Kanter and Oates Testify on Modernizing Workforce Investment Act

Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held a hearing on “Modernizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 to Help Workers and Employers Meet the Changing Demands of a Global Market.” Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter and Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Jane Oates testified before the Subcommittee and represented the Obama Administration.

Under Secretary Kanter noted that “the Departments of Education and Labor have been meeting and discussing ways to align programs, leverage resources, and ensure that youth receive the services and support they need, whether in school, out of school, academic, job training, or social services, or a combination of all of these. We intend to reach out to other federal partners, including the Department of Health and Human Services, in these efforts.”

There will be a number of changes to WIA in the upcoming reauthorization. Senators and witnesses noted the important role of community colleges within the workforce system.

• Under Secretary Kanter’s testimony can be found at: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_07_16/Kanter.pdf
  

• Assistant Secretary Oates’s testimony can be found at: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_07_16/Oates.pdf

Additional witnesses included:

• Clyde McQueen, Director, Full Employment Council, Inc., Kansas City, MO
• Michael Thurmond, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Labor, Atlanta, GA
• Rick Bender, President, The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Seattle, WA
• William Kiernan, Director, Institute for Community Inclusion, Boston, MA
• Mary Sarris, Executive Director, North Shore Workforce Investment Board, Salem, MA
• Kathy Cooper, Policy Associate, Office of Adult Literacy, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, Olympia, WA
• Stephen Wing, Director of Workforce Initiatives, CVS Caremark, Twinsburg, OH