WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

Transcription

1 June 17, 2011 To: From: Subject: Point of Contact: Senator Al Franken Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Comments on Title I, II, and IV of the Workforce Investment Act Bonnie Elsey, Director Workforce Development Phone (651) Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) wishes to thank you for your commitment to support legislation as critical to the competitiveness of our country as the Workforce Investment Act. DEED is aware that there will be many opportunities to comment on many iterations of this draft but we want to provide you with the first impression of this comprehensive legislation on Minnesota s workers and employers. Because of the short turn-around time for initial comments, DEED will limit comments to areas we are appreciative of and areas of concern on Titles I, II, and IV. Title V comments will be submitted by VR. Title I - System Alignment and Innovation Minnesota is pleased to see an overarching title to discuss the vision, alignment and expected collaboration of programs that are so critical to the success of our system. Minnesota appreciates the recognition of the importance of aligning workforce, education, and economic development efforts to promote job growth and competitiveness. P. 7, Sec. 101, (11) Core Program Definition Comment: Clarify the definition of core program, does it mean the same thing as mandatory program under the current Act? If not, what is the difference? P. 17, (25), Sec. 101 Definition of Individual with a Disability Comment: More work needs to be given to clarifying the difference between the ADA definition of a disability and the eligibility definition for Vocational Rehabilitation Services which is more restrictive and requires greater significance of disability. This difference will impact performance measures. P. 21, Sec. 101, (36) Low-Income Individual Comment: Expanding definition of Low-income to include free reduced lunch and 150% of poverty guidelines is very helpful. P. 36, Sec. 111 (e) Chairperson of State Board Comment: Minnesota does not agree with the ability to nominate someone other than a business member as Chair of the State Board. We also do not agree that members of the State Board shall select the Chairperson. Minnesota believes the Governor, who must work closely with the State Board, shall appoint a business representative as Chair of the State Board. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION 1st National Bank Building 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E200 Saint Paul, MN USA Phone: Fax: TTY: or An Equal Opportunity Employer and Service Provider

2 P. 34, Sec. 111, (b) (1) (C), (iii) (I) Representative of Government Comment: Please clarify who represents core programs when multiple core programs are housed in a state agency with one State Appointed Official. Specifically be clear if representation for Rehabilitation Services is the State Appointed Official of the Designated State Agency or the program Director of the Designated State Unit. P. 43, Sec. 112 Unified State Plan Comment: Minnesota supports the development of the Unified State Plan. Minnesota is one of a few states who have consistently submitted a Unified Plan. P. 59, Sec. 112, (c) (2) Approval of Unified State Plan Comment: The RSA Commissioner is to approve the VR portion of the Unified Plan before submitting to DOL and DOE Secretaries for approval. What is the mechanism to resolve difference between RSA and DOL? P. 62, Sec. 113 Combined State Plan Comment: Clarify if it is the Governor or who decides which programs, if any, submit a combined state plan from those listed in (A)-(K). P , Sec. 112 (iv) (vi) Comment: Minnesota appreciates the emphasis on career pathways and career planning and the acknowledgement of the need for technological literacy. P. 76, Sec. 116 (e) Regional Planning Comment: Minnesota supports the concept of regionally planning and Minnesota s Local Boards have expertise in this area. P. 85, Sec. 117 (b) (2) (D) (iii) Membership Representing Vocational Rehabilitation Comment: This section states shall include an appropriate representative of the programs carried out under Title 1 of the Rehabilitation Act. Please clarify if this representative is a senior staff in the local area of the Designated State Unit. If a local board uses an alternative entity as the local board that was in existence in JTPA at the time WIA was passed, can an alternative person represent Rehabilitation Services? The state recommends that an alternative entity such as a CRP not be allowed in this circumstance since Vocational Rehabilitation is the core program in the one-stop. P. 82, Sec. 117 Local Boards Comment: Minnesota supports a closer coordination between State Board and Local Boards. P. 86, Sec. 117 Standing Committees Comment: The concept of standing committees is too prescriptive. Local Boards have responsibilities they need to accomplish in their oversight but don t tell them how to do it. 2

