Job Training Bill Clears House

On March 15, the House approved, 215-202, the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803). The House Education and Workforce Committee approved the measure, 23-0, on March 6.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), would authorize $6.2 billion annually from FY2014-2020 for a newly created Workforce Investment Fund that would assist state and local agencies in developing “comprehensive employment and training systems.” Under the legislation, 35 job training programs, many of which were authorized in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), would be eliminated or consolidated.

According to the committee report, the measure “streamlines federal workforce development programs, strengthens the employer-driven workforce development system, expands decision-making at the local level, improves accountability and transparency, simplifies reporting requirements, encourages more training to meet in-demand job opportunities, and improves adult education and vocational rehabilitation.”

The bill would eliminate the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program, which President Obama proposed eliminating in his FY2013 budget request. The committee noted that the program is “too small to have a meaningful bearing on the number of women participating in registered apprenticeship programs,” and that program grants typically are given to community-based groups that are unable to report performance results. In addition, the committee noted that the program also is duplicative of the larger Registered Apprenticeship program. In opting to eliminate the program, the report notes that the SKILLS Act would require “state and local workforce investment boards to describe how they will serve the employment and training needs of individuals training for nontraditional employment.”

See pages 88-97 of the committee report for a summary of the bill.

Editor's Note:

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 803 – Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act
(Rep. Foxx, R-NC, and 23 cosponsors)
The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 803, the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act, as ordered reported by the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
This Nation should be doing everything it can to help people find a job or build their skills to advance in their careers or to seek a new one. Additionally, it is imperative that employers have the skilled workforce they need. The Administration is exploring opportunities to revisit how the Federal Government funds job training and employment services, including the possibility of reorganizing some existing programs that serve overlapping populations. The Administration already has advanced proposals in this area through its Budgets, including a universal displaced worker program to provide those who lose their jobs with a single set of core services.

Read the rest of the Administration's position:

[PDF] 

Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 803 – Supporting ...

Information provided by The Source, Women's Policy Inc.

Painting: Self Portrait by Judth Leyster, an apprentice in the workshop of Frans Pietersz de Grebber, circa 1630. Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art. Her first known signed work is dated 1629, four years before entering the artist's guild.By 1633, she was a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, the second woman to be registered there. Wikimedia Commons text.

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