Goodwill Industries International, Inc. » Advocate

Goodwill’s Capacity Is Increasing: Can Policymakers Hold Up Their End of the Deal?

Last week, approximately 160 people representing Goodwill agencies all across the country came to Washington to inform members of Congress about how Goodwill helps people who have employment challenges to find jobs and advance in careers. A number of others participated virtually through Goodwill’s Legislative Action Center. Those who engaged with their Congressional representatives explained that Goodwill served more than 6.7 million people in 2012, placing 213,000 people in jobs; however they noted that these achievements depend on a public-private partnership that exists between Goodwill and government programs that leverage Goodwill’s resources and expertise. Unfortunately, this public-private partnership is becoming lopsided. Over the course of the past decade, we have aggressively worked to increase our capacity to do more, while government resources have steadily declined. Let’s compare. In 2002, local Goodwill agencies collectively reported that they generated a little more than $2 billion in their retail stores and other social enterprises, 18 percent of which came from government grants or fees for service. Goodwill invested more than 81 percent of its revenue to provide services to nearly 575,000 people. In 2012, Goodwill generated nearly $4.9 billion, 12 percent of which came from a government source. Goodwill invested nearly 82 percent of its revenue to provide services to more than 6.7 million individuals. By comparison, key government investments that leverage Goodwill are steadily eroding. Consider the primary federal investment in job training. In 2002, the combined federal investment in job training for youth, adults and dislocated workers totaled nearly $3.5 billion. Today, that investment has declined by nearly 30 percent. And this week, House appropriators agreed to a plan that could reduce further reduce spending by more than 18 percent. These numbers demonstrate a disturbing trend. For at least a decade, public investments in key job training programs have declined, while community-based organizations, like Goodwill are expected to pick up the slack. That is why it is so important for policymakers to appreciate Goodwill’s value as a public-private partner, leading them to protect or establish programs that leverage our resources. If you would like to volunteer your voice to support Goodwill, click here.

Join the Goodwill® on the Hill Virtual Advocacy Day!

Today, Goodwill® advocates from around the country will visit Capitol Hill and meet with hundreds of lawmakers to advocate for federal investments in programs that leverage Goodwill and benefit the people we serve, and the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). However, their in-person meetings can be only as successful as the support received from other Goodwill supporters unable to attend. Congress has a number of priorities to address before their Memorial Day recess, and Goodwill Industries® is working to ensure that our elected leaders recognize the resources that the Goodwill enterprise brings to the table. Take part in the Goodwill on the Hill Virtual Advocacy Day to make your voice heard! The Goodwill Legislative Action Center allows you to have a voice, and with one click of a button you can contact your member of Congress. Public supporters can click here to take action! Goodwill staff can click here to send a letter of support.* Goodwill CEOs can click here to send a customized letter to lawmakers.* *Goodwill staff and CEOs must first log in to MyGoodwill

Empowering People to Work Depends on Inspiring Change

In the spirit of Goodwill Industries Week, a time when Goodwill® celebrates the power of work, I’d like to take a break from my usual focus on the week’s pressing issues in order to consider important lessons we can learn from Goodwill’s origins. In 1895, Goodwill’s founder, Rev. Edgar J. Helms arrived in Boston’s south end. As was common with tenement communities during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s), the neighborhood was overcrowded and unsanitary, and unemployment and underemployment were stubbornly high. Just like today, residents faced cultural differences, high poverty and political division. I imagine at times Helms may have felt small, insignificant and powerless to tackle the deep-rooted social issues that he experienced there. But despite the odds, he had the audacity to strive toward making a difference in people’s lives. He started collecting used and unwanted household goods from affluent households in Boston. The donations were repaired or repurposed, and sold. The proceeds were used to pay wages to people who were engaged in the work of turning the donations into revenue. And by 1902, through a combination of vision, faith, leadership, luck and the involvement of others, the first Goodwill agency sprung up to empower people in South Boston to improve their lives through the power of work. The self-sustaining model caught on and spread to other communities across the nation, resulting in a positive impact that could only have exceeded Helms’ wildest dreams. In 2012, approximately 6.7 million people benefited from Goodwill’s services, and Goodwill raised $4.89 billion in its retail, commercial services and other social enterprises. More than 219,000 people were placed in jobs, including more than 112,000 people who worked for Goodwill. Collectively, these workers earned $3.62 billion in salaries and wages and contributed to their communities as productive, tax-paying citizens. That’s Goodwill’s (albeit unfinished) chapter in an inspiring and broader story. It’s striking that other charitable icons – Volunteers of America (1896), Big Brothers Big Sisters (1904), Camp Fire (1910), Catholic Charities (1910), and Girl Scouts (1912) – have similar stories stemming from the Progressive Era. These iconic agencies, each with a long history of taking on the deep-rooted social challenges despite the odds, now make up the backbone of the nation’s nonprofit sector. And we’re needed now more than ever. Government resources are shrinking. The income gap is widening. Poverty is still pervasive. Unemployment is high, especially in high-poverty communities. And the political landscape is polarized. Just as it did for Progressive Era pioneers like Helms, our success depends on vision, faith, luck and leadership. And the involvement of others. As individuals, we may feel too small, insignificant and powerless to address deep-rooted challenges that affect our communities. Yet involved individuals can and will collectively write the next part of this story. If you would like to join the growing community of people working together to take on today’s pressing social issues join Goodwill's Legislative Action Center.

