This week, U.S. House and Senate leaders announced they have reached a bipartisan agreement on reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which expired at the end of federal fiscal year 2003. The bill, known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), represents a compromise between the House-passed SKILLS Act and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Workforce Investment Act of 2013. RCRC applauds the work of House and Senate leaders to reach a bipartisan compromise, and we encourage both houses to continue working together to advance this reauthorization measure.
In our cursory review, WIOA includes several reforms to the nation’s workforce development system of particular interest to California’s rural counties, including House-led efforts to reduce the unwieldy size of state and local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB), and the number of WIA-supported grants and programs. The bill proposes to eliminate 15 programs, establishes common performance measures, strengthens partnerships between workforce and economic development entities, and promotes career pathways and sector strategies. While the negotiated agreement largely maintains key aspects of WIA, such as requiring business-led state and local WIBs and California’s American Job Centers (One-Stop Career Centers), there are several reforms that we believe strengthen our workforce development system. Details on these reforms can be accessed here.
It is unclear when the bill would be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. RCRC staff is still going through the text of the bill language and will share additional information as appropriate. The press release announcing the agreement can be accessed here.
For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at (916) 447-4806 orrechevarria@rcrcnet.org.