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NASWA Bulletin - April 20, 2015

 

In This Issue:

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WIOA – NPRM Published in Federal Register; New TEGL's Released

On April 16, 2015, the Federal Register published the official Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM’s) on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).  There are five NPRM’s with a 60 day comment period.  NASWA and the National Governors Association (NGA) are working together to facilitate a collaborative process to collect input from states and provide comments to USOL.  The deadline for comments is June 15, 2015. Below are links to the NPRM’s.

  1. Department of Labor-Only: 
    Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act -- Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  2. Departments of Labor and Education Combined: 
    Joint Rule for Unified and Combined State Plans, Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop System Joint Provisions
  3. Department of Education: 
    Programs and Activities Authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, (Title II of WIOA) 
  4. Department of Education: 
    State Vocational Rehabilitation and Services Program:  State Supported Employment Services Program; Limitation on Use of Subminimum Wage
  5. Department of Education:
     WIOA; Miscellaneous Program Changes

Next Steps – NASWA and NGA  

On Friday, April 17, staff from the National Governors Association (NGA) and NASWA held a conference call with NGA’s National Association of State Liaisons for Workforce Development Partnerships, NASWA’s Employment and Training Committee, and the NASWA leadership.  Both organizations provided their “initial findings” on the NPRM, primarily addressing significant issues of concern the two Associations previously addressed in letters to USDOL Secretary Perez prior to the release of the official guidance. 

This high-level review prompted a number of comments from states -- leading to an outstanding discussion by the states on the most significant issues.  NASWA and NGA are hopeful the collaboration between the two Associations will reduce duplication to state workforce agencies and send a unified message once the NPRM comment period ends.

The Process Ahead

During the week of April 20th, NASWA and NGA will be sending all states the following documents: 

  1. High Level Overview
    The high level overview captures the information discussed during the April 17th conference call.  It is categorized into the following areas below and will provide both pros and cons on each issue:  The categories include:  Administration and Governance; Eligible Training Provider Lists (ETPL); Funding Flexibility; One Stops; Performance and Data; and Youth.
  2. Member Input Collection Tool
    To capture the comments on the five NPRM’s from all states, NASWA and NGA developed a structured approach to collect state comments as quickly as possible in an organized method.  The member input collection tool will be emailed as a web link so your state can provide feedback on any of the five NPRM’s, which will be separated by each section.  States can comment on the most pressing issues.  Because of the 60 day timeframe to submit comments, both Associations will need state comments within 30 days – by Monday, May 18 or earlier.
  3. Action Item Time Line
    Both organizations have developed a “timeline” providing an estimate when activities need to occur.  For example, a timeframe for state comments on the NPRM’s; when states will receive the draft NASWA/NGA comments; length of time to review the draft comments; and other activities associated with the NPRM.  Of course, like any timeline, it is subject to change, but covers activities needed to be accomplished within the 60 day comment period.
  4. Workgroups
    NGA and NASWA will be reaching-out to members to establish small workgroups to develop comments/recommendations on the NPRMs.  The process is intended to surface issues not previously identified.  The workgroups will meet by conference call and no travel will be required.  NGA and NASWA will contact members by the end of April.  The workgroup categories include the following: 
    • Governance
    • Performance
    • Fiscal
    • Service Delivery:  All Programs, ETPL’s One-Stops, etc.
    • Adult Education
    • Vocational Rehabilitation
  5. New WIOA Operational Guidance
    Over the past several weeks the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) has released a series of Training and Employment Guidance Letters (TEGL’s) associated with WIOA implementation.  These TEGL’s are needed because the final regulations will not be released until January 2016.  In the interim, USDOL is providing operational guidance to states and locals because most of the new law becomes effective on July 1, 2015.  They include the following:
    • Training and Employment Guidance Letter 27-14
      Clarifying the governance-related activities States must complete by July 1, 2015.  It summarizes other governance-related activities that the Department encourages States to complete as soon as possible, but are not required by July 1, 2015.  Included in this guidance is information on the following: Appointment of WIOA-Compliant State Workforce Development Board Members; Designation of Local Areas; State Activities Required to Transition to a WIOA-compliant Local Board; and, Timeframe for Implementing Governance Activities.
    • Training and Employment Guidance Letter 26-14  
      Expands upon flexible uses of Rapid Response funds to ensure an orderly transition to WIOA for Program Year 2012 through 2015.  It includes specific allowable uses of State Rapid Response funds that can be used for WIOA transition.
    • Training and Employment Guidance Letter 23-14  
      Earlier this month, ETA released this TEGL, providing guidance and planning information to states, local workforce areas, and other recipients of Workforce Investment Act Title I youth formula funds on the activities associated with the implementation of WIOA. 

