• Oppose efforts to include "WIA Plus Consolidated Funding" provisions. By combining funding for specific programs, specialization for targeted populations will be lost and overall funding reduced.
  

• Oppose efforts to include Superwaiver-type provisions. It does not appear that states are interested in having this type of option and vulnerable populations could see a reduction in services.

• Maintain WIA Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Wagner-Peyser separate funding streams. Collaboration and integration can be achieved without combining and block granting these programs.

• Add a self-employment performance measure. Currently, only performance measures for "unsubsidized employment" exist, restricting WIA support for self-employment.
  

• State Allotments-Adult Services Funding Formula should be based on the relative number of disadvantaged adults. Utah's Department of Workforce Services economic analysis shows that the challenges are greatest and longest-term for the lowest tier of  disadvantaged workers.
  

• Support Senate confirmation of the President's appointment for Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Commissioner. Appointment of commissioners by the Secretary has the result of downgrading the position.

• Broaden eligibility for Community-Based Job Training Grants ($250 million) beyond community colleges. Qualified community-based providers serving adults in need of basic education and job training who may not go on for a degree should have an opportunity to compete for these funds.
  

• Fund One-Stop Infrastructure as a separate measure. If that is not possible, allow an option for local agreements and set more reasonable contribution caps as in the Senate's WIA reauthorization bill.
  

• Maintain One-Stop Partners. Do not broaden mandatory One-Stop partnerships to additional programs that serve people with disabilities.

• Keep Performance Accountability-Core Indicators. The retention of actual core indicators in the current law are preferable to "an efficiency measure" that may open the door to "creaming."

• Retain the definition of low income that current law provides.
  

• Focus Access to Core, Intensive, and Training Services on individual needs by eliminating the current sequence of services. This will increase flexibility to provide specific services to emphasize self-sufficiency.
  

• Add English language acquisition and integrated training programs to the list of permissible intensive and training services.

• Preserve the Adult Education and Literacy mission and standards. Adult Education raises skills and proficiency and should not be judged by job placement, retention and wages as performance standards appropriate for employment related services.
  

• Youth Eligibility. The current law approach to allow local discretion in funding in-school and out-of-school youth allows prevention activities that are well worth the investment. Restrictions on serving in-school youth are counterproductive.
  

• CBOs on State Workforce Investment Boards. Community-based organizations have first hand knowledge and experience with the target populations of WIA services and should keep their seat on SWIBs. In Utah there is only one local area--the state--so that is where policy is made and CBO's are needed.

• Local Council Membership. Public sector representatives, likewise, have pertinent insight and make valuable contributions to advisory Local Workforce Boards. Their perspectives should be sought, not eliminated.
  

• Allow Joint Use of WIA and Pell Grants. Low-income, non-TANF job seekers need to access training services. Stipends are needed for low-income workers who are ineligible for assistance programs. If they were able to use Pell Grants for their basic support needs, they could take advantage of  training programs and increase their chances of self-reliance.

• Oppose Personal Re-employment Accounts. PRAs will require extra spending on additional infrastructure supports and could make workers ineligible for existing intensive and training services for a year.
  

• A total of $6 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over the next five years. This is $5 billion over the amount in the PRIDE Act and HR 240, the House bill to reauthorize TANF and related programs.*
• $1 billion in additional funding for the Social Services Block Grant over the next five years. This increase provides only $300,000 per year in additional funding; $1.5 billion per year is needed to restore previous cuts. (the Mark restored 10% transferability for SSBG funds)*
• $20 million annually in mandatory funding for state Responsible Fatherhood demonstrations and $30 million annually for national demonstrations.
• Incorporation of the Smith-Jeffords proposal to allow people with disabilities, including those with substance abuse problems, to have their participation in rehabilitative services count beyond the six month limitation in the Mark if they spend half of their time in regular work activities.*
• Improvements to proposed marriage promotion programs pertaining to the role of domestic violence prevention and a provision that participation is voluntary.*
• Refugee and humanitarian immigrant eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for two more years (to nine) after they enter the United States.*

