This week, the U.S. Senate voted in overwhelming support (95-3) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). H.R. 803 reauthorizes and modernizes the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, which has been up for reauthorization since 2003.  WIOA represents a compromise between the House-passed SKILLS Act and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee’s Workforce Investment Act of 2013.  The House is expected to the take up the bill for final consideration as early as the second week in July, although the exact timing is still unclear at this time.

The WIA reauthorization measure updates and streamlines job training and state and local workforce development programs by requiring unified state plans, establishing a system of common performance measures, placing a stronger emphasis on the use of real-time data and performance indicators to evaluate program effectiveness, and eliminating the “sequence to service” barriers to training.  WIOA provides additional flexibility to state and local governments to align the workforce development system with economic development and education systems through industry and sector-based strategies and partnerships, and expanded use of career pathways.  Of importance to counties, WIOA maintains leadership of local elected officials, reduces the size of state and local Workforce Investment Boards while maintaining business majority and business-led boards, and provides ongoing support to California’s American Job Centers, known as One-Stop Career Centers.

The Senate also considered and voted on the following amendments:

  1. Senator Jeff Flake (making the appointment and certification of a new local board permissible instead of required):  On Monday, RCRC opposed the amendment by Senator Flake, which would provide the Governor the authority to require annual reorganization of local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB), including full replacement of the local WIB, for failure to meet one year of performance measures without consideration of corrective action plans, local reform efforts or other alternative solutions.  Senator Patty Murray spoke against the Flake amendment and encouraged her colleagues to take an oppose position.  The Senator Flake amendment failed passage on the Senate Floor (33-63). RCRC’s comment letter on the amendment can be accessed here.

  2. Senator Mike Lee (evaluation report requirement):  Senator Tom Harkin spoke against the Lee amendment and reported that the House was opposed.  The amendment failed passage on the Senate Floor (40-58).  

  3. Managers’ technical amendment (expected voice vote):  The Managers’ technical amendment passed on the Senate Floor by voice vote.

For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at (916) 447-4806 or rechevarria@rcrcnet.org.