Goodwill Urges Policymakers to Protect Job Training Investments

When Congress failed to avert automatic spending cuts, otherwise known as “sequestration,” in early March, it felt like a non-event for many. While the airwaves were littered with the news and predictions of its impact, for people on Main Street USA, life went on pretty much as usual. This week, however, the airwaves and headlines were full of content about automatic spending cuts, causing air traffic controllers to be furloughed, resulting in flight delays. Nearly two month since sequestration took effect, people are feeling the first effects of “sequestration,” and politicians are starting to bow to the pressure. The White House and a number of Senate Democrats have dropped demands that any sequester replacement bill be offset by some new revenue. Unless policymakers strike a deal, sequestration will negatively impact millions of job seekers in October. This is when the cuts will cause the workforce system to serve an estimated 2 million fewer people. Despite its impact on our fragile economic recovery, such an event is unlikely to get much mainstream media attention. Meanwhile, community-based organizations like Goodwill will remain on the frontlines, dedicating approximately 82 percent of the $4.89 billion we raised in 2012 to help people find jobs and advance in careers. As a result, in 2012, Goodwill provided job training and other services to more than 6.7 million people, placed 219,000 people in jobs, and employed 112,000 people. Yet these achievements are the result of a public-private partnership, one that the steady decline in government investment in job training threatens to undermine. Significant challenges Goodwill faces include:

High unemployment and increased need.
Government disinvestment in job training.
Reduced government contracting employment opportunities for people with disabilities as a result of sequestration.
Proposals to reduce charitable giving incentives.

As policymakers work to restore economic stability and minimize sequestration’s painful effects, Goodwill urges Congress to protect investments that leverage Goodwill’s nation-wide infrastructure, resources, and expertise in job training and employment.

From Tragedy to Resiliency: Incorporating Stories into Advocacy Efforts

Immigration, gun control, appropriations. Though there were plenty of issues discussed on the Hill this week, I'm struggling to write about any of them. Like many Americans, this week’s events have led to a roller coaster of emotions and the week isn't even over. During the media coverage of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, a journalist noted that marathons are a place where news bumps into you. One doesn't have to seek out a story. The day after the marathon I was meeting with staff of a Massachusetts congressman when a woman walked in with flowers to pay her respects. She said she was the widow of a flight attendant who lost his life during the attacks of September 11. It was nice of her to share her story and to stop by to comfort others who were certainly having a rough day. I was on the Hill again on Wednesday as offices were evacuated due to suspicious packages and tainted letters. And yet, the staff was resilient. My meetings went on despite everyone being a little on edge. A colleague from another organization asked me this week if I had a standard presentation on incorporating stories into advocacy. Since there are countless stories for me to choose from each time I speak on behalf of Goodwill® I pointed him in the direction of our My Story initiative. He said that he spent 90 minutes listening to uplifting stories of people who have been helped by Goodwill. Good thing he bumped into me. This week, I ask you to share your uplifting story, think about how you weave those stories into your advocacy, and be sure to recognize when news bumps into you.

America’s Budget Process: A Return to Normalcy?

In 1920, presidential candidate Warren Harding campaigned on a “return to normalcy” promise after the end of World War I, a war that unhinged most of Europe from aristocratic rule and left many more people disillusioned. He said that Americans needed “not nostrums, but normalcy; not agitation, but adjustment; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise.” After the calamity of the Great Recession of 2008-2011, many Americans also became disillusioned with their government. What Americans needed was for their elected leaders to work together to right the ship of state. What they got instead were constant ideological battles, an inability or unwillingness to work together, and threats of government defaults, shutdowns, and sequesters — all of which contributed to the angst already created by soaring unemployment and the largest housing and stock market collapse since the Great Depression. Is Congress Finally Working Together? But this year Congress might have finally woken up and listened. The budget sequester that was supposed to force Congress to come up with a debt and deficit cutting deal BEFORE it went into effect seems to have Congress working together more closely now that it HAS gone into effect. A budget deficit reduction deal approved earlier in the year seems to be holding, and Congress approved a debt ceiling increase without all threats of default. Recently the House and, more importantly, the Senate passed their budget resolutions that set spending levels for the year. The Senate hadn’t passed one in four years. And what of those House and Senate budget resolutions? Certainly they are far apart in their approaches. The House resolution achieves all $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction through cuts in spending and entitlement programs. The Senate achieves a smaller deficit reduction target of $1.85 trillion through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. But despite huge differences, both sides have said they want to try and work out a compromise plan. Quite a different story from prior years. President Barack Obama Releases Budget Proposal And yesterday the president released his budget proposal for FY 2014. Though the president’s budget is usually the start of the annual budget process, this year it arrived after the House and Senate had approved their budget resolutions. The White House approach was to try and find a middle ground. The president’s budget cuts the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) by $71 million, but it also undoes the sequester for the Department of Labor WIA programs and consolidates just two programs: the Trade Adjustment Assistance and WIA-Dislocated Worker programs into a new Universal Displaced Worker (UDW) program. By comparison the House-passed SKILLS act consolidates 35 programs and cuts funding. The president’s budget calls for new tax revenue but also cuts Social Security benefits by proposing a different method for adjusting benefits. A mixed bag of good and bad news for Goodwill and people we serve. No doubt there will be much political maneuvering in the coming weeks and months as both sides vie for public support for their budgets. But if a middle ground is found then perhaps the normalcy of the budget process will once again have returned to Washington, DC.

