NASWA Recognizes Senators Isakson and Murray with Prestigious President's Award

The President’s Award Recognizes Individuals for critical contributions to advancing the nation’s workforce development system.

(Washington, D.C.) – The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) recognized Senators Johnny Isakson, R-GA and Patty Murray, D-WA, with the 2016 President’s Award for their contributions to enacting critical workforce development legislation, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014.

WIOA was the first federal reform of the workforce system in 15 years, which modified and replaced the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The goals of WIOA are to improve the quality of the nation’s workforce, reduce welfare dependency and meet employer skill requirements. WIOA paved the way for new collaboration within the country’s workforce development system, which is creating new alignment between workforce, education and employers. WIOA also streamlines federal workforce training programs and grants new flexibility for states to better prepare the nation’s workforce for the 21st-century. The legislation was bipartisan and easily passed through both the House and the Senate.

“Senators Isakson and Murray are ‘WIOA Pillars of Excellence’,” said Dale Peinecke, President of NASWA and Commissioner of the Washington State Employment Security Department. “We thank them for their critical support and look forward to working with them as we continue implementation of WIOA.”

Senators Murray and Isakson introduced the WIOA measure. Sen. Isakson is the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Sen. Murray is the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“We are pleased to show our appreciation for these two senators and their leadership in the passage of WIOA,” said Scott B. Sanders, Executive Director of NASWA. “We applaud their extraordinary efforts on behalf of America’s workers and employers.”

Sen. Murray will be presented with her award during NASWA’s winter meeting in February. Earlier this week, NASWA presented U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-NC, U.S. Reps. John Kline, R-MN and Bobby Scott, D-VA, and Senator Lamar Alexander with 2016 President’s Awards for their critical work on passage of WIOA.