Biden Signs CR, Averts Government Shutdown
Washington Update
Appropriations
On Thursday, September 26, President Joe Biden signed a three-month government stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown that extended government funding until December 20. The package, negotiated by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (LA) and top Democrats, relied heavily on Democratic votes to approve the funding measure. The measure passed the Senate on a vote of 78-18 and the House on a vote of 341-82. Both chambers have adjourned for a long recess and will not return to Washington until after the November 5 elections.
The continuing resolution (CR) funds the government at current levels and provides $231 million in additional money for the Secret Service, including for operations related to the presidential campaign, in the wake of two apparent attempts to assassinate former President Trump. Johnson removed the Republican proof-of- citizenship election legislation, known as the SAVE Act, after the House rejected a package that combined government funding and the legislation. This sets up another shutdown battle in the post-election lame duck session.
Click here to access the full CR.
Click here to access a section-by-section summary of the CR.
WIOA Reauthorization
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has been unable to secure agreement on a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Reauthorization proposal, but the House Education and Workforce Committee and Senate HELP Committee have agreed to work through a potential pre-conference negotiation — a staff driven process to determine whether they can address the differences between the House and Senate WIOA proposals. If staff can work through those differences, it will further advance the process before the end of Congress. Congress will go on recess prior to the election, so an agreement will need to be made before the election to have any chance of consideration this Congress.
House Committee on Education and the Workforce
On Wednesday, September 25, the House Education and the Workforce Committee opened an inquiry into the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) botched rollout of a key economic indicator in August. On August 21, BLS reported a revision to the jobs numbers for the 12 months ending March 31 that showed more than 800,000 fewer new jobs than initially estimated; however, that update was not available publicly for approximately a half-hour past its scheduled release time. During that time, a handful of overseas financial institutions reportedly obtained the findings directly from BLS officials. Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC) wrote a letter to Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su saying this could have caused “significant uncertainty and confusion and undermined confidence in that data. At worst, BLS’s actions may have provided an unfair advantage to several firms.” On Friday, it was reported that BLS didn’t notice the jobs revisions hadn’t gone out for roughly 20 minutes before scrambling to address the problem, citing public records released under the Freedom of Information Act.
In her letter, Foxx requests documents related to DOL’s practices for the release of the periodic jobs reports, as well as information related to who at BLS relayed information to the foreign firms in August. Additionally, the committee asked the agency to detail what changes it instituted following a separate recent mishap tied to an unofficial “super user” distribution list. Foxx set a Wednesday, October 9, deadline for DOL to respond to the committee’s requests.
Click here to access the letter.
Child Care Legislation
On Monday, September 30, nearly $15 billion in supplemental Child Care Development Fund money sent to states from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is set to expire — that’s one year after $24 billion in child care stabilization cash from the pandemic recovery law, which helped providers keep their doors open, also expired. On Wednesday, September 25, Democrats reintroduced two bills that would support child care facilities and the workforce — the Child Care Infrastructure Act and the Child Care Workforce Development Act.
The Child Care Infrastructure Act would establish a competitive grant program to support renovations at child care facilities, which lawmakers hope will allow providers to expand their facilities to serve more children. The bill would also authorize $10 billion over five years to support infrastructure.
The Child Care Workforce Development Act would authorize a student loan repayment program for early childhood educators. The Department of Health and Human Services would oversee a repayment program of up to $6,000 annually for early educators who are working for providers that receive Child Care and Development Block Grant funding. The bill would also establish a program that would provide up to $4,000 to certain people pursuing an associate’s degree or certificate in early childhood education.
Click here to read a press release on the bills.
NSTC Workforce Center of Excellence
On Wednesday, September 25, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the launch of the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s (NSTC) Workforce Center of Excellence (WCoE). The WCoE is critical in addressing the rise in demand for advanced semiconductors and will bring together stakeholders from across the private sector, government, non-profits, training providers, community and technical colleges, universities, and labor organizations to develop innovative solutions to the industry’s workforce challenges, accelerate best practices, promote good jobs, and strengthen recruitment and training of the next generation of semiconductor researchers, engineers, and technicians. The Department of Commerce’s expected $250 million investment into the WCoE over ten years will advance President Biden and Vice President Harris’s goals of driving innovation in the United States and supporting workers in securing good-paying semiconductor jobs. As part of the announcement, Natcast, the non-profit entity designated to operate the NSTC by the Department of Commerce, announced more than $11 million in anticipated awards across more than a dozen states and nationally through the NSTC Workforce Partner Alliance (WFPA) program to further support workforce development efforts.
Click here to learn more and access the full press release.
Senate HELP Subcommittee Hearing
On Wednesday, September 25, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held the hearing “Reading the Room: Preparing Workers for AI.” Witnesses at the hearing included LinkedIn Chief Economist Dr. Karin Kimbrough, aiEDU Chief Executive Officer Alex Kotran, Ryan Health Senior Director of Human Resources Ken Meyer, and Seed AI Grassroots Program Manager Denzel Wilson.
Click here to watch a video of the hearing.
House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee Hearing
On Wednesday, September 25, the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development held the hearing “Avenues to Success: Examining Workforce Training Programs for Employees.” In this hearing, lawmakers examined the challenges of the current labor market and outlined the resources available to help small business owners expand their labor pool. Witnesses for the hearing included Community Options, Inc. Executive Director Ashley Gamba, Painters and Allied Trades Union District Council #4.
Director of Business Development Frank Stento, and Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund Director of Education Neal Strange.
Click here to watch a video of the hearing.
Initial Jobless Claims
In the week ending September 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 219,000 to 222,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 227,500 to 228,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending September 14, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Click here to access the report.
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