Congressional Job Training Debate Focuses on a False Choice

The editorial page of this Sunday’s Washington Post featured the article, “Congress debates the future of job-training program.” Rather than presenting a refreshing and balanced perspective on an important, yet long-delayed, piece of legislation, the editorial rehashed an old partisan debate over a false choice: Should the nation’s network of job training programs be consolidated or not? Recently the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803) passed the House, largely along party lines. The bill proposes to consolidate 35 job training programs into one block grant to states. During the House debate, House Republicans argued that the broad consolidation bill would reduce bureaucracy and simplify the workforce system. Democrats countered that the House-passed bill fails to ensure that vulnerable and hard-to-employ populations would be adequately served. While one would think that each side could acknowledge the other’s concern and seek common ground, what lies between the proverbial party lines (“compromise,” but shhh, don’t say that word too loud) is a politician’s No Man’s Land. Today, we battle stubbornly high unemployment and the global economy is becoming increasingly competitive for U.S. businesses and employers. It’s a complex problem with a complex solution that requires a bipartisan approach. Rather than seeking compromise, policymakers and news outlets present it as a simple and clear-cut choice.

Option 1: Blow the whole thing up and start over.
Option 2: Don’t change a thing.

Both options make for poor public policy. In the case of job training, this false choice has only proven to exacerbate policy-setting paralysis on Capitol Hill and result in a job training law (known as the Workforce Investment Act) that is now nearly 15 years old and nearly a decade overdue for reauthorization. Nobody wins – not Republicans, not Democrats, and certainly not workers and employers. The ugly secret is that what makes good public policy often makes for poor politics and gets little mainstream media attention. To be fair, the Post’s editorial noted that “the entire debate, alas, is light on data and heavy on politics,” but it failed to call out policymakers for putting party politics before policy. Had the Washington Post’s editorial board dug a little deeper, it would have discovered a thoughtful alternative, “Workforce Stakeholders Group: Statement on Reforming Job Training Programs in America,”which had been entered into the public record at the last minute of a recent and politically-charged House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on the SKILLS Act. Goodwill Industries was proactively engaged in the development of the Workforce Stakeholders Group’s statement which urges policymakers to refocus their attention on the following question: “What outcomes do we want from our workforce system, and what elements are needed in order to put the system in a position to achieve them in a constantly changing environment?” That’s the type of question that voters send policymakers to Washington to solve, but the solution is unlikely to get the juicy headlines that political junkies crave. So be it. Here’s the juicy headline that job seekers and businesses crave: “Best-trained U.S. workers fuel record economic growth.”

When Will Our Generation Take a Stand for Jobs?

My Facebook feed was filled this week with posts and pictures of people commenting on the recent cases before the Supreme Court. I walked past the people who lined up for days in order to get a glimpse of the oral arguments, and I started to think about what motivates them to take action. Why aren’t people showing the same level of engagement when it comes to issues before Congress? None of my Facebook friends changed their profile pictures to express concern with the mandatory cuts to federal programs leveraged by Goodwill and relied upon by the people we serve. Granted, it is difficult to think of an illustration that depicts sequestration, but you understand what I mean. Is it a generational thing? After all, people also slept outside of Rockefeller Center in order to see Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live. Is it a lack of understanding of the legislative process? The Supreme Court rules on the laws of the land. But Congress can make new laws that overturn the court’s decision (remember learning about the separation of powers and the three branches of government back in elementary school?). Does the lack of engagement have to do with access? Congressional hearings are open to the public and aren’t that well attended. Unlike the Supreme Court proceedings, most hearings can also be watched online and on television. Given this access, are people just apathetic to the political process? Congressional approval ratings have been at an all-time low. Furthermore, an estimated 222 million Americans were eligible to vote in 2012, an increase of about nine million over 2008. Of those eligible voters, 51 million were not registered. There are a variety of issues that Goodwill advocates for and in which we would like for all of our stakeholders--leaders, employees, shoppers, donors, program participants and volunteers--to be engaged. The Goodwill Legislative Action Center allows for advocates to connect with their members of Congress with a click of a button or by simply picking up the phone. Consider supporting Goodwill and encouraging people to sign up for our legislative action center on your social media sites.

For Workforce Stakeholders, It’s March Madness

For workforce stakeholders, March has been an eventful month. Early in the month, Congress failed to avert automatic spending cuts, commonly referred to as “sequestration,” from taking place. This cut is resulting in a 5 percent cut to job training and other programs that allow Goodwill® to do more to help people to find jobs and advance in careers. Further, the cut will feel deeper since it is being applied late in the fiscal year. But more about that later. Next, largely along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803). The bill proposes to consolidate the bulk of the nation’s network of job training and employment support programs into a single block grant to states. It is yet unclear how the Senate intends to address proposals to make changes to the nation’s job training programs. On the heels of the SKILLS Act’s passage by the House, President Obama nominated Thomas Perez to serve as the new Secretary of Labor. If confirmed (which is far from certain), Perez is expected to help the president pursue his agenda of expanding voting rights, raising the minimum wage and overhauling immigration laws. During his tenure as Maryland’s Secretary of Labor, Perez helped to increase the minimum wage in the state, and reportedly enjoyed broad union support. And lastly, the Senate passed a temporary spending measure (H.R. 933) yesterday to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal year 2013. The bill would set discretionary spending at $1.043 trillion; however, the automatic cuts would allow it to drop to about $984 billion. The House is expected to quickly approve the spending measure before adjourning to observe Easter and Passover. As the saying goes, March goes “in like a lion, out like a lamb.” But not so in this case: budget proposals were recently introduced in both the House and Senate. The House version raises concerns because it proposes to reduce federal investments in non-defense discretionary programs over the next 10 years by $1.1 trillion below the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act. What does that all spell for job training? U-N-C-E-R-T-A-I-N-T-Y. And don’t expect answers just because we’re flipping a page on the calendar. Next month, the president is expected to unveil his long-anticipated FY 2014 budget proposal, likely adding new variables to the already murky equation. Meanwhile, local Goodwill agencies remain on the front lines of the economic recovery, investing 82 percent of the $4.4 billion it raises in its retail stores and other business enterprises to assist people to overcome their employment challenges despite the stubbornly bleak job market and the uncertain environment. What is certain is that the effects of sequestration are expected to be felt over time, rather than overnight. With sequestration taking affect and unemployment expected to increase to more than 9 percent as a result, Goodwill’s mission will become even more important. And with the workforce system’s resources and capacity reduced, Goodwill’s challenge will become more difficult as it works to pick up the slack. How are you experiencing the effects of sequestration? Have you had to lay off workers? Has your business slowed? Have you had to limit the number of people you can serve? Please comment and let us know.