New USDOL WIOA Documents:

WIOA Fact Sheet: Governance and Leadership  

WIOA Fact Sheet: One-Stop Career Centers  

WIOA Fact Sheet: Youth Program  

For additional USDOL resources related to WIOA and the NPRM please go to the NASWA WIOA Center

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WIOA Technical Amendments

This past week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee conducted an Executive Session on a WIOA Technical Amendment bill and several nominations. The WIOA changes were minor. The bill language is available here, a summary is available here, and a link to the archived webcast of the Senate HELP Committee Executive Session can be found at: http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=ca9f813d-5056-a032-524a-3c725c42209a.

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Register Now for NASWA's Veteran Services Conference

The NASWA Veterans Affairs Committee is sponsoring the “NASWA Veteran Services Conference 2015: Partnering for Veterans” Conference, which will be held in Washington, DC, on July 22 and 23, 2015.

Information regarding the Veterans Conference is available on the NASWA website at http://www.naswa.org/meetings/?upcoming#99. 

The Veterans Conference is planned for two-full days, Wednesday, July 22 and Thursday, July 23, 2015, at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. 

The Conference website has complete information regarding the hotel, logistics, registration, sponsors, exhibitors, and a DRAFT agenda.  A dynamic motivational speaker will close the Conference, so it’s important to ensure travel plans include staying to the end of the Conference.   Also, the NASWA Veterans Affairs Committee will be meeting on Friday morning, July 24.

This Conference is focused on “partnering to serve veterans;” the intended audience is any individual, agency or organization providing services to veterans, including state workforce administrators, directors, veterans coordinators, and DVOPs, LVERs. 

Also invited are other federal, state and local partners; Veteran Service Organizations; veteran-service groups; and employers.  The Conference registration and hotel rooms are filling up fast, so please register now and make your hotel reservations.

Questions regarding the Conference should be addressed to Bob Simoneau; NASWA Deputy Executive Director, at bsimoneau@naswa.org or (202) 434-8021.

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Reauthorization of TAA Likely to be Linked with Trade Legislation

Last Thursday, senior lawmakers reached agreement t on a bipartisan trade process -- known as -- Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) which will likely be a vehicle to reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and the Ranking Democrat on the committee, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) have been negotiating for months with their counterparts on the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch also said he would work with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to make sure that renewal of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for displaced workers would move on a parallel track with the Trade Promotion Authority. 

Although Senator Wyden acknowledged it may be necessary to move TPA and TAA separately, he said both bills “must make it to the President’s desk for [his] signature so that one cannot be enacted without the other.”

Trade Promotion Authority is a priority for President Obama in order to finish negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with Japan and 10 other countries; a trade agreement that would be the largest ever for the United States.

Congressional staff have indicated the Senate Committee on Finance is expected to hold another trade hearing this Tuesday at 10 a.m. where AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue are expected to testify.

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Labor Appropriations: Prospects Brighten for a Stand-Alone Labor-HHS-Education Bill

Prospects for congressional passage this spring of the spending bill that funds federal health, labor and education programs appear brighter, given a draft of a Republican House Appropriations plan showing only a relatively small funding cut for the measure late last week.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) and his counterpart, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor-HHS-Education would receive approximately $153.1 billion for fiscal 2016, about $2 billion less than the allocation for fiscal 2015. 

While a decrease, the allocation is a positive sign, especially compared to previous allocations.  For example, the original allocation for fiscal 2015 would have cut funding by more than $30 billion, to $122 billion. 

Technically, the “allocations” are part of the congressional budget resolution, developed by the House Budget Committee and the Senate Budget Committee, and known as 302(b) allocations that divide funds among all the 12 Appropriations Subcommittees in the House and Senate.

