| Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act | |
| Fullname: | To reform and strengthen the workforce investment system of the Nation to put Americans back to work and make the United States more competitive in the 21st century. |
| Introduced In The: | 113th |
| Sponsored By: | Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) |
| Acts Affected: | Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Wagner-Peyser Act, Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, Immigration and Nationality Act, and others. |
| Authorizationsofappropriations: | $3.3 billion for fiscal year 2017[1] |
| Introducedin: | House |
| Introducedby: | Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) |
| Introduceddate: | February 25, 2013 |
| Passedbody1: | House |
| Passeddate1: | March 15, 2013 |
| Passedvote1: | Roll Call Vote 75 215-202 |
| Passedbody2: | Senate |
| Passedas2: | Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act |
| Passeddate2: | June 25, 2014 |
| Passedvote2: | Roll Call Vote 214 95-3 |
| Agreedbody3: | House |
| Agreeddate3: | July 9, 2014 |
| Agreedvote3: | Roll Call Vote 378 415-6 |
| Signedpresident: | Barack Obama |
| Signeddate: | July 22, 2014 |
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a United States public law that replaced the previous Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) as the primary federal workforce development legislation to bring about increased coordination among federal workforce development and related programs.
Although the Employment Service (ES) is one of 19 required partners in the One-Stop delivery system, its central mission—to facilitate the match between individuals seeking work and employers seeking workers—makes it critical to the functioning of the workforce development system under WIOA.
WIOA continues the requirements of WIA for each state to establish a One-Stop delivery system to
| Program | Federal dept. | |
|---|---|---|
| Youth Workforce Investment Activities | Labor | |
| Adult Employment and Training Activities | Labor | |
| Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities | Labor | |
| Labor | ||
| Native American Programs | Labor | |
| Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Programs | Labor | |
| YouthBuild Program | Labor | |
| Employment Service | Labor | |
| Adult Education and Literacy Activities | Education | |
| Vocational Rehabilitation State Grant Programs | Education | |
| Labor | ||
| Postsecondary Career and Technical Education | Education | |
| Labor | ||
| Jobs for Veterans State Grant programs | Labor | |
| HHS | ||
| Employment and Training Activities carried out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development | HUD | |
| State Unemployment Compensation programs | Labor | |
| Reintegration of Offenders Programs | Justice | |
| Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) | HHS |
| Programs | Federal agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | ||
| Employment and training programs | Small Business Administration | |
| Any employment and training activities required of recipients under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program), and work programs for those recipients who are able-bodied adults without dependents | ||
Although the Employment Service (ES) is one of 19 required partners in the One-Stop delivery system, its central mission—to facilitate the match between individuals seeking work and employers seeking workers—makes it critical to the functioning of the workforce development system under WIOA. To this end, one of the key functions played by the ES is to deliver many of the "career services" established by WIOA. ES staff often are the first to assist individuals seeking employment assistance and refer individuals to other programs in the One-Stop system of partners.
Services provided by the ES include:
Labor exchange services are provided via three tiers of service delivery:
WIOA includes five titles:
Title I of WIOA authorizes programs to provide job search, education, and training activities for individuals seeking to gain or improve their employment prospects, and which establishes the One-Stop delivery system. In addition, Title I of WIOA establishes the governing structure and the performance accountability for all programs authorized under WIOA. Title I programs are administered by the US Department of Labor (DOL), primarily through its Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
Elements of WIOA that are collectively intended to comprise a "workforce development system" are:
Title II of WIOA is the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). AEFLA supports educational services, primarily through grants to states, to help adults become literate in English and develop other basic skills necessary for employment and postsecondary education, and to become full partners in the education of their children.
Title III amends the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, which authorizes the Employment Service (ES), to make the ES an integral part of the One-Stop system amended by WIOA.
Title IV of WIOA amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and authorizes funding for vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities. Most programs under the Rehabilitation Act are related to the employment and independent living of individuals with disabilities.
The first substantial federal training programs in the postwar period were enacted in the Manpower Development Training Act (MDTA;) in 1962, although federal "employment policy," broadly defined, had its origin in New Deal era programs such as Unemployment Insurance (UI) and public works employment. Starting with MDTA, there have been four main federal workforce development programs. The MDTA provided federal funding to retrain workers displaced because of technological change. Later in MDTA's existence, the majority of funding went to classroom and on-the-job training (OJT) that was targeted to low-income individuals and welfare recipients. Funding from the MDTA was allocated by formula to local communities based on factors of population and poverty. Grants under MDTA were administered through regional DOL offices and went directly to local service providers.
