ROBY'S AMENDED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BILL GOES TO PRESIDENT

An important workforce development bill supported by the Business Council of Alabama received final congressional passage Wednesday and was sent to President Obama. The bill includes an amendment by U.S. Rep. Martha Roby that would prohibit job training funds from being used for political or lobbying purposes.

H.R. 803, The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, formerly known as the SKILLS Act, reauthorizes critical funding for state and local job training efforts, Roby's office said. The bill would consolidate workforce development programs currently lodged in 30 agencies, cut needless bureaucracy, and focus more resources toward helping Americans land good jobs.

The BCA federal legislative agenda for 2014 includes support for reauthorization of this important skills investment legislation.

Roby, R-Montgomery, in committee amended the bill to prohibit any state or local agency from using federal workforce funds to lobby or to engage in political activities. The bill was approved by the Senate and received final House passage on a vote of 415-6.

"Workforce development agencies need to be using precious federal resources to help their unemployed workers land jobs - not to turn around and lobby Congress for more funds, and certainly not to advance political beliefs," Roby said.

The National Association of Manufacturers, which supported the bill, said President Obama has indicated he will sign it.

"House lawmakers took a critical step toward closing the skills gap today, and manufacturers commend these policymakers for addressing this important issue," NAM Vice President of Human Resources Policy Joe Trauger said following the vote. "Passage of this important legislation is essential to ensuring that the United States maintains its ownership of the most outstanding, productive and innovative workforce in the world."

The NAM's Manufacturing Institute study said that 80 percent of employers reported a moderate or serious shortage of qualified applicants for skilled and highly skilled production positions.

Congress is starting to worry how it will pass legislation to prevent states from suffering a 28 percent cut in transportation funding next month. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., pushed a short-term fix for the Highway Trust Fund and on Thursday his committee considered a bill to finance projects through next May.

Camp's proposals included "pension smoothing" and boosting customs user fees. Camp's proposal would raise about $6.4 billion from pension smoothing, or pushing back deadlines when employers make pension plan contributions, $3.5 billion from customs user fees, and $1 billion from an underground storage tank account, The Hill reported. Companies would get a tax break on contributions as long as they put more money into employee pension plans.

Senators said they were getting closer to a deal. "The way I would characterize it is we are making progress on avoiding a shutdown that would, in my view, cost our country tens of thousands of jobs," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

The Transportation Department has said that allowing the trust fund to go bankrupt could cost the economy some 700,000 jobs and spread pain across the country. If lawmakers don't come up with a deal before the August break, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said his department would have to start rolling back payments to state and local governments, The Hill said.

House Republicans unveiled a funding bill this week to block Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules to limit carbon pollution from power plants and redefine the federal government's jurisdiction over lakes and streams.

The appropriations bill would reduce EPA funding by 9 percent below current levels, or $7.5 billion, for next fiscal year. The $7.5 billion includes $24 million in cuts to administrative programs, such as the administrator's office and congressional affairs, and also funds the Interior Department.

The bill also would stop various harmful, costly, and potentially job-killing regulations, the House Appropriations Committee said in a Tuesday statement. The EPA would have to stop using its funds to work on any rule to limit carbon dioxide discharge from power plants.

Legislators in both parties say that the proposed rules, issued by the President through executive order instead of through congressional action, would cripple the coal industry and increase electricity prices. The loss of jobs could number in the hundreds of thousands and cost the economy billions of dollars.

The EPA has said it's a moral issue.

"A clean air environment should not be a political issue. Both sides of the aisle want clean, safe air for their children," EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia said. "We proposed the Clean Power Plan because it's the right thing to do to protect public health."

Immigration polling tells Congress to act

"The survey of likely voters finds, for example, that the vast majority of voters believe the system is in need of fixing. 86% of Republicans believe Congress should take action to fix the immigration system. 79% of Independents agree. The idea of waiting for reform is also a loser with 80% of voters wanting Congress to act this year, with nearly half calling it 'very important' they act this year. Some 77% of Republicans say it is important that Congress act, while 53% say it is very important. And 74% of Independents believe it is important for Congress to act this year.

Rep. Graves files bill to stop all EPA regulations

The Hill (Cama 7/9) "Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would stop every regulation the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently developing and require a review of all existing rules. Graves' legislation would prohibit EPA from taking action on any rules until its retroactive review is complete, and require congressional approval of all regulations that have an economic cost above $50 billion, including past ones.

"Graves, chairman of the Small Business Committee, used EPA head Gina McCarthy's visit this week to his northern Missouri district to highlight the 'Waters of the United States' rule, a proposal to redefine the federal government's jurisdiction over lakes and streams under the Clean Water Act. McCarthy is meeting with farmers to promote the rule and allay their fears about it.

"'Administrator McCarthy and the EPA will soon find out that Washington bureaucrats are becoming far too aggressive in attacking our way of life', Graves said in a statement. 'When the EPA says that property owners, farmers, and livestock producers must stomach higher costs, longer delays, and bigger headaches, it's up to Congress to put up a roadblock'.

"The 'Stop the EPA Act' is also aimed at the agency's proposals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The EPA's most recent regulatory agenda listed 134 proposed actions, the lowest since electronic records began in 1995. Graves' bill would halt all of those actions, including regulations to reduce carbon emissions from oil refineries, set renewable few blending mandates and revise solid waste disposal rules, among many others."