The United States Conference of Mayors takes the lead in calling national attention to the problems and potential of urban America, particularly in areas relating to employment and training and workforce development such as: job development, out-of-school youth, year-round youth training including summer jobs, adult training, dislocated workers, welfare reform, welfare-to-work, foreign workers affected by H-1B visas, labor shortages, basic education and GED, and related economic issues.

The Conference staff provides its membership with the highest quality representation available within the Washington community, including both on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. Department of Labor.

Ongoing Legislative Activities

Work with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Congress:

• To facilitate information exchange among our constituents regarding the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Welfare-to-Work program, the Federal Budget, the Youth Opportunities Grant program for out-of-school youth, school-to-work and other related activities.
• To maintain a definitive role for Mayors in the future of employment and training, especially the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
• To ensure funding for at-risk youth programs, including summer youth, at a level of at least $1 billion, which will assure the continuation of the Youth Opportunities Grant program.

Information on recent legislative actions pertaining to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the current fiscal year budget and supplemental budget can be seen through the Washington Update.

WDC Workforce Investment Act Funding Campaign

Over the past year The U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council's has been involved in a national campaign to increase Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding and highlight the local workforce system through the compilation of a report from localities across the country.

Most recently the report "Snapshots of Local Workforce Development Systems: Workforce Investment Act Report to Congress" was updated in August 2003 to reflex data July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003.

These Reports provide a local snapshot of WIA and the broader workforce development system and gives Congressional Members straightforward information, including the unemployment rate, on how their constituents are being served with the WIA funding.

It is critical for Congressional Members to be provided with this information to support increased funding and advocate for the local workforce system.

Click here to view the first final report, "Snapshots of Local Workforce Development Systems: Workforce Investment Act Report to Congress" released in January 2003 at The U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Winter Meeting in Washington, DC.

Please share this with your colleagues across your state and urge them to complete it as well. As you will note, the report has the logo for the Conference of Mayors, so we have also attached a report template for your colleagues who are not members of the Conference of Mayors.

• Workforce Development Council Member Report Template (requires Microsoft Word to access)

• Non Workforce Development Council Members Report Template (requires Microsoft Word to access)

• Sample Report Template (requires Microsoft Word to access)

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact Shannon Holmes at (202) 293-7330 or sholmes@usmayors.org.

Best Practices (View the Best Practices) Partnerships

The U.S. Conference of Mayors in a joint initiative with the National Governors’ Association, National Association of Counties, and National Association of State Workforce Agencies is working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to build a network for a skilled workforce by joining together with various public and private education, human services, rehabilitation, and workforce development organizations. Strengthening the alliances among these organizations will help further develop a network that works cohesively to support economic and workforce development and income and career advancement opportunities for individuals and families. The initiative intends to build the network by assisting stakeholder organizations in identifying strategies and approaches for resolving common issues, sharing promising/best practices of collaborative systems, and promoting communication across the organizations and systems. The ultimate objective is to foster a network of alliances that is fluid enough to support the independent purposes of each partner agency, yet cohesive enough to allow all customers to understand how to access and navigate the system to support their career advancement or business development goals.

Key Congressional Committees

Senate