This Tax Season, Take Advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit

During last year’s tax filing season, more than 27 million American families were refunded in excess of $62 billion by taking advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit, or the Earned Income Credit (EITC or EIC). However, each year, millions of families fail to take advantage of billions of dollars in EITC refunds that they are eligible to receive, and the funds go unclaimed. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Internal Revenue Service indicate that between 15 and 25 percent of households who are entitled to the EITC do not claim their credit— between 3.5 million and 7 million households. Is your family losing out on potential tax refund dollars? If your family is considered low-income or medium-income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that may be the case. The refundable tax credit applies primarily to individuals and couples who meet the income requirement and have qualifying children. In order for a qualified tax filer to claim one or more persons as their qualifying children, the age, relationship, and shared residency requirements must be met, as well as some other requirements. This tax credit is intended to offset the burden of social security taxes and to maintain an incentive to work. To help connect qualified tax filers with information about EITC, Goodwill Industries International has joined with The Walmart Foundation, National Disability Institute and United Way Worldwide to launch the MyFreeTaxes Partnership. These national and local partners offer free federal and state tax preparation and filing services, both online and in person, to eligible Americans. Taxpayers using this service will receive eligibility information about EITC, and other tax credits that help them keep more of what they earn. To learn more about how the EITC may be able to help you keep more of your hard earned dollars in your pocket, visit My Free Taxes. http://www.myfreetaxes.com. About EITC/EIC Enacted in 1975, the EIC has been expanded by tax legislation on a number of occasions, including the Reagan Tax Reform Act of 1986, and in 1990, 1993 and 2001. The EITC is the largest poverty reduction program in the United States. EITC dollars have a significant impact on the lives and communities of the nation's lowest paid working people. The U.S. Census Bureau found that the EITC lifted 5.4 million people above the poverty line in 2010.

Action Needed to Prevent One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Job Training

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803). The bill proposes to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) while consolidating 35 job training programs in a single block grant to states. On March 6, 2013, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed the bill 23-0. Democratic members of the committee walked out on the vote to protest the partisan process being used to advance the bill. In particular, Goodwill is concerned about the SKILLS Act’s proposal to create a single block grant. The block grant’s funds would be allocated to states and localities through a formula that equally weighs the number of people in states and localities who are unemployed, participating in the labor market, unemployed long term (15 weeks or more) or who are disadvantaged youth. Goodwill is concerned that this one-size-fits-all approach lacks the sophistication needed to meet that the unique needs of populations such as older workers, youth, veterans and people with criminal backgrounds. Furthermore, Goodwill is disappointed that partisan politics have prevented needed improvements for nearly 10 years. Rather than engaging in unproductive and divisive debates, Goodwill urges Congress to focus its attention on the outcomes we need from our workforce system, and the elements that are needed to achieve them. Action Needed Members of Congress need to hear from their constituents that job training is important to our economic recovery. At a time when unemployment remains high, these resources are an important part of the nation’s economic recovery and job creation effort, Congress should set partisan differences aside and create a comprehensive workforce system that serves employers and people.

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Tell Congress to Put Job Seekers’ Needs above Partisan Differences

This week, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing called "Putting America Back to Work: Reforming the Nation's Workforce Investment System." In her opening remarks, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), noted concerns that the skills gap makes it difficult for employers to fill jobs with qualified workers and that the more than 50 federal job training programs present a complicated maze for job seekers to navigate. “Instead of a dynamic network of employment support, we have a massive bureaucracy that stifles innovation and wastes resources,” her statement reads. In response to these concerns, Rep. Foxx has introduced the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act, which proposes to eliminate 35 job training programs into a single one-size-fits-all block grant to states. While we at Goodwill disagree with this approach, we are in consensus that improvements are needed to create the “dynamic network” that Rep. Foxx proposes. We believe that Congress has a strong opportunity to:

Create a cohesive and broad workforce system that leverages the unique strengths and resources that numerous systemic components bring to the table.
Remove the systemic barriers that allow people to fall through the cracks and that prevent them from reaching their full potential.
Improve the productivity of business through the provision of skilled, competitive and motivated workers.

These goals should be achieved by preserving important programs and systems with a track record of success in providing a range of services to specific populations with unique barriers to employment, including veterans, people with disabilities, youth, older workers, people with a criminal background, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, Native Americans, people who are homeless, and women seeking non-traditional employment opportunities. Unfortunately, the House Education and the Workforce Committee is expected to approve the bill along party lines next week, clearing it for consideration by the full House of Representatives soon thereafter. Rather than stoking up old disagreements that have proven to be unproductive and divisive, Goodwill believes that Congress should develop a bipartisan bill that focuses on creating a comprehensive workforce system that leverages the unique strengths and expertise of its systemic components. Tell Congress to set aside old disagreements to build upon the strengths of existing programs to develop a broad workforce system that serves employers and businesses, serves people, and contributes to building stronger families and communities.

