Update: Continuing Resolution expires this Friday; National Workforce Day of Action on March 24

Federal FY11 Budget Update (March 15, 2011)

FY 2011 Continuing Resolution expires March 18, 2011
Sen. Scott Brown votes in favor of HR1 cuts, including those targeting workforce development
Senate is considering a new short-term continuing resolution, which includes some cuts to workforce programs.
Join the National Workforce Day of Action on March 24, 2011.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your advocacy over the past few weeks.

Last week we shared the good news that the two-week continuing resolution (CR) for the FY11 federal budget did not include cuts to workforce programs. This CR expires this Friday, March 18, and there is a fierce battle over the next round of cuts.

Now we are asking you to take part in a national Workforce Day of Action next Thursday, March 24, 2011.

What's at stake
The House Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Appropriations bill (HR 1) zeroes out all funding for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) state and local employment and training programs, a cut of over $3.8 billion for the coming year (beginning this July).

Impact on Massachusetts if HR1 is enacted

Many of the One-Stop Career Centers (if not all) will be forced to close. $26.3 million would be cut in job training and employment funds under the Workforce Investment Act which provides job training and employment assistance to low-income adults and youth who are out of work.
Unless new funds are provided later this year, the cut would effectively end services in the coming year for all of the program's 2,600 dislocated workers, 2,400 low-income adults, and 3,900 youths age 14 to 21.
YouthBuild, JobCorps, Senior Community Service Employment Programs and others would also suffer drastic cuts. Check the Resources column for more information.

What you can do

1. If you have 2 minutes today, call Senator Scott Brown

Senator Scott Brown voted to support the House HR1 cuts last Wednesday. Please contact his office immediately and tell him you are disappointed that he voted for these cuts.

Senator Scott Brown
Washington, DC: 202-224-4543
Boston, MA: 617-565-3170
Email: http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

2. Then, sign up to participate in the Workforce Day of Action on March 24.

Members of Congress will be in their home districts the week of March 24. Here are a few ways to participate:

Call today to schedule a meeting with your Representative at their in-district offices. (If you get a meeting, please let us know!)
Invite your Representative to a graduation or training event at your agency and to meet with your business partners and participants.
Simply stop by your Member's district office to introduce yourself, and drop off materials about your program.You can do this without an appointment.
Join one of the meetings that Skills2Compete MA is setting up in-district.

3. Join the national response calling for support of workforce training programs.

In 2010, the WIA system helped over 4.3 million people get jobs and placed hundreds of thousands into education and training to prepare them for new careers.

Now is not the time to eliminate the nation's primary system for getting people back to work. Let's work together to make sure Congress listens.

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Loh-Sze Leung

Director, SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce

Sue Parsons

Director, Workforce Solutions Group

Skills2Compete-Massachusetts is a coalition of business, labor, workforce training, adult education, post-secondary education, and community-based organizations working together to ensure that all Massachusetts residents have the opportunity to complete at least two years of education or training past high school, so that they have the vocational credential, industry certification or Associates Degree needed to succeed in today's economy.

Skills2Compete-Massachusetts is led by SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce and the Workforce Solutions Group.

Follow Skills2Compete MA on Twitter @s2cma