Audio Updates.
National Skills Coalition's Audio Updates are national audio conference briefings on state and federal policy led by our staff and allies. You can listen to the presentation portion of these Updates online via podcast. To ensure you receive invitations to these updates, which include live Q&A with national experts, sign up for our member mailing list.
Audio Updates are made possible by the generosity of our foundation partners, our organizational Supporting Members, and individual donors. To become a Supporting Member organization, click here. To become a donor, click here.
The President's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Proposal
February 26, 2010
Listen as National Skills Coalition analyzes President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal. Learn how the workforce field can impact jobs legislation and appropriations debates on Capitol Hill, and help ensure that we’re investing in the job training and education that America’s workers and businesses need to rebuild the economy. Follow along with the Podcast PowerPoint while listening to the following segments:
- Jobs Legislation Update | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
- FY 2011 Budget Overview | Kermit Kaleba, National Skills Coalition
Recovery to Reauthorization Audio Update Series
In June 2009, National Skills Coaltion launched Recovery to Reauthorization, a time-limited series tracking how Recovery Act efforts could help drive a lasting transformation of the federal workforce and education systems if these efforts receive long-term federal support through the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act.
Implementing the Obama Administration’s Unemployment Insurance-Pell Grant Initiative
August 11, 2009
- Recovery to Reauthorization: An Overview | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
- Expanding Access to Education and Training for UI Benefit Recipients | Andrew Stettner, National Employment Law Project
- UI Benefit Recipients and Pell Grant Eligibility | Jim Hermes, American Association of Community Colleges
- Federal Policy Opportunities | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
Career Pathways Under the Recovery Act
July 24, 2009
- Recovery to Reauthorization: An Overview | Kermit Kaleba, National Skills Coalition
- Adult Learning, ARRA, and Post-Secondary Education and Training | Ed Strong, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
- Building Better Pathways Between Adult Education, Workforce Development, and Higher Education | Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, Center for Law and Social Policy
- Pathways Federal Policy Update | Kermit Kaleba, National Skills Coalition
Sector Strategies Under the Recovery Act
July 1, 2009
- Recovery to Reauthorization overview | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
- Clean energy sector strategies under the Recovery Act | Jason Walsh, Green for All
- State sector strategies and innovations under the Recovery Act | Jack Mills, National Network of Sector Partnerships
- Strategic considerations when developing sector initiatives | Gary Yakimov, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
- Federal efforts to support sector initiatives through the SECTORS Act | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
End of Session Wrap-Up
December 11, 2008
Listen along as National Skills Coalition Federal Policy Director Rachel Gragg debriefs the close of the 110th Congress and looks ahead to the new Administration and the 111th Congress. In addition to wrapping up any remaining work done in the lame-duck session, she provides an overview of the 2008 election results and what a number of new members of Congress might mean for workforce policy. Follow along with the Podcast PowerPoint as you listen to the following segments:
- Overview of 2008 Presidential and Congressional Election Results
- 110th Congress End of Session Wrap-Up
- Workforce Development Policy in the 111th Congress
The New FSET
June 19, 2008
The recently passed farm bill includes several key changes to the Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) program. Reforms proposed by National Skills Coalition in the new law remove restrictions on program participation for working individuals and expand the scope of post-employment support services allowable under the program. Learn what these changes will mean from leading experts in the field.
- Overview of the new law | Rachel Gragg, National Skills Coalition
- Considerations for state FSET expansion plans | Jeffrey Jablow, Social Venture Solutions
- Lessons learned from the California experience | Jessica Bartholow, California Association of Food Banks
The President's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal
February 28, 2008
Listen to National Skills Coalition's analysis of President Bush's Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposal, which includes severe cuts to workforce programs under the Departments of Labor and Education. Follow along with the Podcast PowerPoint while listening to segments on:
- Workforce in the Budget Process
- Overview of Workforce in the FY09 Budget
- Department of Labor
- Department of Education
- Workforce Stakeholders' Message to Congress
End of Session Wrap-Up
December 18, 2007
This audio update assesses the status of federal workforce funding as well as Congressional action on the following key workforce policies:
- Federal workforce appropriations
- Trade Adjustment Assistance and Food Stamp Employment and Training
- Green Jobs legislation