Representative Cole and Senator Blunt: 

Significant credit goes towards Rep. Cole and Senator Blunt who were chosen -- at the start of the current Congress in January (114 Congress) -- to chair the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittees by House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS).

Rep. Cole is an influential and pragmatic lawmaker, with seats on the House Rules and House Budget committees.  His selection was seen as way to revive the subcommittee, which has not passed an appropriations bill in several years.  Rep. Cole said last week he intends to move a draft Labor-HHS-Education measure to a full committee markup within the month. 

Rep. Cole has an excellent working relationship with his counterpart in the Senate, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), a former House Member and a very pragmatic and well-respected lawmaker.  While in the House, Senator Blunt was a member of the Leadership (Elected to the U.S. House in 1997 and the U.S. Senate in 2011 and served as House Majority and Minority Whip while in the U.S. House) In his current position, he works closely with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the primary author of WIOA and is also the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

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Contacting your U.S. House and Senate Lawmakers

If you need to view or contact your congressional delegation, an on-line tool, provided by the Library of Congress, makes the process very easy.  Known as Congress.gov it provides a wealth of information on Senators and Representatives, such as their committee assignments, all House and Senate Committees, how to contact them, their biographies, House and Senate Floor Schedules, streaming coverage of both Chambers, the Congressional Record and much more.  You can go directly to Congress.gov or use the links below for specific information.

Current Members of Congress:  114thCongress (2015-2016)

  • A list of current Members, by state, is listed here. 
  • Representatives and Senators are listed by name at Members of the U.S. Congress. This includes individual profiles for current members and contact information and leadership position titles.

Committees of the U.S. Congress

  • Click here for a listing of all House and Senate Standing Committees.

How to Contact Your Member

Member websites provide comprehensive contact information:

Member Guides

House Links

Senate Links

The Congressional Record

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H-2B Update

The U.S. Department of Labor will continue processing H-2B visa applications and prevailing wage requests through May 15, following a federal district court order issued Wednesday.  On Monday, USDOL sent an interim final rule on H-2B visas to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. According to USDOL, the rule will be completed by April 30.  Last month a federal judge in Florida vacated a 2008 Labor Department rule governing the H-2B visa program -- a program for temporary non-agricultural workers -- after finding the agency did not have the authority to regulate the program.  For further information, please go too USDOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification.

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UI IT Modernization Pre-Implementation Planning Checklist

Is your state UI IT system about to “go-live”?  Here is a checklist that you can use to make sure your state’s UI IT system is ready to “go-live.”  Last week, USDOL in partnership with ITSC, issued TEN 28-14 announcing the availability of this helpful checklist for state agencies.  The checklist is accessible on ITSC’s Members-Only website www.itsc.org on the UI Business Process and IT Modernization Guidebook and Wiki.

Building on lessons learned from previous state implementations of modernized UI IT systems, ITSC has developed a UI IT Modernization Pre-Implementation Planning Checklist for states to use prior to “going live” with a new system. This comprehensive checklist denotes critical functional areas that states should verify prior to launching including, but not limited to, technical IT functions and UI business processes that interface with the new system. The list of critical areas identified in the checklist includes, among others, verification for essential benefit and tax functions, Interstate Connection (ICON) network and UI reporting interfaces, system error handling, and end-user support mechanisms. It also covers alternate access options and usability issues, policies and procedures to be developed and disseminated, technical preparation, call center and customer service operations, staffing and staff training on new system operations, help desk support, management oversight, vendor support and communications. ETA believes that the use of this checklist as a verification tool will help states ensure the availability of mission critical functions as the state prepares for the launch of a new system.

About the Guidebook and Wiki

In 2012, ITSC developed a UI Business Process and IT Modernization Guidebook and Wiki, which is located on the members’ only section of the ITSC website, www.itsc.org. The Guidebook is a valuable resource of lessons learned and recommended practices for state UI agencies to consider when engaging in UI IT modernization projects. The focus of the guidebook is to provide a snapshot overview of UI IT Modernization projects across the nation; present a compilation and discussion of key UI IT Modernization projects best practices and lessons learned organized by the life cycle of these projects with references and state examples; and promote the leveraging of successful practices by states and consortia embarking on UI IT Modernization projects. This resource is available to all state workforce agency employees.