• Flat funding (no cut in basic block grant)
• Programs to reduce rules that act as disincentives to two-parent families in means-tested assistance programs are eligible to compete for funding appropriated for Promotion of Family Formation and Healthy Marriage.
• Marriage Promotion funding applicants must consult with domestic violence organizations and ensure that their programs include specific safeguards against increasing the risk of victims.
• Extended funding for Supplemental Grants (Utah receives funding from this provision)
• Eligibility for Employment Bonus Achievement Awards and Contingency Fund is extended to Indian Tribes with TANF programs.
• Carryover TANF funds can be spent on any benefit or service authorized under TANF law, not just on cash assistance.
• Families can be excluded from participation rate calculations during their first month of enrollment
• Caseload Reduction Credit is replaced by an Employment Credit (credit is capped at specific percentages during certain years) which is equal to the percentage of TANF families who leave ongoing cash assistance with a job. Extra credit and partial credit are given.
• Seven new countable activities are added. The current nine activities countable as "direct work" are maintained. Participation in marriage education, training, and conflict resolution can be a "nonpriority" activity, countable after the family meets its minimum hours requirement in direct work. New "qualified" activities (with specific limits) are post-secondary education, adult literacy activities (including ESL), substance abuse counseling or treatment, and state-defined barrier removal activities.
• Self-sufficiency plans are required for all families and they must not only indicate the parent's plan and responsibilities, but also reflect an assessment of skills, work experience, education, work readiness, work barriers, plus indicate work support, family support, and other assistance for which the family is eligible, and assess the well-being of children and indicate resources to improve their well-being.
• A "transitional compliance" provision allows states to provide financial assistance to teen parents for 60 days to help establish a connection and assist them to come into compliance with education or training and living arrangement requirements in the law.
  
• The State Maintenance of Effort requirement in the current law is maintained.
• Penalty Relief is provided so that states that fall short of meeting work participation standards, but that improved by 5 percentage points over their previous year's rate will not lose a portion of their block grants for the next year.
• A set of tribal improvement grants are established and funding appropriated to help Indian Tribes operating their own TANF programs to strengthen infrastructure , receive technical assistance, and build reservation economies.
• The definition of  "assistance" is modified to exclude child care and transportation assistance.
• $25 million annually is authorized for grants for low-income car ownership.
• $200 million annually is authorized for Business Links (to improve wages by improving job skills) and Transitional Jobs (combining subsidized, time-limited, wage-paying supported work in the public or nonprofit sectors with skills development and barrier removal activities) programs.
• Assignment of child support rights covers only child support that accrues while a family is receiving TANF. Pre-assistance arrearages cannot be held by the state. This should allow more of child support collected to go to the support of those children in their families.
• The federal government must waive its share of child support collected while the family is receiving TANF and that amount must be passed on to the family and disregarded up to certain limits.
• The Mark does not follow the lead of the 2003 House bill in requiring full-family sanctions or allowing states to propose sweeping, cross-program Superwaivers.
  

• Countable months of education and training are only increased by three months while Utah law permits 24 months. (Jenny George has requested additional information on this issue and staff will continue to talk with her about the possibility of Senator Hatch supporting a Floor amendment.)
• State participation rates will increase annually from the current 50 percent of caseload to 70 percent by 2010. 
• Although lower than the House bill, the weekly work requirement is increased from 20 to 24 hours for single parents with a child under age six, from 30 to 34 hours for single parents with older children, and from 30 to 39 hours for two-parent families (55 hours if they receive child care assistance).
• "Qualified" activities count for only three months in any 24-month period, once the parent has satisfied the "direct work" hourly requirement.
• Parents caring for a child or dependent with a physical or mental impairment can be counted as engaging in work activities only if the state determines that substantial continuous care is needed and the parent is the "only reasonable provider of that care."
• Months on assistance are disregarded for adults living in Indian country with a jobless rate of 40 percent, instead of 50 percent, but finding a job with a 40 percent unemployment rate is still extremely difficult and this change will not resolve the problem on "checkerboard" reservations like Utah's Uintah-Ouray.
• States still cannot spend TANF dollars on legal immigrants and SCHIP and Medicaid cannot be spent on children and pregnant legal immigrant women.
• Family promotion funding cannot be spent on programs that include efforts to reduce economic stresses on vulnerable families.

• Work requirements are increased from 30 to 40 hours per week, at least 24 of which must be in "direct work" activities.
• The number of "direct work" countable activities is substantially reduced from 12 in the current law to just private or public employment, on-the-job training, and supervised community service.
• Beyond the first three months in any 24-month period, education and training can only be counted beyond the core 24. In other words, a parent must work nearly a full-time job and then go to school or training on top of caring for her children. On the positive side, the bill would repeal the 30 percent ceiling on the percentage of caseload that can be engaged in education or training.
• Substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling, literacy, or English as a Second Language activities can count "as work" for the first three months after enrollment.  
• Mandatory child care funding is increased by only $1 billion over five years. Additional needed child care funding will need to be taken from current year or carryover TANF funds.
• States will be required to apply full-family sanctions in cases of non-participation.
• Drug testing will be required as a condition of initial and ongoing eligibility for some applicants.
• States will continue to receive credit towards meeting their participation rates for reducing caseload, rather than from achieving employment outcomes, and the reference year will be updated.
• Child support provisions are similar to those in the Senate bill.
• The sweeping "Superwaiver" authority contained in the 2003 House bill is renamed the "State Flex" waiver, but still allows states to apply for waivers of regulations across a broad spectrum of programs without oversight beyond the Administrative branch of government.
  

Staff are preparing information for Utah's Congressmen prior to the Floor vote. When that will occur is not yet known.