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Advocate for workforce programs in the FY2012 Conference Committee budget
Your letters, calls and emails have helped several key workforce provisions make it into the FY2012 MA House and Senate budgets.
Now the budget is in Conference Committee (Senators Brewer, Baddour, and Knapik; Representatives Dempsey, Kulik, and DeMacedo), and we need another push to ensure workforce supports and job training budget items make it into the final FY2012 state budget. The Conference Committee budget is expected to be completed and sent to the Governor by the end of the month.
Please call your Representative and Senator and ask him or her to ask the conferees to support the following priorities in the FY2012 budget:
- 7003-0803: One Stop Career Centers at $4,994,467, the higher amount passed by the House.
- 7002-0012: At Risk Youth, YouthWorks youth jobs. The Senate at $3 million is $1 million higher than the House.
- 7027-0019: School to Career Connecting Activities, youth jobs. The Senate at $1.2 million is $1.2 million higher than the House.
- 8100-0111: Shannon Anti-Gang Violence Program. The Senate at $5.5 million is $2.5 million higher than the House.
Unfortunately, our requests for funding for the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund did not make it into either the House or Senate budget, but Senator Donnelly did make a strong case for supporting it during floor debate. Read these remarks and the status of workforce amendments on the Skills2Compete MA blog.
Thank you for your continued support!
Loh-Sze Leung
Director, SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce
Sue Parsons,
Director, Workforce Solutions Group
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 Senate HELP Committee releases drafts of Workforce Investment Act, Titles I, II, & III
Last week the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) released staff discussion drafts of Titles I, II and III of the proposed Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization bill. Mark-up of the reauthorization proposal by the Senate HELP Committee is scheduled for June 29, and we've heard that feedback should be in by Friday, June 17. The Committee will release discussion drafts of the remaining Titles in the next week: - Title I: Streamlines governance provisions such as boards and plans and establishes common performance indicators across the four core WIA programs.
- Title II: One stop delivery system, job training formula programs, and national programs.
- Title III: Adult Education
- Title IV: Amendments to the Wagner-Peyser Act
- Title V: Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act
- Title VI: General Provisions
The National Skills Coalition has great resources on WIA reauthorization and will be tracking this issue closely, as will other national workforce, advocacy and philanthropic organizations. Skills2Compete MA will keep you updated on analysis of and feedback on the WIA reauthorization bill.
Do you have feedback? Email us by Friday, June 17, and we'll be able to aggregate all the comments we receive and pass them on.
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Educational Rewards, For-Profit Schools Commission Bill Hearings
Workforce Solutions Group, SkillWorks and our partners have testified at hearings on the Educational Rewards grant program and For-Profit Schools Commission bill hearings in the last few weeks. The hearings were well-attended and featured strong student and employer testimonies. 
Read more:
Educational Rewards
(H977 / S42) For-Profit Schools Commission (H1066 / S134) |
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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
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Last Call for Jobs and Workforce Summit Registration!
 Registration for the Workforce Summit on June 21 at the Publick House in Sturbridge is almost at capacity. We have only a few slots left for this exciting event that will feature best practices, business speakers, and key state and federal updates on workforce issues.
| Registration closes June 14
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