The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), enacted in 1973, made substantial changes to federal workforce development programs. CETA transferred more decision-making authority from the federal government to local governments. Specifically, CETA provided funding to about 470 "prime sponsors" (sub-state political entities such as city or county governments, consortia of governments, etc.) to administer and monitor job training activities. Services under CETA—which included on-the-job training, classroom training, and public service employment (PSE)—were targeted to low-income populations, welfare recipients, and disadvantaged youth. At its peak in 1978, the PSE component of CETA supported about 755,000 jobs and accounted for nearly 60% of the CETA budget. CETA was amended in 1978 in part to create private industry councils (PIC) to expand the role of the private sector in developing, implementing, and evaluating CETA programs. The composition of PICs included representatives of business, labor, education, and other groups.
In 1982, changes to federal workforce development policy were made by enactment of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Major changes implemented under JTPA, which provided classroom and on-the-job training to low-income and dislocated workers, included service delivery at the level of 640 "service delivery areas," federal funding allocation first to state governors and then to PICs in each of the service delivery areas (unlike CETA, which provided allocations directly to prime sponsors), prohibition of the public service employment component, and a new emphasis on targeted job training and reemployment. With a new emphasis on training (rather than public employment), JTPA required that at least 70% of funding for service delivery areas be used for training. Although this percentage was dropped to 50% in the 1992 amendments to JTPA, the emphasis on training remained.
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) replaced JTPA and continued the trend toward service coordination by establishing the One-Stop system through which state and local WIA training and employment activities were provided and in which certain partner programs were required to be colocated. WIA replaced PICs with Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), which were responsible for the design of services for WIA participants. In addition to these changes, WIA enacted changes that included universal access to services (i.e., available to any individual regardless of age or employment status), a demand driven workforce system responsive to the demands of local area employers (e.g., the requirement that a majority of WIB members must be representatives of business), a work-first approach to workforce development (i.e., placement in employment was the first goal of the services provided under Title I of WIA as embodied in the "sequence of services" provisions), and the establishment of consumer choice for participants who were provided with Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) to choose a type of training and the particular provider from which to receive training.
The Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act (SKILLS Act) was introduced into the United States House of Representatives on February 25, 2013 by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC).[2] It was referred to six House committees: Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veterans Affairs. It was reported (amended) on March 12, 2013 alongside House Report 113-14 part 1.[2] On March 15, 2013, the House voted in Roll Call Vote 75 to pass the bill 215-202.[2]
The bill was received in the Senate on March 18, 2013 and referred to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee.[2] On June 25, 2014, the Senate changed the name of the bill to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, amended the bill, and then voted in Roll Call Vote 214 to pass the bill 95-3.[2] [3] Before the bill's passage in the Senate, the House and the Senate spent several months debating compromise positions to find a bill they could agree on.[4] The House then voted on July 9, 2014 to agree to the amendments that the Senate had made. The amended bill passed the House 415-6 in Roll Call Vote 378.[2]
President Barack Obama supported the bill.[4] He signed it into law on July 22, 2014 and it became .
The Departments of Labor and Education issued draft regulations on how to carry out the law on April 16, 2015,[5] considered thousands of comments, and issued the final regulations June 30, 2016,[6] effective October 18, 2016.
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said that "it's too hard to find a job. It's too hard to create a job. We have some differences of opinion on what to do about it, but I think we agree that matching job skills to a job is a solution to millions of Americans."[3]
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) said that "the need to improve our workforce investment system has crystalized during the Great Recession... employers say they have open positions they cannot fill because they cannot find workers with the skills they need today."[3]
The original bill that the House passed focuses mostly on getting rid of redundant workforce programs, as identified by the Government Accountability Office, while the Senate's earlier drafts kept all of the redundant programs and added additional ones.[4]
The bill was supported by the National Skills Coalition.[4]
The group Business Roundtable also supported the bill, arguing that the legislation "will narrow the skills gap and prepare American workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow."[7]
In 2015, the bill was amended by the act entitled "To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to improve the Act" .
WIOA would consolidate job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) into a single funding stream. It also would amend the Wagner-Peyser Act, reauthorize adult-education programs, and reauthorize programs under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA). Those programs, which received discretionary funding of $7 billion and mandatory funding of $3 billion in 2013, provide job training, adult education, and employment service assistance. Enactment would affect direct spending, but those costs are already assumed to continue in the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) baseline; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. (Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.) Implementing the act would affect discretionary spending. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 803 would cost $26 billion over the 2014-2018 period. WIOA would not impose intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The vast majority of funds (97%) for Employment Service activities are allotted to states on the basis of each state's relative share of the following two factors: civilian labor force (CLF) and total unemployment. Specifically, two-thirds of the ES state funding is allotted on the basis of the relative share of CLF and one-third on the basis of the relative share of total unemployment. The remaining 3% of total funding is distributed to states with civilian labor forces below 1 million and to states that need additional resources to carry out ES activities. Of the total allotment to states, 90% may be used for labor exchange services such as job search and placement assistance, labor market information, and referral to employers. The remaining 10% (Governor's Reserve) of the state allotment may be used for activities such as performance incentives and services for groups with special needs.