Act Now to Protect Job Training Programs from Budget Cuts

As the nation slowly recovers from the worst recession since the Great Depression and unemployment remains high, job training programs face a dual threat this year. On the immediate front, automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect on March 1 threaten to cut funding for these programs by more than 5 percent. On the second front, House Republicans are expected to soon introduce legislation that proposes to consolidate job training programs in the name of reform. Some policymakers, fueled by concerns about the deficit, may find such a proposal very tempting.

Tell legislators that job training is important to our economy recovery.

The funding threat: Over the past several years, the federal investment in job training, which leverages Goodwill, has steadily eroded over time – a 25 percent decrease since 2002 when unemployment was just 5.8 percent. As a result, the workforce system’s resources are already stretched critically thin. Goodwill is very concerned that additional decreases would have a drastic effect on its programs and the people who participate in them. If sequestration is allowed to occur, funding for job training programs would be cut by more than $130 million resulting in at least 270,000 fewer people served. The legislative threat: On February 14, House Democrats reintroduced their bill to reauthorize the primary law, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), that shapes and authorizes funding for job training. According to their press release, the bill would “modernize the current system by promoting more effective coordination among local stakeholders… and encourage innovation and best practices throughout the system.” On the other side of the aisle, House Republicans are soon expected to introduce a bill that is expected to propose consolidating several job training programs into a general “block grant” to states. Proponents of the workforce system, including Goodwill, are concerned that a consolidated block grant would lack the sophistication needed to appropriately direct resources to address unique target populations’ needs and challenges. Action Needed: Members of Congress need to hear from their constituents that job training is important to our economic recovery. At a time when unemployment remains high, these resources are an important part of the nation’s economic recovery and job creation effort.

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Stand Up for People, Priorities Overlooked in the State of the Union Address

In President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address this week, he addressed a number of key challenges faced by our country, including poverty, job training and the need for job creation. I was disappointed that in one night, there was no specific mention of people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, older workers, people with criminal backgrounds and many of the other employment challenges people face. Goodwills around the country provide valuable job training services to these individuals and place them in jobs, creating pathways out of poverty every day. I’m encouraged by the proposals put forth to support innovation and infrastructure in order to create more jobs. But before Congress can debate the merits of these proposals and legislate the specifics, there is a bigger issue at hand: sequestration. A recent poll found 64 percent of voters don’t know what sequestration is. Only about 20 percent correctly know that it has something to do with fiscal issues. Plain and simple, if sequestration occurs, across-the-board cuts will be made to nearly all federal programs – programs relied upon by Goodwill and the people we serve. The president noted that both parties, economists and business leaders alike say that sequestration is a bad idea and the idea of cutting job-training is even worse. Yet the cuts are a real possibility and will impact all of the vulnerable populations mentioned above. As the president lays out the priorities for the administration during his second-term and a new Congress reconvenes with its own agenda, now is the time to let your voice be heard and to speak up for those groups who were not referenced. Sign up for Goodwill’s Legislative Action Center to contact your members of Congress. Share the alerts and updates with your own networks, and educate other stakeholders about how the acts of Congress will affect Goodwill. Let’s make sure the important groups overlooked in the State of the Union are not forgotten as Congress considers these cuts.

Unemployment: Are We Treating Symptoms or the Patient?

This week, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing America's schools and workplaces. In his opening remarks, Rep. John Kline (R-MN) who chairs the committee stated, “As policymakers, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Several key laws have expired and are in desperate need of reform.” As the nation slowly recovers from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and concerns about the deficit remain front and center, some policymakers are tempted to consolidate the workforce system in the name of reform. While a case can be made that broad consolidation would lead to some savings and efficiencies, I believe — especially because several key laws are due for Congressional review — the current dialogue must shift from consolidation to promoting integration and collaboration among existing resources and programs. How would an integrated and collaborative approach help people? Today, people who seek employment services and job training often face multiple employment challenges, each of which may be addressed by a separate system administered by a separate agency. For example, a person may seek job training, yet they may lack the educational attainment needed to complete job training. Perhaps they also receive cash assistance. Under this example, a separate system addresses each challenge separately and in isolation of the other. In other words, they treat the symptoms. Yet who is treating the patient? Indeed, several key acts are expired or due to expire this year. Among others, these include the Workforce Investment Act (which shapes our nation’s job training programs), the Carl D. Perkins Act (which shapes career and technical education in secondary and post-secondary institutions), and the Higher Education Act. Because these key laws are due for Congressional review, Congress has an opportunity to do something revolutionary. It has an opportunity to create a cohesive and broad workforce system that leverages the unique strengths and resources that a number of systems bring to the table; while removing the systemic barriers that allow people to fall through the cracks. Considering the increasingly polarized political landscape, it is difficult to envision Congress developing a bipartisan framework that would achieve such lofty, yet worthy, goals. However, at the time, it must have been difficult to envision the enactment of many then-audacious national advancements that we now take for granted. Federal policymakers have advanced much more audacious achievements in the past, and they should recognize an opportunity to do so again to build stronger communities that support people in finding jobs and employers in finding skilled workers.