3 P. 97, Sec. 117 (5) Career Pathways Comment: Minnesota appreciates the emphasis on Career Pathway development within local planning for local boards. Minnesota has invested heavily with Governor set-aside resources in building stackable industry recognized credentials along a career pathway. P. 115 Sec. 118 (5) Comment: Minnesota agrees with the requirement that local boards coordinate workforce investment activities with economic development activities, including promotion of entrepreneurial training. P. 122, Sec. 121 Qualification for Directors Comment: This section should be deleted as it s over prescriptive. Localities may have civil service qualifications they must follow as units of local government. What problem are we trying to fix? P. 129 Sec. 122 Funding of State Board Comment: Language limits board funding to WIA or State funding. The State Board should require investments by all federal mandatory programs that benefit from the coordination and alignment of the programs in which the Agency heads on the board has oversight. P , Sec. 131 (I) Performance Measures Comment: Minnesota needs time to evaluate the impact of the changes in the time frames in the definitions and the earnings and credential attainment definitions compared to current measures. Closer review with Title III and V needs to be evaluated. Vocational Rehabilitation has a different definition currently for exiting the program (stabilized in employment at least 90 days) so clarify what is meant by exiting for each program under the common performance accountability system. P. 159, Sec. 141 & P Sec. 143, Youth Innovation and Replication Grants/Workforce Innovation and Replication Grants. Comment: Minnesota highly opposes USDOL taking a percentage off the top of WIA Title II, IV, and V programs to solicit grants for innovation. With limited resources, this takes away from core program funding. The Governor s 15% set-aside has demonstrated innovative programming at the state and local levels. Governors and Local- elected officials know best the needs of their constituents and have proven their creativity in serving their constituents. USDOL should spend more time learning from states and localities on their innovative practices of delivering services. P. 182, Sec. 145 Interagency Agreement Comment: Minnesota applauds federal agencies working together. Historically conflicting information is provided by USDOL and Dept. of Education/Vocational Rehabilitation on coordination and allowable participation of the Vocational Rehabilitation program. Vocational Rehabilitation should be a required partner in the one-stop system. Full inclusion for people with disabilities requires cooperation at all levels and must be reciprocal. 3

4 4 Title II Workforce Investment Related Activities P. 15, Sec. 211 (4) Use of Common One-Stop Delivery System Identifier Comment: Minnesota opposes a national brand for one-stop delivery system. Minnesota has adopted the WorkForce Center name as a state brand. It has been established for about 15 years. It would be confusing to the public and expensive to re-do print materials, web-sites, etc. to change our state brand. P , Sec. 222 WIA Certified Training Providers Comment: Minnesota appreciates the opportunity for greater gubernatorial flexibility in determining appropriate eligible training providers. P. 43, Sec. 222 Agreements with Other States on WIA Training Providers Comment: Minnesota appreciates the opportunity for inter-state cooperation in the use of the certified provider lists. P. 56, Sec. 228 Youth Allocation Formula Comment: Minnesota needs time in evaluating how the new Youth allocation formula would impact states and local areas. Minnesota would like to know the intent of the formula change. Minnesota also needs time to evaluate the Adult and DW formula and if it changes Minnesota s relative share in comparison to other states. P. 63 Sec. 229 Out-of-School Youth Comment: Minnesota supports the expansion of the age range to age 24 for out of school youth. P. 76, Sec. 229 (K-M) Youth Comment: Minnesota supports the addition of financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills, labor market education and preparation for post-secondary transition as program elements for youth. Title IV - Wagner Peyser P. 4, Sec. 404 (c) Reservation of Funds for Workforce Innovation Grants Comment: Minnesota opposes taking a portion of funds appropriated to fund a federal Workforce Investment Fund. The Wagner-Peyser program has received no increase in real dollars since An increase in funds for Wagner-Peyser at the national level given to states could greatly increase employment services to UI claimants. Minnesota would also like a reference to the actual term National Labor Exchange System which has been in place since the inception of Wagner-Peyser. P. 5 after (G) Insert (H) Re-employment Services Comment: Minnesota recommends the establishment of Re-employment Services as a permanent addition to the Wagner-Peyser Act to be paid for with Federal Unemployment Insurance Tax Act (FUTA tax).

5 5 States shall establish a comprehensive and integrated service delivery model to ensure UI claimants receive an enhanced level of service to reduce their duration on unemployment insurance; thus reducing the strain on the state s trust funds. Re-employment Services shall be coordinated with the Re-employment Assessment program under the Unemployment Insurance Program. Allowable activities include: 1. Career guidance and group and individual counseling, including provisions of material, suggestions, or advice which are intended to assist the job seeker in making occupation or career decisions. 2. Provision of labor market, occupational, and skills transferability information that clarifies claimants re-employment opportunities and skills used in related or other industries. 3. Referral to job banks, job portals, and job openings. 4. Referral to employers and registered apprenticeship sponsors. 5. Referral to partners for training. 6. Assessment, including interviews, testing, or employment planning. 7. Provision of services through job clubs, networking groups, etc. 8. Assuring Unemployment Insurance claimants resumes are entered into state job banks. 9. Provide training for one-stop staff on assessments, worker profiling, auto coder software, labor market information, to help one-stop staff use the information technology tools developed by the state or USDOL. 10. Target job development efforts of business service staff to meet the needs of UI claimants. 11. Pre-training work on writing resumes, interviewing for employment, and any competency that will improve claimants ability to job search and apply for jobs online. P. 11 Sec. 409 Workforce and Labor Market Information System Comment: Minnesota needs more time to have our Director of Labor Market Information review and comment on this section. P. 18, Sec. 409 (B) Membership of Workforce Information Advisory Council Comment: Appreciate the broader spectrum of members on the Council to include the Job Service State agency or the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), representatives of WIA Title II, economic development, business organizations, labor organizations, local board, and research entities who use labor market information. Sincerely, Bonnie Elsey Workforce Development Director Department of Employment and Economic Development