January 2014
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Workforce Investment Act Gained Momentum in 2013

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The reauthorization bill awaits approval from the U.S. Senate.

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ASTD continues to monitor the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the landmark legislation originally passed in 1998 to streamline and coordinate workforce training programs at the federal level. Although WIA reauthorization has not succeeded in recent years, there was a great deal of momentum in 2013.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, reauthorization has focused largely on reducing and consolidating the number of federal workforce development programs. On March 15, 2013, the House passed The SKILLS (Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills) Act as H.R. 803. In addition to consolidation, the bill also makes changes to other provisions, including membership of state and local workforce investment boards (WIBs).

The U.S. Senate released its WIA reauthorization bill last summer—the Workforce Investment Act of 2013 (S. 1356)—and it passed the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on July 31, 2013. The Senate bill maintains the state and local WIB membership provisions that are in the original bill, with additions to other provisions.

The next step in the reauthorization process is for the full Senate to pass S. 1356. If that is successful, both chambers would then select members to go to conference to work though the differences of the two bills. ASTD will continue to monitor the progress on WIA reauthorization and provide updates in T+D and ASTD LINKS.

About the Author

Michael founded TRAINING SOLUTIONS, Inc. in 1995. With currently over 32 years of business management and HR/training experience, Michael offers a variety of skills and expertise to clients. He has facilitated many people skills training programs throughout the country for a wide variety of clients, from large corporations to small-midsize companies to nonprofits to universities. Many of his sessions focus on behaviors/attitudes, customer service, sales, leadership, management development and team building. Michael has earned the DiSC Certification given by Inscape Publishing (the publisher of DiSC). Michael also provides in-depth executive coaching services to management and executive level staff. His coaching program includes a 360-degree feedback process.

Michael is a highly respected speaker and advisor on the Workforce Investment Act and related publicly-funded workforce funding programs. He served on Former Virginia Governor Warner’s State Workforce Council and also sat on its executive committee. He has spoken at numerous workforce events, national and local conferences and provides consulting services to organizations looking to access public workforce training dollars available. He currently serves as an advisor to the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) on public policy issues.


About the Author

Jennifer joined ATD in 1999 to lead the Public Relations function. Jennifer continues to lead communication efforts to members and customers, the media, and public policy makers. She also leads ATD’s awards programs and governance functions. In her volunteer work, Jennifer served a two-year term on the executive board of directors for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and was president of the IABC Washington, D.C. chapter. She holds IABC’s Accredited Business Communicator credential. Jennifer was an adjunct professor at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland where she taught Public Relations Writing in 2009.  

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