On September 30th, through a torrential downpour in our nation's capital, members of ASTD went up to Capitol Hill to advocate for effective training and development legislation. A group of chapter leaders and members of the Public Policy Council met with 18 members of Congress (mostly staff) to discussion several issues important to the T&D community.
Members were given tools they needed to set up their appointment through a series of webinars, and they had the information they needed to prepare themselves for their meetings. We also had an onsite orientation at the conference on the morning of the event.
Our discussions for our meetings were first centered on the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization. WIA currently appears to be stalled; and, unfortunately, another Congressional session will pass without this legislation being worked on or passed.
The second discussion was a permanent extension of Section 127 of the IRS tax code for educational tax credits. This provision of the tax code had been extended for 10 years and is up for renewal. Currently there are two bills (one in the House and one in the Senate) to make this a permanent part of the tax code.
After our meetings, we went back to the conference hotel to debrief the experience and discuss next steps in moving forward in these areas. We also discussed chapter involvement in policy issues.
For those of you talking to candidates this election season, here are the talking points on these two issues the group used that day.
Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA):
As Congress considers a WIA reauthorization bill in the future, ASTD would like to suggest four areas of focus for consideration:
1. Workforce readiness assessment. To ensure that the workforce has the skills necessary for success, and companies are able to hire employees with the skills that meet their needs, we encourage the implementation of a skills assessment tool or process to help the workforce investment system collect consistent metrics about the skills needed by employers before public funds for training are invested.
2. Flexibility with technology-based training. Since WIA was enacted in 1998, organizations have tripled their use of technology to deliver training to employees. With the increase of Millennial in the workforce-a generation that has grown up using technology-we encourage the workforce investment system to adapt programs to meet the needs of all generations of workers and consider a more flexible approach to online programs and courses.
3. Skills development for those working in the WIA system. To ensure that individuals are able to access cost-effective and appropriate training opportunities; employers can find skilled and ready-to-work employees; and the publicly-funded workforce system manages its budget judiciously, it's important that staff within the public workforce system understand the fundamentals of adult learning. By having a general competence in workforce training (based on industry standards), they will be able to more effectively assess training providers and the training needs of the local community.
4. Measuring the performance of training. In addition to the performance metrics currently used to measure the success of programs funded through the workforce investment system, ASTD recommends that the workforce investment system measure the effectiveness of the training: did this course or program increase workers' knowledge and skills and can they demonstrate what they know and can do? This recommendation has a direct link to the need to assess workforce readiness.
Extension of Section 127 of the IRS Code - Employee Educational Assistance
Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code enables an employee to exclude from income up to $5,250 per year in employer-provided tuition assistance for any type of educational course at the undergraduate and graduate level. Section 127 benefits are currently set to expire at the end of 2010. This section of the IRS Code was originally established in 1978 as a five-year provision to give officials time to study it. It has been extended eight times since then, most recently in 2001 for ten years. Absent congressional action to renew it or make it permanent, Section 127 will expire at the end of 2010.
ASTD is involved in The Coalition to Preserve Employer Provided Education Assistance, a group of organizations advocating on behalf of extending Section 127.
Why Renew Section 127?
• It provides tax-free educational assistance, which is an important tool employers use to attract talent to their organizations and to build a skilled workforce.
• Nearly 1 million employees took advantage of Section 127 benefits in 2007, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study's recent data on characteristics of students in postsecondary education.
• Section 127 plays a critical role in promoting the competitiveness of our organizations. In 2007, almost half of Section 127 beneficiaries were graduate students, and 45 percent of Section 127 recipients majored in business, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
• Repeatedly extending Section 127 rather than making it permanent cause's uncertainty for employees who are not sure they can rely on the benefit, and also for employers when they are not able to anticipate changes that could impact their training programs and benefits offered to employees.
