Congress Approves Economic Stimulus Bill, President to Sign (2/8/08)
On Thursday evening, February 7th, the U.S. House of Representatives approved and sent to the President an economic stimulus package that was revised only slightly by the U.S. Senate. The White House has indicated that the President will sign the bill next week. (more)

TAA Expires But Funding Will Keep It Alive (12/21/07)
The U.S. Senate in the closing hours of the first session of the 110th Congress failed to pass legislation to temporarily extend the Trade Adjustment Act. The current authorization expired on September 30th but had been extended through December 31st. The House of Representatives approved a revised program in November (see 11/28/07) article. The White House indicated that it might veto the House version. Teamsters President Jim Hoffa, Jr. implied that the program had expired; however, U.S. Department of Labor officials content that since the program has been funded it will continue much as is the case with the WIA program.

Assistant Secretary DeRocco Announces Resignation (12/20/07)
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco announced that she will resign her post on January 3rd. DeRocco took the helm of ETA in the summer of 2001. Her almost six and half year stint as Assistant Secretary is the longest tenure for this position in the modern workforce era. While sources claim that Ms. DeRocco will be taking a senior position at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the announcement did not indicate her future plans.

Domestic Funding Bill for FY’08 Approved; WIA Programs Reduced (12/19/07)
After several days of maneuvering, the Administration and the Congress reached agreement on both domestic spending and support for war funding. Under the final deal, most workforce, social service and economic development programs—including WIA Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth funding streams—will face a cut of 1.747 percent. In the case of WIA and most programs, the base was the funding level in fiscal year 2007. In addition, the three main funding streams for WIA were hit with a $250 million rescission. The Omnibus Reconciliation bill continues language from previous appropriation bills that prohibits the U.S. Department of Labor from issuing regulations for WIA, Wagner Peyser and the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (TAA) and limits salaries for highly compensated WIA employees.

Congress Plays Deal or No Deal (12/14/07)
Congress has approved a one-week continuing resolution (CR) funding government operations until Friday, December 21st. The move gives House and Senate leaders a bit more time to negotiate with the White House on a massive omnibus package that will fund the government through September 30, 2008. (more)

TAA Reauthorization Bill Approved by House But Passage of New Bill Unlikely This Year (11/28/07)
The House of Representatives has approved legislation (H.R. 3920) to reauthorize and expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. The bill also would make changes to the Unemployment Assistance program and the WARN Act. The Senate has not yet acted but its bill in the Finance Committee differs significantly from the House-passed version. Meanwhile, the President has indicated that he would veto either version. TAA expired on September 30 but received an extension through the end of the year. In all likelihood, the program will not be reauthorized this year but rather will gain a second temporary extension into next year. (more)

Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill Vetoed; Override Vote Failed (11/16/07)
As expected, Congress used the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriation bill to test the President’s threat to veto bills over his budget levels and the President, on November 13, took the challenge and did just that. The $151 billion bill includes about $10 billion in discretionary spending above the President's request. Before leaving for the Thanksgiving recess, the House attempted to override the veto and failed to do so by two votes. (more)

House Subcommittee Holds Second WIA Reauthorization Hearing (7/26/07)
On July 26, the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness held a second hearing on reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Committee staff seem to think that this will be the final hearing on WIA before a House bill is introduced, probably in September Given the congressional workload this fall, it looks increasingly likely that WIA reauthorization will be carried into next year, the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress. (more)

Minimum Wage Hike Goes Into Effect (7/25/07)
The first minimum wage increase in a decade went into effect on July 24th moving the federal wage floor from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. The wage will increase by 70 cents in each of the next two summers, bringing the minimum to $7.25 an hour in July 2009. (more)

In Surprise Move House Appropriators Cut WIA Funding Administration’s Rescission of $335 Million Accepted (7/11/07)
Since the Democratic takeover of the Congress this year, it had looked as though WIA funding would stay at Fiscal Year 2006 levels at least through the next presidential election cycle. But that assumption may turn out to be incorrect. (more)

WIA Reauthorization Shows Some Life (6/28/07)
The House held its first hearing this session on reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. The Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness listened to a variety of witnesses from government and advocacy groups. Members and staff hinted at a second hearing later in July and speculated that legislation would be introduced in September. (more)

Immigration Bill Fails a Second Time (6/28/07)
By a vote of 46 to 53, the U.S. Senate on June 28th failed to invoke cloture (60 votes needed) to end debate and move to a vote on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639). (more)

Congress on Course to Hold WIA Funding Steady But White House Battle Looms in Fall (6/9/07)
Early in 2007, Congress agreed to fund a great many domestic programs for FY’07, which was close to half over at the time, at the FY’06 levels. For WIA programs this meant that the cutbacks proposed by the Bush Administration did not take place and national funding for the programs that begin on July 1, 2007, was stable. Now the same budget and appropriation committees are working on bills that will hold most WIA funding at the very same levels for FY’08 as well. (more)

Administration Introduces WIA Reauthorization Bill (6/7/07)
On June 7, the Bush Administration unveiled its proposal to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The proposal holds few surprises, as it is one more step in a series of reform proposals that began a few years back with a call for block grants and an end to in-school youth programs. (more)