Every Day Is Groundhog Day in Washington, DC

This Saturday, the people of Punxsutawney, PA, will anxiously gather to see whether a groundhog will, by the mere sight (or lack thereof) of his shadow, predict an extended winter or an early spring. Meanwhile, millions of classic movie lovers will recall the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, in which his egocentric character is doomed to repeat February 2day after day. He eventually decides to use the time provided by the endless cycle to evaluate his life and priorities, and he ultimately grows as a human being. Just a couple hundred miles to the southeast in Washington, policymakers are living a real-life political version of the 1993 movie classic. Rally, Delay, Repeat Gridlock, caused by many years of partisan politics and political posturing, has caused important national decisions to be delayed over and over again. Consider efforts to restore the nation’s fiscal strength. In 2010, President Obama created a fiscal commission, commonly referred to Simpson-Bowles, to develop a deficit reduction plan. The commission developed a plan, but it failed to attract the 14 votes needed in the group to pass. Since then, we have faced government shutdowns and debt default a number of times, only to see the can kicked down the road – the crisis du jour temporarily averted. Most recently, in late December Congress passed the American Tax Relief Act (ATRA), temporarily averting deep cuts to discretionary spending until March 1. Today, Congress is poised to increase the nation’s debt limit until mid-May, temporarily averting a debt-default crisis. The bill also includes an incentive for Congress to pass a budget resolution for the first time in several years. Although the debt-ceiling crisis has been avoided for now, another crisis is just around the corner. Since Congress was unable to agree to FY 2013 spending bills, government programs have continued to operate under a temporary spending bill that expires on March 27. Unless Congress agrees to extend funding, government programs will shut down. In fact, some fiscal conservatives in Congress are calling for just that. Will the Season of Uncertainty Continue? More fiscal crises loom far beyond March 27— and as far as the eye can see, considering the current political landscape. Why? Because it makes great political theater and creates opportunities for parties to score points, perhaps just enough to win back or strengthen control of the House, Senate or the White House. Unfortunately, it also creates a great deal of uncertainty, slowing economic growth and limiting investments in education and job training and other services that help keep our workforce vibrant and competitive. In other words, what makes good politics all too often makes terrible public policy. I think American voters understand that, and that is why we have seen partisan power shift back and forth so much in the past 10-15 years. And I think the trend will continue until policymakers are able to meaningfully demonstrate that that the solutions to our problems come from both sides of the aisle. What’s needed to end this political version of Groundhog Day is a restoration of order and civility to the political, policy-setting and budget-setting processes. E pluribus unum: Out of many one. How do we get back to that? I wish I knew for sure. There was a time when I believed that a generation-defining and unifying event or leader would be the catalyst. But now, I think it’s at least as likely that order and civility will be restored over time through millions of small individual acts of constituent engagement that give our political parties the confidence and trust in one another to truly work together to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities. Goodwill is engaged in efforts to inform members of Congress about how policies affect our efforts to help people find jobs, advance in careers, and build a more vibrant nation one community at a time. We continue to keep you informed through our Legislative Action Center about policy developments that affect Goodwill and hope you'll use the portal to urge members of Congress to strengthen programs that leverage the Goodwill enterprise.

Earned Income Tax Credit: Providing a Path to Self Sufficiency

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides critical tax relief for low income workers and working people with disabilities. According to the IRS, four out of five eligible workers claim and get their EITC ,and the average refund is $2,200. The U.S. Census Bureau found that the EITC lifted 5.4 million people above the poverty line in 2010. Goodwill strongly supports the EITC and is cosponsoring an event on Thursday, January 24, on Capitol Hill that will help educate policymakers and congressional staff about the importance of this key credit for American workers. Speakers will address the ways in which the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) brings value to not only individuals and working families, but also to entire communities, local economies and the nation as a whole. The event comes in conjunction with the IRS’ annual EITC Awareness Day, being celebrated this year on January 27. On Friday, January 25, at 2:00 p.m. EST, you are welcome to join in a free webinar hosted by the National Disability Institute to highlight Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day 2013. You can register for the webinar here. The EITC was enacted by Congress in 1975 to assist working families and individuals. People have used the EITC to pay for necessities such as rent, bills, home and vehicle repair, and maintenance. In some cases, the tax credit has been put toward large purchases such as a home or car and long-term investments such as savings, obtaining additional education or training, or retirement.

Ways to Serve Your Community through Goodwill®

Before his passing in 1942, Rev. Edgar J. Helms, Methodist minister and founder of Goodwill Industries International wrote, “Goodwill Industries® is a business plus. It exists for service not profits. Goodwill Industries is a social service plus. It offers not alms but opportunities.” Goodwill® was created in 1902 by volunteers who took the idea of collecting used clothes, providing jobs to people who repaired them, and sold the items to fund services to the most vulnerable populations. The mission of Goodwill has held strong for 110 years through the service provided by leadership and staff, the volunteer efforts of board members, advocates, and others, and the generosity of our donors who support the donated goods enterprise. As we reflect on the legacy of another reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the first family has called on Americans to continue the tradition they began four years ago with a National Day of Service. Goodwill Industries International is honored to answer that call. Local Goodwill agencies are engaging volunteers on this day for a number of community service projects. In addition, Goodwill Industries International will be supporting Goodwill of Greater Washington in staffing an informational booth on the mall during inauguration weekend. Here are some ideas for how you can make a difference through Goodwill on the National Day of Service and throughout the year:

Donate Goods: When you donate your gently used goods, they are sold within your community. The revenue from your tax-deductible donation is used to fund job training programs and support services for people who face challenges to finding employment.
Give a Gift: When you give a tax-deductible financial gift, you can choose to support a local program in your community, to support programs across the U.S. and Canada, or to support our international development for emerging Goodwill agencies throughout the world.
Lend Your Voice: When you lend your voice, you can join the conversation online or help advance our advocacy priorities by contacting your local member of Congress to take action.

We know that there are many different ways that you can serve your country and local community. Goodwill is especially appreciative of the ways in which you give back to us and allow us to serve those who need us most.

