House passes CR; focus now on Senate.

On February 19, the House of Representatives voted 235-189 to approve a continuing resolution (CR) for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 that would substantially reduce federal discretionary spending, including cutting nearly $3.8 billion in funding for job training programs under the Department of Labor. The process now moves to the Senate, where next steps are unclear. Senate leadership has indicated that they will not agree to the House bill as passed, preferring instead a measure that would freeze federal discretionary spending levels at current levels, or include a more modest set of spending cuts than in the House version.  However, the current CR funding federal government operations is set to expire on March 4, and Congress is out of session this week for the President’s Day recess, meaning there will be little time for the two chambers to reach agreement before the deadline and avoid a possible government shutdown. Senate Democrats have suggested a short-term stopgap extension of the current CR to allow more time for negotiations, but House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have both stated that they will not agree to any short-term measure that does not include significant funding cuts. 

Despite the Senate’s opposition to the House-passed bill—and the President’s statement that he would veto any bill that would “sharply undermine core government functions and investments key to economic growth and job creation,”—the likelihood that any final deal will include at least some funding cuts makes this an especially dangerous period for the public workforce system. The House CR would eliminate all Program Year (PY) 2011 funding for the Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), including all advanced appropriations, meaning the WIA system would receive no new funding until July 1, 2012.  With many states and localities already overburdened by increased demands for services in the face of continued high unemployment, these cuts could effectively force the shutdown of the public workforce system in communities across the nation.

Other programs that would see FY 2011 funding eliminated or significantly reduced include:

• YouthBuild ($102.5 million);
• Green Jobs Innovation Fund ($40 million);
• Career Pathways Innovation Fund ($125 million);
• Reintegration of ex-offenders program ($108.5 million);
• Senior Community Service Employment Program ($500 million);
• Dislocated Worker state formula grant program and the Dislocated Worker National Reserve ($165 million rescinded from FY 10 funds); and
• Pell Grants (the maximum individual award would be reduced from the current $5,550 to $4,705).

Workforce development advocates should weigh in with their Senators to ensure they understand the importance of job training and education as part of any economic recovery and job creation efforts, and urging them to oppose short-sighted cuts to programs that help address the critical skill needs of U.S. workers and businesses.

National Skills Coalition will continue to monitor this process, and provide updates as new information becomes available. Sign up for our RSS feed to receive the most current updates.