FY11 CR impact on workforce programs.

On April 11, the House of Representatives released a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal Year (FY) 2011. The bill (H.R. 1473) was negotiated by Congress and the White House and is expected to pass this week. 

The bill cuts more than $1 billion in workforce development funding across a number of programs, including Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Career and Technical Education (CTE), Job Corps, YouthBuild, Reintegration of Ex-Offenders, and the Community Service Employment for Older Americans (CSEOA) program.  Funding for several competitive grant programs under the Department of Labor (DOL) was also eliminated, which seems to be causing some confusion in the field.  To clarify:

• Green jobs grants ($40m): the CR eliminates this grant program in FY 2011. It does not rescind the funds that were appropriated for the program in FY 2010. Therefore the Green Jobs Innovation Fund Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) that went out in February is still valid and those grants will eventually be awarded.
• Transitional jobs grants ($45m): in FY 2010, there was language that set aside funds for transitional jobs within two budget line items: $15 million under reintegration of ex-offenders program and $30 million under pilots and demos. The CR prohibits money under either of the budget lines from being spent on transitional jobs in FY 2011. It does not rescind the FY 2010 funding. Therefore the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration Project SGA that went out on March 2nd is still valid. 
• Career pathways grants ($125m per year): the FY 2011 funding for these grants was actually eliminated under the March 18th short-term CR. The long-term CR now also rescinds the FY 2010 funding. Therefore the Career Pathways Innovation Fund SGA that went out earlier this year (the grant applications were due at the end of March) is no longer valid.  These grants were funded with FY 2010 money, but because that money has been rescinded it is no longer available for these grants. 

[Quick tip for sorting this out: look to see if funds have been eliminated or rescinded.  If the funds have been eliminated that typically refers to FY 2011 money.  If the funds have been rescinded that likely refers to FY 2010 money]

One other point: in addition to these funding cuts the CR reduces the statewide set-aside under WIA Title I from 15 to 5 percent.  Appropriations staff have confirmed that their intent was to apply this reduction to all of the funding in PY 11 (i.e. all money allocated between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012).  However, there may have been a drafting error and it is possible that this reduction will only apply to the money that will be allocated in the first quarter of PY 2011 (i.e. July 1, 2011 - September 30, 2011) and then the statewide set aside will revert back to 15 percent for the remainder of PY 11 (October 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012).  At this point, it's not clear what will happen with this issue. This is something on which Congress and DOL will need to provide additional guidance.