If a state/federal employee needs access, please email Stephen Hanle, ITSC Network Administrator, at stephen.hanle@itsc.org  to set up an account.  If you have any questions regarding the Wiki or would like to share content, you may contact John Quichocho, ITSC Product Manager, at (202) 650-5165 or jquichocho@naswa.org. 

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SIDES Exhibits at Virginia's SHRM Conference

In an effort to help Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) market State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES) to its employers, SIDES exhibited at the 2015 Virginia Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) State Conference, which took place in Williamsburg, Virginia, on March 8-11.  Attendees, Human Resources professionals from various Virginia employers, learned about the benefits of SIDES, saw a demonstration of the SIDES E-Response site, and took informational materials to provide to their employer. Virginia will go live with SIDES in April 2015.

SIDES is a web-based transmission system of electronic information requests from UI agencies to employers and/or Third Party Administrators (TPAs), as well as of replies containing the requested information back to the UI agencies. Currently forty-four states are live with SIDES, with six more planning to go live by the end of March 2016, including Virginia. The following formats are available to the states live with SIDES and employers/TPAs: Separation Information, Earnings Verification, Determinations and Decisions, and Monetary and Potential Charges.

SIDES will also exhibit at Florida and Indiana State SHRM conferences as they go live with SIDES later this year.

If you are interested in having SIDES exhibit at a local/regional/state SHRM conference or employer seminars, please contact SIDES Program Specialist, Mariann A. Huggins at (202) 650-5162 or mariann.huggins@itsc.org.

For more information on SIDES, please contact SIDES Director Jerry Pectol at (918) 213-0029 or Jerry.Pectol@itsc.org. 

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Notices, Advisories and Reports

USDOL Directives & Releases

WIOA Announcements

WIOA Action Planner for Local Governance and Leadership:

  • The Employment and Training Administration has released a fourth Quick Start Action Planner (QSAP). The latest one focuses on Local Governance and Leadership.  The QSAPs are interactive, self-paced assessment tools designed to help leaders at all levels of the public workforce system plan and prepare for implementation of WIOA. The tools are aimed at helping staff identify areas of strength and focused areas for improvement in their local workforce system and connect them to targeted resources that can help them prepare and plan effectively. One more QSAP on One-Stop Service Delivery will be available in the near future. For the Local Governance and Leadership QSAP, as well as the other WIOA Action Planners here: http://qsap.workforce3one.org/page/planner

DOL Announces Availability of Funds under the Disability Employment Initiative
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of approximately $15 million in grants through the Disability Employment Initiative to state workforce agencies to develop flexible and innovative strategies to increase the participation of people with disabilities in federally funded education and training programs. The grants are the sixth round of funding through the Disability Employment Initiative, a joint program of the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration and the Office of Disability Employment Policy. The Department expects to fund approximately 8 cooperative agreements to state workforce agencies, ranging from $1.5 million to $2.5 million each. The deadline for applications is June 11, 2015.

Recently-Issued ETA Guidance Letters

The following guidance letters were recently released by the Employment and Training Administration:

  • TEGL 27-14: This guidance clarifies the governance-related activities that States must complete by July 1, 2015, which is the beginning of Program Year 2015, in order to ensure an orderly transition to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Additionally, this guidance summarizes other governance-related activities that the Department encourages States to complete as soon as possible, but are not required by July 1, 2015.
  • TEGL 26-14: This guidance announces flexible uses of Rapid Response funds to ensure an orderly transition to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA or the Opportunity Act) for Program Year (PY) 2012 through 2015.
  • TEGL 25-14: Provides Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) grantees with application instructions, procedures, and allotments for PY 2015 funds, beginning July 1, 2015.
  • TEN 29-14, Change 1: Announces the publication of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) in the Federal Register.

Congressional Research Service Reports

March 6, 2015: CRS Report – The Federal Budget: Overview and Issues for FY2016 and Beyond  - The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report providing an overview of federal budget issues, focused on recent fiscal policy changes. It will also discuss the major policy proposals contained in the President's FY2016 budget and the House and Senate budget resolutions. Finally, it also addresses major short- and long-term fiscal challenges. This report will track legislative events related to the federal budget and will be updated as budgetary legislation moves through Congress.

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For questions or comments, please contact NASWA Bulletin Editor Marc Katz at mkatz@naswa.org.