June 13, 2005

Senator Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
104 Hart Office Building                         
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Hatch:

We are writing to express appreciation and support for your role in producing S. 1021, "Workforce Investment Act Amendments of 2005," a bipartisan bill to reauthorize WIA passed unanimously by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on May 18, 2005. In our view, S. 1021 is the result of committee members' attention to state and community concerns, and their willingness to work out balanced compromises and follow their convictions in a thoughtful manner. We hope the bill can be debated and passed before the July 4 recess. We share your hope that the task of reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act can be accomplished soon.

As S. 1021 moves towards Floor consideration, we understand that Senators continue to be under tremendous pressure to accept the WIA Plus Consolidated Grant Program, Personal Reemployment Accounts, block granting funding streams for specialized program services, and other approaches originated by the Bush Administration. UREAP has studied all of these provisions and rejected them on the basis of a set of principles we adopted in 2003 and our sense of Utah's experience with the workforce investment system as it serves employees and employers. We urge you and your colleagues in the full Senate to follow the lead of the HELP Committee and pass the bill without WIA Plus and the other abovementioned provisions.

Although we have advocated for a number of refinements that are not included in S. 1021, we are pleased that some are. We appreciate the bill's retention of the status of the Rehabilitation Services Administration Commissioner provided in existing law, i.e., presidential appointment requiring Senate confirmation. We also support the fact that S. 1021 designates no new mandatory partners. While we have consistently recommended that One-Stop Career Center infrastructure be supported by a new, separate funding stream, we see S. 1021's approach to the infrastructure funding dilemma as a better alternative than that included in HR 27, the WIA reauthorization bill passed by the House.

In conclusion, in our view the Workforce Investment Act is not "broken." It needs only to be refined and reauthorized. Our nation has reached its current level of greatness by understanding that not everyone is the same and that there is value in striving to maximize the potential of all of our citizens. In Utah, we have found that the way to facilitate that is through specialized services based on careful, informed efforts to identify and implement best practices. This is made possible by the congressional practice of dedicated funding that ensures that specialized service delivery occurs. We have considered and understand the value of a degree of funding flexibility. However, but we believe the purpose of the Act to help all segments of our diverse population is jeopardized if flexibility is granted in ways that open the door to pitting one vulnerable group against another. We urge you, as a member of the HELP Committee and with your vast experience in job training legislation, to speak firmly against WIA Plus and encourage your colleagues to oppose it wherever it may be raised in the process. We ask you to oppose Floor amendments that reverse the direction that the HELP Committee has so carefully laid out. We ask you to stand for the principle that creating a strong national workforce ensures firm commitment to the right to work of everyone. Safeguarding this principle must remain ultimately in the hands of those with a long-term, national perspective. Congress must reserve the right to play its traditional role in the governing process.

Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely,



Bill Walsh and Shirley Weathers, UREAP Staff
for Utah Reauthorization Project members:

Active Re-Entry, Price, (Southeastern Utah)
Box Elder Family Support Center, Brigham City, (Box Elder County)
Bringing Hope to Single Moms, Logan, (Cache and Box Elder Counties)
Community Action Services, Provo, (Utah, Wasatch, and Summit Counties)
Disabled Rights Action Committee (DRAC), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Family Support & Children's Justice Center, Price, (Carbon County)
Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake City)
International Rescue Committee, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
JEDI for Women, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
League of Women Voters of Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Mental Health Association in Utah, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Multiple Sclerosis Society, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
New Hope Refugee and Multicultural Center, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake City)
Options for Independence, Logan, (Northern Utah)
Peace & Justice Commission, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
People Helping People, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Salt Lake Community Action Program (SLCAP), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Tri-County Independent Living Center, Ogden (Weber, Davis, and Morgan Counties)
United Way Executive Directors Association (UWEDA), SLC, (Salt Lake County)
Utah Children, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utah Community Action Program Association (UCAPA), (statewide)
Utah Issues, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utahns Against Hunger, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Ute Tribe Social Services, Ft. Duchesne
Valley Mental Health, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Walsh & Weathers Research and Policy Studies, Fruitland
Your Community Connection, Ogden, (Weber County)

Cc:     Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr
          Jason Chaffetz
          Tani Pack Downing