In Attendance:

Sheila Walsh-McDonald, Salt Lake Community Action Program (SLCAP)
Garth Mangum, U of U Economics-retired
Bob Haywood, Utah Department of Human Services (DHS)
Stan Eckersley, Legislative Fiscal Analyst Office
Sarah Brenna, Department of Workforce Services (DWS)
Karen Silver, SLCAP
Pat Nielson, League of Women Voters
Lois Kelson, Provo Community Action
Helen Thatcher, DWS
Don Uchida, Vocational Rehabilitation
Shirley Weathers, UREAP staff
Bill Walsh, UREAP staff

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Update

After introductions, Garth Mangum asked if WIA would end on its sunset date, October 31, 2003. Shirley Weathers responded that technically it could, but in reality a Continuing Resolution (CR) would likely be passed by both the Senate and House to continue program funding and operations. The TANF sunset date was an occasion of controversy earlier, but since the Senate Finance Committee passed the PRIDE bill, the House relented on its threats to refuse to continue TANF again and a CR was passed to continue TANF until March 31, 2004.

Bill Walsh indicated that WIA Reauthorization is making progress. Earlier this year, the House passed HR 1261. After a lengthy study process, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked up a bipartisan bill, S. 1627, and there are rumors that it may be scheduled for the Senate Floor soon. Shirley said that Mason Bishop has indicated that the Administration is quite concerned about several provisions of S. 1627 and will work during the Conference process to support the House approach. He said he has seen UREAP's support for several of those same provisions as indicative of an emphasis on a social services approach, whereas the Administration's intention is to increase emphasis on workforce development.

Shirley distributed a draft email designed to summarize and convey UREAP's positions on S. 1627 to Senators Hatch and Bennett. She suggested that, since a Floor vote is the next step, the email could be readied to send in the event that S. 1627 is scheduled for a Floor vote. No one knows whether this will occur prior to adjournment for the year, but unanimous passage by the Committee increases the likelihood that a Floor vote, expecting unimous consent there too, could happen suddenly and quickly. She said that she and Bill will be gone from Nov. 2 to Nov. 17, but could send a finalized email during that time, if necessary. Shirley said that staff know of no national advocates or key groups that have taken positions of support or opposition to the Senate bill and asked if others had any information on that. Sarah Brenna reported that the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) and the National Governors Association (NGA) are both unlikely to take positions on WIA because states have not reached consensus. Don Uchida said, although he personally thinks the Senate bill is preferable, the Consortium of State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR)  and Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) have limited their attention to WIA infrastructure funding mechanisms so have not taken a position on the overall WIA bill. He said there could be conflict between the Governor and the State Board over funding in the future. Karen Silver said she has asked David Bradley, lobbyist for the National Community Action Foundation (NCAF), for feedback on reinserting community-based organizations (CBOs) on State Workforce Investment Boards (SWIBs), but had not heard from him yet. Shirley said that Dave Steele reported that Adult Education remains uncomfortable with the approach to performance standards being taken by both the House and Senate bill, but he senses that the change is inevitable.

Bob Haywood commented that UREAP could make a contribution by summarizing for the Senators our understanding of the way the social services aspect of WIA fits into the workforce development goals. Shirley took that opportunity to pass around a printed DWS power point presentation, "Economic Recovery for the Two Tiers of Utah's Workforce," developed by Rayleen Ireland and presented by Mark Knold of DWS to the State Commerce and Revenue Appropriations Subcommittee. The presentation made the point that social services are integral to workforce development because they are necessary to bring the less readily employable "Tier II" of unemployed people to the point where they have a possibility of succeeding. The document defines Tier I workers as those who find available jobs fastest, and Tier II workers as those who have work barriers of social origin and will loose out in tight job markets. The presentation reflects DWS analysis of how the "Tier I" began to find work as the job market is improving after a downturn, but the "Tier II" cannot compete and therefore requires more services and far better economic conditions to succeed. It shows that 1996 welfare reform occurred in an unusual time--when the market needed lots of workers--and Tier II workers were able to get jobs. However, the economy has changed dramatically since then.  Those who heard the presentation said it was clear, easy to understand, and stressed the importance of training programs especially for Tier II workers. Someone observed that this information suggests that, if the Administration is sincere in its declared goal of "Leave No Worker Behind," it needs to maintain, rather than reduce, the provisions in WIA that support the poor and other Tier II job seekers. Garth underscored that WIA funding is only 2% of Utah's public training dollars and has been drastically reduced over the years. Participants requested that DWS share the document with Utah's Congressional Delegation and Sarah Brenna agreed to convey that request to Raylene.

The group agreed that an email should be sent to Senators Hatch and Bennett. An overall position of support was adopted and the group agreed that the email should address the possibility that amendments may be offered during Floor debate. The draft email's listing of amendments to both resist and support should be included. Staff will email the draft to the entire UREAP email list, outlining the decisions made at the meeting and indicating that additional input will be taken until October 31. Staff will monitor the Senate while on the road and be prepared to send the finalized email of position on S. 1627 to Senators Hatch and Bennett in a timely way. Whatever is sent will be posted on the web site.

Garth said that the job training document he has been working on is at the printer and interested UREAP participants will be provided with copies.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Update

Shirley handed out an email UREAP sent to Jace Johnson, Senator Hatch's welfare reform staff, requesting that Senator Hatch support an amendment to the PRIDE Act (HR 4 RS) to increase countable months of education and training (e&t) from 12 to 24 months and providing detailed rationale for that request. This was done at the request of Jace Johnson who specifically asked for an explanation of how 24 months would affect Utah's program differently than will the Parents as Scholars (PaS) provision already in the PRIDE Act. She explained that Senator Olympia Snowe managed to get Maine's Parents As Scholars program into PRIDE, but staff found several reasons that the 24 month increased is needed in addition. Helen Thatch said that present Utah law allows 24 months. She said that customers with disabilities and many with barriers need more time than 12 months. She also said that training for medical jobs--a major occupation in demand in Utah--requires training beyond 12 months, and that many 12 month programs require meeting prerequisites which take additional time. Helen said administrators are looking hard for any flexibility that will help meet high participation rates that are expected with TANF Reauthorization and that, if more than 12 months are not countable, Utah's current policies and practices will have to change drastically and will therefore generally disallow training beyond 12 months. Garth asked how part-time students will be counted. Helen responded that welfare recipients will be kept very busy trying to meet new "countable hours" standards. Federal funds cannot be used for tuition in the Parents As Scholars program and it is also capped at 10 percent. Shirley summarized that more child care funding and 24 countable months of e&t appear to be  UREAP's top two priorities of provisions yet to be addressed by the Senate's TANF bill. The email will be posted at the UREAP website.

Bill reported that Robin Riggs is now a vice-president at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and has invited UREAP staff to present TANF and WIA information to the Government Affairs Committee on December 11.

The next UREAP meeting will be Tuesday, November 25.