Impending Policy Decisions Are More Important than Ever

Inside the Beltway, “compromise” has become a 4-letter word, resulting in ongoing gridlock and Congressional approval ratings at record lows. Especially with the economic recovery still fragile, important decisions – and indecisions for that matter – made during the new 113^th Congress will have significant long-term implications. This week, the National Governors Association, in its first-ever State of the States Address, reminded federal policymakers of just that. And throughout the month of January, as state governors present their "State of the State" addresses, expect to hear a similar message. This week’s address, delivered by NGA Chair Governor Jack Markell (D-DE) and Vice Chair Mary Fallin (R-OK) reviewed current conditions and challenges faced by states, and presented the governors’ outlook for 2013. Gov. Markell laid out NGA’s vision for a number of priorities including jobs for people with employment barriers, education and tax reform. Meanwhile Gov. Fallin noted that 30 of 50 states are experiencing job growth and are seeing employment rates at pre-recession levels, while warning that federal-level decisions regarding deficit reduction and the fiscal cliff would have significant implications for states and state budgets. As I listened to their remarks, it struck me: “We are living history.” After years of being cash-strapped, recent reports assert that many state budgets are recovering. Meanwhile as the 113^th Congress winds up, decisions about deficit reduction, automatic spending cuts, FY 2012 appropriations and the debt ceiling are all due to come to a head at the end of February. What this means is that, while Congress will continue to be a place where many good (and bad alike) ideas will go to die, there may be a few more opportunities than there have been in recent years at the state level to pursue positive policy decisions that affect Goodwill’s efforts to help people find jobs and advance in careers. At the federal level, Congress will likely entertain proposals to consolidate or cut funding for job training programs and other supportive services that help community-based organizations like Goodwill to do more. In 2011, Goodwill provided job training, employment services, and other supportive services to approximately 4.2 million people, placing more than 190,000 people in jobs and employing 105,000. While Goodwill is proud of these and other achievements, they are truly the result of a public-private partnership. As they consider proposals that affect job opportunities and supports for people with employment challenges, policymakers are urged to continue to leverage Goodwill’s social-enterprise model.

Goodwill® Previews Issues on the Public Policy Front in 2013

While Congress may have averted the fiscal cliff for now, the new Congress will have its work cut out for it with a number of diverse policy issues vying for attention. In the midst of these discussions, organizations like Goodwill continue to take advantage of opportunities to educate new members about our mission of providing job training and other community based programs to people with barriers to employment. As the 113^th Congress gets underway, it will renew its focus on how to quickly reduce federal spending – debating targeted spending cuts to avoid sequestration which was postponed for two months in the fiscal cliff deal, and also needing to find an agreement on how to extend the nation’s debt limit. Lawmakers will also have to decide how to fund the government, given it is operating under a continuing resolution set to expire the end of March. Goodwill looks forward to Congress addressing several other issues of importance to the enterprise and the people we serve including reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Workforce Investment Act, the Older Americans Act and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Many state legislatures will also reconvene this month after passing nearly 30,000 new laws last year. For the past two years, most states focused primarily on budget cuts and generating new revenues, leading to an increase in state and local initiatives to tax and charge fees to nonprofits. This year, expect states to focus on implementing health care reform, new academic standards, helping veterans and funding infrastructure. The New Year will provide many opportunities for Goodwill advocates to engage with their federal, state and local lawmakers to help strengthen our public policy influence, and protect the vulnerable populations that we have the privilege to serve.

Some Certainty in an Uncertain Time

Last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner’s so-called “Plan B” failed to attract sufficient Republican support. Members of Congress soon headed home for the Christmas holiday with the nation’s economic future still in question. Will congressional leaders and President Obama find a way to agree to a deficit reduction deal that averts a plunge over the fiscal cliff? Or will we take that plunge? In the latter event, Bush-era tax cuts will expire, while automatic spending cuts, otherwise called “sequestration,” will reduce defense spending by approximately 10 percent and non-defense spending by nearly 8 percent. This includes federal spending on job training programs and supports that help local Goodwill agencies help people find jobs and career advancement. For example, federal funding that supports employment services and job training for youth, adults and dislocated workers would decline by more than $200 million. Sequestration would mean some painful realities going forward as the workforce system’s resources would be reduced and many charitable organizations would be expected to pick up the slack. Just as worrisome is how sequestration would continue to steadily reduce our national investment in programs that aim to put people back to work. As a result, our national investment in its primary job training system will be nearly 30 percent less than it was a decade ago at a time when unemployment was just 5.8 percent compared to the current rate of nearly 8 percent. And if Congress and the administration agree to a framework that shuts off the automatic spending cuts, such a deal would likely include provisions that would instruct key committees, including congressional committees that have jurisdiction over job training, to find ways to cut spending. Since job training has been a frequent target in the past, the workforce system expects Congress to consider proposals that would reduce funding for job training and/or to consolidate a number of job training programs into a single block grant to states. If the federal government continues to reduce its resources for people who need help, community-based organizations, like Goodwill and its partners, will be asked to do more with less. It’s the proverbial analogy of the balloon – squeeze it here and it bulges elsewhere. While the question about the fiscal cliff remains uncertain, Goodwill has been on the front lines since 1902, working to build stronger communities, and it will continue to urge Congress to protect investments that leverage Goodwill’s efforts to help people find jobs and advance in careers.

Goodwill® Advocates: What’s Important to You in 2013?

As the year comes to an end and the public policy team reflects on our advocacy successes and lessons learned, we also took a look back and the Advocacy blogs posted over the past year to see which posts had the most views and garnered the most interest from our advocates. Among them were posts that: * Explained the importance of advocacy (Building Jobs on Capitol Hill: What Goodwill® Does and How You Can Help).

* Asked for your input (Goodwill Asks What’s Important to You This Election Season).

* Touched on significant policy issues like employment (Amid Health Care Reform Debate, Let’s Not Forget About Jobs) and funding (Automatic Spending Cuts Threaten Resources That Help People Find Jobs).

