The massive $787 billion dollar stimulus legislation, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1), was signed on February 17th by President Obama. The bill is designed, in part, to stimulate the economy and to create millions of jobs across the United States.

The stimulus package includes more than $5 billion in training for a variety of programs across a number of U.S. federal agencies. The bill will invest heavily in new technologies, infrastructure projects, and health care. It also calls for investments to help laid off workers get back to work. An important part of the legislation allocates $3.9 billion to the Department of Labor. $2.95 billion will be used for training and employment services through FY09. The Department of Labor has 30 days from Feb. 17th to allocate funding to the states.

As an ASTD member and learning professional, what should you know about this bill, and what can you do to help your organization take advantage of these opportunities? The majority of the training funds will be allocated through the publicly-funded workforce system. You can access information about how much of these resources are coming to your states and communities by reaching out to the executive director of your local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) or to the manager the local One-Stop Career Center in your community. Information about how to contact your local WIB or One-Stop Career Center may be found here: www.servicelocator.org/wibcontacts/.