On December 13, the US House of Representative voted to impose new minimum education requirements on unemployment insurance (UI) recipients. This legislation (HR 3630) would establish minimum educational requirements for recipients of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and would limit access to UI benefits for hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans. At the same time, the House has proposed significant cuts to federal job training and education programs as part of their draft Fiscal Year 2012 Labor-HHS-Education bill--the very programs they're demanding that low-skilled workers enroll in as a condition of receiving their benefits.

While all workers-including UI recipients-should have access to training, we adamantly oppose mandating training as a requirement for receiving UI benefits. Please take a minute today and tell our Senators to reject this legislation. 

Under the "Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011," (HR 3630) the House would require that any individual seeking UI benefits have at least a high school diploma or recognized equivalent, or be enrolled and making satisfactory progress in classes leading to such a credential. An estimated 284,000 unemployed workers could be impacted by this requirement in just the first three months, with applicants required to either enroll in adult education and training, or forego the benefits they need to support their families. However, it is far from clear that states and localities have the capacity to address this sharp increase in training enrollments.  For example, MA currently has a substantial waiting list for adult basic education (ABE) programs.

Federal funding for adult education has declined by more than 20 percent over the last decade, while funding for job training has seen even steeper losses--including $1 billion in cuts to training programs under the FY2011 continuing resolution. The House has proposed an additional $2.4 billion in cuts to programs under the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration--including a more than 90 percent cut to FY2012 funding for dislocated worker training (those workers most likely to receive UI). In essence, the proposal would require participation in adult education and job training as a condition of receiving UI benefits while simultaneously eliminating meaningful federal support for these programs.

Do you have 1 minute?
Send a letter to your Senators urging them to reject HR 3630 and focus on protecting workforce funding in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. 

Middle-Skills Solutions Act Update

Legislators who testified included Senator Donnelly, Senator Eldridge, Senator Clark, Senator Spilka, Senator Rush (represented by his chief of staff), Senator McGee, and Representative Fox.

For a list of businesses, training organizations, individuals and community organizations who testified, including links to selected testimonies, please read our blogpost on the hearing. 

Committee members Senator Dan Wolf and Representative Lori Erlich voiced their strong support for the bill and vowed to report it out favorably.  Senator Wolf in particular asked testifiers to "provide ammunition" that could be used once the bill reaches the floor in order to ensure its passage.

A small group from the Skills2Compete MA coalition will meet with Senator Wolf in early 2012 to follow-up on the hearing; we will send an update after this meeting.

Two OpEds were published post-hearing by the bill's lead sponsors. The Springfield Republican published an OpEd by Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and Bill Ward; Boston.com published an OpEd by Senator Kenneth Donnelly.

Senator Donnelly's piece concludes this way:

"We should focus on creating pathways and opportunity for our young people and adult workers to gain the middle-skills training and credentials that our businesses need. We must ensure that we deliver programs that provide the education and skills to power industry and business. If we are serious about creating good jobs for our residents, we must begin now. The Middle Skills Solutions Act is a beginning."

Thanks again to everyone who testified or submitted testimony in support of this bill.  We look forward to staying in touch to inform you of next steps!

• Strengthening Workplace Education Program Policies to Enable Low-Wage Workers' Advancement (Working Poor Families Project, Fall 2011)
• Measuring Business Impact: A Workforce Development Practitioner's Guide (Commonwealth Corporation, November 2011)
• GreenLink: A new green jobs aggregator site with links to jobs and internships
• National Skills Coalition's Federal Policy Year-end Wrap-Up (Dec. 15, 2011)   

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• The Boston Foundation
• Garfield Foundation
• Hyams Foundation
• Mabel Louise Riley Foundation
• Perpetual Trust for Charitable Giving, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee

Director's Remarks

Looking back at 2011, I am proud of all that SkillWorks and our partners have accomplished this year.   

With gratitude and warm wishes for a happy and healthy 2012, 

The Barr Foundation

BNY Mellon

The Boston Foundation

Chorus Foundation

The City of Boston's Neighborhood Jobs Trust

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Garfield Foundation

The Hyams Foundation

The Clowes Fund, Inc

Mabel Louise Riley Foundation 

Microsoft Corporation

National Fund for Workforce Solutions

Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Perpetual Trust for Charitable  Giving, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee  

State Street Foundation

Surdna Foundation

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley  

U.S. Department of Labor, through Jobs for the Future 

GreenSTREAM: Sustainable  

    Training Resources for      

    Environmentally Advanced  

    Manufacturing