WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to help more workers access 21st-century job opportunities, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today helped pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through the U.S. Senate by a vote of 95-3.  This bipartisan legislation, which reauthorizes the existing Workforce Investment Act (WIA), creates a more streamlined workforce development system and includes several key provisions backed by Senator Reed to better align workforce development programs with economic development and education initiatives and strengthen the role of the business community in implementing worker training programs.

“Improving our workforce development system can help spark job growth and strengthen our economy.  In order to increase employment opportunities for Rhode Islanders, we need to equip our workers with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully compete now and in the future.  By streamlining our education and employment services, this bipartisan legislation will help ensure the business, academic, and local community are all working together to tailor workforce development programs to the needs of our citizens and our economy,” said Reed.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was enacted in 1998 and aims to reduce unemployment by helping all types of workers find jobs that match their skills or get the job training they need to qualify for in-demand jobs in their community.  The program is funded on the federal level, but administered locally in Rhode Island by the Department of Labor and Training (DLT).  WIA’s “One-Stop” career system is designed to serve the needs of job seekers and employers and is managed by local Workforce Investment Boards, composed of representatives from local businesses, educational agencies, community-based organizations, and economic development agencies. 

“The best way to keep our economy moving forward is to get people back to work, and the best resource for our economy is an educated and skilled workforce.  We need to invest in human capital,” said Senator Reed, who noted that last year Rhode Island received over $14 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Labor for WIA programs.

The bill passed today includes key portions of Senator Reed’s Adult Education and Economic Growth (AEEGA) Act (S. 1400), which creates and supports avenues for adults to continue their education and build their career skills.  Specifically, the bill includes these provisions form AEEGA: career pathways and integrated education and training language; an integrated English as a Second Language and civics education program; enhanced coordination with job training and transition to postsecondary education; and revised state leadership activities that require states to focus on technical assistance to local providers, professional development for educators, and monitoring.

“Adult education can help bridge the skills gap that separates people seeking work from those who are offering good paying jobs.  We need to effectively prepare our workers to meet the demands of a shifting economy.  Investing in adult education programs helps American workers learn new skills and improve their lives.  It gives them a platform for upward mobility both professionally and personally.  It can help lift individuals, communities, and businesses together because the more skilled workers out there earning a paycheck, the more demand there is for the goods and services our businesses offer,” noted Reed.

It also includes provisions from Senator Reed’s Workforce Investments through Local Libraries (WILL) Act (S. 882) to better integrate public libraries into state and local workforce investment strategies by recognizing public libraries as allowable “One-Stop” partners and emphasizing opportunities for adults to develop critical digital literacy skills.

Reed also noted that the bill includes language that will allow Rhode Island’s two local boards to be re-designated as “local areas,” provided that they have met performance standards and maintained fiscal integrity.  And it gives the state the flexibility it needs to wisely invest federal WIA funding by restoring the 15 percent “set-aside” that may be used to explore new approaches to meeting the state’s workforce needs.

The bill will also:

  • Enable businesses to identify in-demand skills and connect workers with the opportunities to build those skills.
  • Empower local boards to tailor services to their region's employment and workforce needs.
  • Authorize National Emergency Grant programs to train workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own for jobs in high-demand industries.
  • Support access to real-world education and workforce development opportunities.
  • Ensure individuals with disabilities have the skills necessary to be successful in businesses that provide competitive, integrated employment.
  • Provide the long-term unemployed with access to programs that help them obtain the employment, education, training and support services they need to find a job.
  • Conduct a study to develop strategies ensuring that WIOA programs are placing individuals in jobs, education, and training that lead to equivalent pay for men and women, including strategies to increase the participation of women in high-wage, high-demand occupations in which women are underrepresented.
  • Strengthen programs for youth, including reauthorizing national programs such as Job Corps and YouthBuild that have provided life-changing opportunities for young people in Rhode Island and across the nation.

Now that it has passed the Senate, the bill must be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives before it can be sent to President Obama to be signed into law.

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