Category: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

  • December Policy Roundup: Paid Leave Policy, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Regulations, and Workforce Development Initiatives – CUPA-HR

    December Policy Roundup: Paid Leave Policy, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Regulations, and Workforce Development Initiatives – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | January 10, 2024

    Through December and into the new calendar year, federal government leaders kept busy with Congressional hearings and markups, new legislation, and proposed and final rules focusing on issues that may be of significance to higher education HR professionals. CUPA-HR tracked several actions from both Congress and federal agencies on issues including paid family leave, short-term Pell Grants, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and workforce development.

    House Education and Workforce Committee Markup

    On December 12, 2023, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a full committee markup on H.R. 6585, the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, and H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act.

    The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act aims to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, allowing students to use Pell Grants for eight-week or longer educational programs. This bill also establishes quality control measures for Pell initiatives, enabling higher education institutions to participate if they meet specific criteria. The committee voted to move the legislation out of committee with 37 members voting in favor and 8 members voting against the bill.

    The next bill, A Stronger Workforce for America Act, seeks to renew and enhance the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Originally established in 2014, WIOA has been extended through yearly appropriations since fiscal year 2021. The bill incorporates multiple measures to modernize WIOA, bolstering the country’s workforce development to better equip and retain workers. The bill passed through the committee with bipartisan support; 44 members voted in favor of and only one member voted against it.

    Paid Leave Request for Information

    On December 13, the Congressional Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group published a Request for Information (RFI) for diverse stakeholder input to aid in the expansion of access to paid parental, caregiving, and personal medical leave nationwide. The members encouraged interested stakeholders to submit letters that answer these ten questions on the role the federal government can play in creating a national paid leave program.

    Responses must be submitted by January 31, 2024, and can be directed to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. CUPA-HR will continue to track developments and intends to collaborate with associate organizations to submit feedback on an as-needed basis.

    National Apprenticeship System Enhancement Proposed Rule

    On December 14, the Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled a proposed rule to modernize the regulations for Registered Apprenticeship programs. The 779-page proposal focuses on provisions to create “safeguards for apprentices to ensure that they have healthy and safe working and learning environments as well as just and equitable opportunities throughout their participation in a registered apprenticeship program,” while also creating baseline requirements for career and technical education apprenticeships, which would target high school and postsecondary students to programs that align more closely with programs found at institutions of higher education.

    DOL is providing a 60-day comment period for the proposed rule, which will commence once the regulation is posted in the Federal Register. CUPA-HR is analyzing the rule and will coordinate with other higher education associations as needed to file comments.

    Federal Transit Authority General Directive on Assaults on Transit Workers

    On December 20, the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) proposed a General Directive to address the ongoing national safety risk concerning assaults on transit workers. Transit agencies falling under FTA’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans directive would be instructed to conduct safety risk assessments, identify mitigation strategies, and report discoveries to FTA. Per the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, transit agencies operating in urban areas must collaborate with the joint labor-management safety committees to reduce safety hazards.

    The deadline for submitting comments in the Federal Register is February 20, 2024, but late submissions may be considered. CUPA-HR is working with members and other higher education associations to determine the impact that this directive may have on transportation and HR services at institutions of higher education.

    Regulations to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

    On December 27, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sent its final rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review prior to its publication in the Federal Register. The final rule will likely look very similar to the proposed rule that was issued in August 2023, which provides a framework for how the EEOC plans to enforce protections granted to pregnant workers under the PWFA.

    The EEOC was tasked by law with finalizing regulations to implement the PWFA by December 29, 2023. Given the missed deadline, OIRA may move quickly on its review of the regulations, and we could see the final rule published sometime between late January and late February. CUPA-HR is continuing to monitor for any updates and will keep members apprised of any new details that may arise in the final rule.



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  • Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Reauthorization Prospects for the 118th Congress – CUPA-HR

    Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Reauthorization Prospects for the 118th Congress – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | February 15, 2023

    In the 118th Congress, bills will likely be introduced to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which includes programs used by community colleges and other higher education institutions pursuing their own workforce development agendas. Passed in July 2014, the WIOA is the primary federal law to increase access to and coordination between workforce development and other related programs. This blog post provides context on what the WIOA accomplishes and highlights recent attempts to reauthorize the law.

    Background

    There are four major components to the WIOA:

    • Title I includes programs related to workforce development activities and authorizes three formula grants through federally-funded, state- and locally-administered delivery systems that are administered by the Department of Labor.
    • Title II enacts the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), which authorizes programs for adult education up to the secondary level, as well as English training, and is administered by the Department of Education.
    • Title III amends the Wagner-Peyser Act, which authorizes the Employment Service formula grant program that is essential to the WIOA for planning and accountability purposes.
    • Title IV amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and provides funding to state agencies to support employment-related services to individuals with disabilities, among other smaller programs.

    The WIOA originally funded its programs from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2020 after most WIOA programs went into effect July 2015. Appropriations authorization for the WIOA was set to expire after fiscal year 2020, but Congress has extended authorization through the annual appropriations process since fiscal year 2021. Despite the extended authorization, Congress has tasked itself with producing a reauthorization of the WIOA that will extend appropriations for another five or more years and help modernize its workforce development programs. We will likely see reauthorization legislation in the House and/or Senate before the current term ends in 2025.

    WIOA Reauthorization Attempt in the 117th Congress

    In the 117th Congress, House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) and 17 committee Democrats introduced the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022 (H.R. 7309, “WIOA reauthorization bill”) and sent it to the House floor for a vote. According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on H.R. 7309, the bill “would retain the general structure and systems established by the WIOA” and would “authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2023 through 2028, increasing funding for existing systems and establishing several new programs.” The CRS report specifies that the WIOA reauthorization bill focused mostly on amending Title I of the law.

    On May 17, 2022, the House passed the WIOA reauthorization bill and sent it to the Senate where the bill stalled in the Senate Help, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee until the 117th Congress adjourned. The WIOA reauthorization bill passed the House among mostly partisan lines with 216 Democrats and four Republicans voting in favor of the bill and 196 Republicans voting against it.

    House Republicans criticized Scott and other Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee for failing to collaborate with Republicans to create a bipartisan bill prior to its introduction and during the committee markup. Prior to its final House vote, Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke out against the bill on the House floor stating that the Democrats’ bill did not create a workforce development system that prepares workers for in-demand skills.

    Potential for WIOA Reauthorization Attempts in the 118th Congress

    Given a divided House and Senate, both chambers will have to work together to pass any meaningful legislation for a WIOA reauthorization. Democrats and Republicans may be incentivized to produce a consensus WIOA reauthorization bill to address the record labor shortages and resulting open positions that employers are struggling to fill across the country. With Foxx now serving as the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and her interest in WIOA reauthorization during the last Congress, we believe she and other House Republicans will introduce a new bill, though it’s unknown whether they’ll be able to come to an agreement with Democrats in both the House and Senate to finalize and pass a new reauthorization bill.

    Without knowing how or when Congress will consider WIOA reauthorization, we are more certain of members who may be House champions of such a bill. In addition to Full Committee Chair Foxx and Ranking Member Scott, House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee leaders Burgess Owens (R-UT) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) will be involved in WIOA reauthorization bills that are introduced in this Congress. Less certain is where new Senate HELP leaders Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will stand on this particular issue given the Senate’s lack of action in the last Congress and each senator’s new ascension to top leadership positions of the HELP Committee.

    CUPA-HR will monitor WIOA reauthorization bills this Congress and keep members apprised of any new developments.



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