House Passes FY 2008 Funding Bill

On July 19, 2007, the House passed its Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill for FY 2008. The bill, H.R. 3043, was approved by a vote of 276-140, and provides almost $152 billion in discretionary spending for education, labor and health programs. Of this total, over $62 billion in funding is allocated to the Department of Education, with Pell Grants, No Child Left Behind, and IDEA receiving significant increases. The bill also includes a $25 million increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant, and restores funding for most other education and workforce development programs that were proposed for elimination by the Administration. Unfortunately, the House bill does propose a rescission of $335 million in Workforce Investment Act (WIA) “unexpended” funds from prior years.

The White House has issued a policy statement threatening to veto the bill if it makes it through Congress in its current form, largely due to a $12 billion difference in spending between the Administration’s proposal and the House-passed bill. However, there remain a number of steps in the appropriations process before this veto threat may play out. 

While the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved its Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill (see ACTE’s July 11 Legislative Update for more information), it is not expected to go to the Senate floor for a vote until at least September. Currently, there are significant differences between the House-passed and Senate committee-passed bills that would then have to be worked out in a conference committee. The Senate bill provides significantly less resources for education, and does not propose to increase Perkins funds. 

For more information and the latest updates on the FY 2008 budget and appropriations process, visit here. 

ACTE Submits Comments in Response to Proposed DOL Construction Indurstry Rule Change

On July 16, the Association for Career and Technical Education submitted official comments to the Department of Labor in response to a Federal Register Notice seeking input. The notice dealt with proposed changes to rules governing youth participation in a variety of occupations, including the construction industry. Specifically, one piece of the proposal would have established a new prohibition on the employment and participation of 16- and 17-year-olds in all work in construction occupations. Under the rule, there would be no exceptions for apprentices and student-learners.

The Department of Labor was specifically looking for information on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the industry-wide prohibition, and if, under certain conditions, 16- and 17-year-olds could be safely employed in the construction industry, including as apprentices and student learners.

ACTE’s comments emphasized the harmfulness of the proposal to students enrolled in career and technical education programs who are exploring possible careers in the construction industry, and focused on the safety training and supervision inherent in CTE work-based learning opportunities. To view ACTE’s full comments, visit here.

Competitiveness Bills Ready for Conference Committee

In July, the Senate took procedural steps to ensure that legislative addressing American competitiveness and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) issues could move forward toward completion. Previously, the House and Senate had both passed competitiveness-related bills, H.R. 2272 and S. 761, but legislative progress had stalled. On July 19, the Senate brought up the House-passed bill for debate, and amended it with its own legislative language before passing the bill by unanimous consent. The Senate then requested a conference committee with the House and appointed Sens. Bingaman (D-NM), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Lieberman (I-CT), Mikulski (D-MD), Kerry (D-MA), Nelson (D-FL), Domenici (R-NM), Stevens (R-AK), Enzi (R-WY), Alexander (R-TN), Ensign (R-NV), and Coleman (R-MN) to that conference committee.

The House appointed Reps. Miller (D-CA), Holt (D-NJ), McKeon (R-CA), Gordon (D-TN), Lipinski (D-IL), Baird (D-WA), Wu (D-OR), Lampson (D-TX), Udall (D-CO), Giffords (D-AZ), McNerney (D-CA), Hall (R-TX), Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Ehlers (R-MI), Biggert (R-IL), Feeney (R-FL), and Gingrey (R-GA) to the conference committee on July 31. The conference committee then proceeded to meet and agreed to file a conference report. A side-by-side has been developed by the American Chemical Society to convey highlights of both pieces of legislation.

For more information and the latest updates on competitiveness legislation, visit here.

House Holds WIA Reauthorization Hearing

On July 26, 2007, the House Education and Labor Committee’s Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness held its second hearing on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The hearing was titled “Workforce Investment Act: Ideas to Improve the Workforce Development System.” Witnesses included a mix of individuals representing state agencies, local programs and workforce interests.

In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) noted the importance of replacing departing highly skilled workers, the need to increase the capacity of the vocational rehabilitation and other services, and a desire to increase investment to address the disparity between different student populations.

Panelists provided a variety of recommendations, including reducing the size of Workforce Investment Boards, giving more control to states for coordination of services, and providing more customer-focused attention to services. Panelist John Twomey, executive director of the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals, urged better coordination of WIA with other labor programs including the Wagner-Peyser Act, a federally funded labor exchange program developed to match up employers with qualified out-of-work applicants.

Panelist David Ware, representing the National Association of State Workforce Board Chairs and the National Governors Association, noted recent recommendations from those organizations. The recommendations center on four themes:

(1)   Enhance program coordination and flexibility.

(2)   Align workforce and education.

(3)   Improve training services.

(4)   Reduce administrative costs.

When asked by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) about the effectiveness of the involvement of career schools related to WIA involvement, Mr. Ware stated that he started a private career school that boasts 100 percent student job placement.

Rep. Rick Keller (R-FL) indicated that Republicans are interested in working in a bi-partisan manner on the new legislation. Panelists urged the Committee to soon reauthorize WIA, which has been debated for the past five years.

A complete list of witnesses, their testimony, and an archived Webcast of the hearing are available on the Education and Labor Committee’s Web site.

Leglative Update Information