Early NASWA Survey Findings on Implementation of UI and Workforce Provisions in ARRA

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“The Recovery Act” or “The Act”). In November 2009, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), through its research arm, the Center for Employment Security Education and Research (CESER), sent two extensive on‐line surveys to state workforce and unemployment insurance (UI) program administrators to gauge states’ progress implementing the UI and workforce provisions of The Act. The two NASWA‐funded surveys focus on The Act’s early implementation period.

Forty states responded to NASWA’s survey on The Act’s workforce provisions; the results are presented in this document (see “UI Provisions of the Recovery Act Survey: Summary of State Responses“ for the results of the UI survey). The survey results provide an impressionistic view of states’ achievements and challenges implementing the President’s vision for the Act, which is outlined most specifically in U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) Training and Employment Guidance Letter 14‐08 (TEGL 14‐08).

NASWA will conduct two follow‐on surveys in late 2010 to measure the impact of The Act beyond the early implementation period. Additionally, to garner an even clearer view of state implementation activity, NASWA, through a U.S. DOL‐funded grant, currently is conducting the first of two rounds of site visits to twenty states. The findings from the two rounds of surveys and site‐visits will be analyzed as part of the grant, and reports released later this and again next year.

Sections 1 and 2 below summarize the major achievements and challenges presented by The Act’s workforce provisions thus far, as reported by the states. The remaining sections summarize the impact of The Act in specific workforce program areas. Note that in answering questions designed to measure the impact of The Recovery Act, states’ responses generally are based on year‐over‐year results for the second or third calendar quarters of 2008 and 2009.