF reauthorization in the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee has again passed a bipartisan agreement, almost identical to the bipartisan bill passed last year by the Committee, and is still awaiting floor debate. Nick Gwyn, Minority Staff Director of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources described the House version in comparison to the Senate version and what the conference between the two bills could potentially look like. Sharon Parrot, Co-Director on Federal TANF Policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities discussed options that could happen with TANF reauthorization and what these options could potentially mean for the entire workforce development system.

Keynote Address

Mason Bishop, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) at the Department of Labor, gave the keynote address at this year's forum. Bishop provided the WDC members with an outlook for the 2005 fiscal year budget, which he said is based on consolidated block grant funding for WIA program. Bishop indicated the FY 2005 budget would look very similar to President's FY 2004 budget. Regarding the reauthorization of WIA, Bishop highlighted three key issues that the Department of Labor (DOL) would work extremely hard on during the conference between the House and Senate.

The DOL issues and positions are:

Additionally, Bishop informed WDC members about the status of H1-B grants and the TAA program. Bishop took questions on issues from National Emergency Grants to the new Common Performance Measures, to how the WDC can assist DOL in securing more funding in the FY 2004 or 2005 budget for training from the Office of Management and Budget.

Additional speakers addressed the WDC. Sigurd Nilsen, Education, Workforce and Income Security at U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), who gave an overview on the reports that have been recently released about promising practices in the workforce system: Integrating and Streamlining Services for Job Seekers, Engaging Employers in the One'stop System, and Building a Unified One'stop System Through Strong Partnerships and Infrastructure. Paul Harrington, Associate Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, provided the information of the impact of the 2000 Census on distribution of federal funding and the impact that it has on cities across the country.

Robert Atkinson, Vice President and Director, Technology & New Economy Project at the Progressive Policy Institute informed the members about the secondary roll that workforce development issues will most likely play during the upcoming 2004 Presidential election.

Linda Harris, Senior Policy Analyst, Family Policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) provided the members with an overview of the CLASP report Leave no Youth Behind, which focused on the serious youth employment issue that is facing the country.

To address the fiscal year 2004 and 2005 budgets was Lee Foley of Moss, McGee, Bradley, and Foley, who stressed that DOL more than likely will put forth the same recommendations for the FY 2005 budget as it did for the FY 2004 budget.

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.