NWA 2

NWA 2

The second and third day of the NWA conference was full of great information on congress and the state of the workforce appropriations and re-authorization bill. Most of it was not good news. It appears that with the President sticking to his position with no negotiation, that we are deadlocked and unable to move domestic bills for now.

Chairman David Obey (D-WI) stated that the current lack of any negotiations by the white house has stifled the efforts he has made to compromise on reaching an agreement. President Bush wants $200 billion for the war in Iraq, but is unwilling to allow an additional $22 billion for domestic programs. The Labor-HHS appropriations bill was vetoed by the President and the congress was one vote short of over-ride. This, of course, included the rescission of $245 million from the workforce system with the elusive and unsubstantiated unspent dollars DOL claims is on the table. I have asked if any state has returned any unspent money to DOL in the past five years out of their three-year grants, and I am told no. So, the system expends all dollars during the three years it has to expend the grant in serving job seekers and employers.

Obey also stated that the President wanted another $60 billion to give those earning over $1 million a year a tax break.

Peter D. Hart, a national respected pollster, then took the group through his take on the upcoming election. He talked about the continued polarization of each party to the point we are at now where no statesmanship leader and negotiator for compromise leader can work within the system. Both parties have increasingly drawn one line in the sand after another, and now they are boxed into a corner unwilling to meet anyone half way to accomplish good public policy for the people they claim to serve. He showed us the progression of this over the past 70 years and how we are at a point where the people (80%) dislike congress and 70% dislike the Presidents job, and frustration is evident in his polling all over the US.

Patrick Di Battista from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed the TAA assessment recently completed by the GAO, and the VETs program and how it does not interface with the Veterans Administration as envisioned by congress, and how it has not become a contributing partner to the One Stop workforce system.

With WIA, he reviewed some of the data collected from some of the states and the disparity and lack of uniform data collected by DOL making their proclamations meaningless because they do not have a validated data collection system that monitors the workforce system in a way that would present a clear picture of what is going on in the system. I think he rightly states that the system needs to invest in research to determine the local effectiveness of our federal investments. Our CWIB moving forward on ArcGIS Business Analyst as well as the work with EIU on the CSSI project is gathering more meaningful data for us to consider.

Senator Patty Murray, (D-Washington) gave a passionate presentation for the value of a locally controlled workforce system. She has been our champion in the Senate and relies on my good friend Kris Stadelman and other workforce professionals for information and suggestions. She received a well deserved standing ovation at the conference.


We heard from Ric Keller (R-FL) who along with John Tierney (D-MA) wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter in support of the local workforce system and actually was someone who worked as a job placement professional in our system. He is a success story for our system and was also a big supporter for the increase in the Pell Grant funds for the students in this country. He was inspiring and showed that even with more known and well-funded candidates running against him, he could win with hard work and a solid platform of goals for the citizens he represents. He even goes along into the rural areas with the mobile workforce lab and uses the time to meet with people in the town where the lab is located. He supports our locally controlled system.

We heard from Congressman John Yarmuth (D-KY) who sits on the Committee on Education and Labor. As a newspaper editor, he brings a unique view to the congress and expressed his support for our system.

As you can see, the day and a half was filled with speakers and topics relevant to the workforce system and what we might see in congress.

To summarize, President Bush is taking a no-compromise position on all legislation, his way or no way. The congress will send to him today and omnibus bill. It may be vetoed again by the President. Then there may be a continuing resolution (CR) from December to February. The Democrats do not want the government to shut down. Then it might be a CR until next budget year. And I would say with the election in November, nothing may happen until there is a clear picture on who will be the new President and if the Democrats can pick up a few more seats. I think it is time for the American people to elect states people willing to work with people of many views and not elect ideologists who profess one view with no room for compromise. Our government only works well when people like Everett Dirksen (R-IL) and Paul Simon (D-IL), both now gone (dead), who were recognized for their fairness and willingness to work toward an inclusive path.

Leaders running for President need to take notice that the American people expect better and focusing on only pleasing the “core” or “base” is not inclusive enough and open enough to the views of many. All problems present many choices and possibilities. One answer to everything does not work and never has.