We hope this blog serves as a way to educate and inform Goodwill® shoppers, donors, program participants and staff among others, about the hot topics affecting our agency and the people we serve. In the new year, we hope to continue to be a valuable resource to our stakeholders, garner more grassroots support, and advance Goodwill Industries’ legislative agenda. We would love to learn more about the types of information you would like to see on this page and how you feel you can be an effective advocate. Please take this short survey to give us your feedback.

Tell Us What's Important to You in 2013 »

Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Hold a Range of Implications for Goodwill®

Last Friday, December 7, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a mixed monthly jobs report. While the report noted that the November unemployment rate had dropped to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent and that more jobs were created than expected, DOL also found evidence that many jobs seekers have given up looking for work. Bottom line: the report demonstrates that the economy is recovering, albeit very slowly, from the worst recession experienced since the Great Depression. But we are far from being out of the woods and the recovery is extremely fragile. How fragile? While economists now know that the job market is strong enough to improve — even in the face of a superstorm slamming into the Northeast — most economists are less optimistic that the recovery is strong enough to survive a plunge over the fiscal cliff. With the election a fading memory, Congressional leaders and the president are finally engaged in serious negotiations about a deficit reduction deal. While questions about whether such a deal will be achieved and what it may look like makes terrific political theater for political junkies, it’s important to remember that, over the course of several years, many factors have led to this decisive moment in our history. All the while, as it has been since 1902, Goodwill® has been on the front lines helping people to overcome their employment challenges. While Goodwill’s store revenue represents the bulk of the funds Goodwill uses to support its delivery of job training, employment services ($3.1 billion in 2011), a range of government investments also leverage Goodwill’s resources and expertise. These government investments come in various forms including tax deductions for individuals who donate to Goodwill, government grants and fees for service, and federal contracts for goods and services. Unfortunately, all of these investments are on the table as negotiators consider proposals to raise revenue or reduce spending. Such proposals include:

Limiting or capping the charitable tax deduction.
Cutting non-defense discretionary funding, including the resources that support job training, employment services and other supports that help people to find work and advance in careers.
Reducing funding available for federal contracts, including the AbilityOne Program, the largest source of employment opportunities for people who are blind or have significant disabilities.

Goodwill understands that policymakers face a difficult challenge in reducing the deficit while stretching limited resources to cover an increasing and dynamic range of priorities. As Congress works to develop its deficit reduction deal, Goodwill urges Congress to protect resources that enable nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill to help the communities they serve. Click here to urge your members of Congress to protect investments that leverage Goodwill.

Urge Policymakers to Protect Charitable Giving Incentives

This week, hundreds on nonprofit advocates met with lawmakers and staff in order to protect charitable giving incentives, which are being threatened during discussions pertaining to the fiscal cliff. Goodwill Industries®, along with over 1.2 million other organizations, are part of a diverse charitable and philanthropic community working daily to provide programs and services that change the lives of individuals and strengthen families and communities. The work of organizations like Goodwill® is made possible by the generosity of Americans, who donate hundreds of billions of dollars each year in addition to clothing and household goods, to support charitable causes important to them and their communities. Goodwill alone has earned the trust of nearly 80 million donors each year. As nonprofit organizations like Goodwill continue to meet increased demand for services and labor to raise the necessary funds to meet those needs, Congress should seek to encourage everyone, regardless of income, to give more to charitable organizations. Any caps or limits placed on the charitable deduction will undermine the incentive effect thus reducing charitable giving and hurting nonprofits. At a time when the nonprofit sector continues to see an increasing demand for programs and services while public funds are being reduced, our elected officials should support policies that encourage all Americans to give more to charitable organizations and protect the people we serve. Contact your members of Congress and the president and urge them not to limit the charitable deduction in the lame duck session.

Tell Congress to Remember Key Job Training Programs in Fiscal Cliff Discussions

This week, Congress reconvened in a lame-duck session in order to wrap up unfinished business. Its most pressing responsibility is finding a solution to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years in order to avoid automatic spending cuts that will otherwise take effect at the beginning of next year. If Congress fails to act and sequestration takes effect, non-defense discretionary spending would be cut by nearly $40 billion in the 2012 fiscal year. An additional $15 billion dollars in non-defense funds would be cut from some mandatory spending programs. Such cuts would have a significant impact on Goodwill’s efforts to help people find jobs and advance in careers. Job training programs for youth, adults, dislocated workers, and older workers, among others, could be cut by approximately 8 percent – more if Congress decides to limit potential cuts to defense spending by increasing cuts to non-defense discretionary programs. Last year, more than 127,000 people were referred to Goodwill for employment services through the Workforce Investment Act. In addition, the Senior Community Services Employment Program (for older workers) helped workers who are 55 years of age and older to learn new job skills while working in a variety of organizations in their communities. Without appropriate funding levels, the restrictions placed on these programs and others would greatly reduce Goodwill’s ability to provide job training services and support services for people with disabilities and disadvantages. Goodwill is asking for a balanced and bipartisan approach to deficit reduction, and urges Congress to develop an agreement that protects key community programs and services — including programs that help people find jobs and advance in careers — while growing stronger more vibrant communities. Click here to tell Congress to support a balanced and bipartisan approach to deficit reduction.

Looking to Help People This Thanksgiving? Be an Advocate for Change!

Today, Thanksgiving Day, most of us will take a brief moment to pause to reflect upon and to be thankful for important things like freedom, food security, places to call home and jobs. The harsh reality is that many people in the U.S. lack these basic needs today. In fact, according to most recent available data:

- - Nearly 2.3 million people are in state or federal prisons or local jails.
  - Around 17.9 million households are food insecure.
  - Approximately 650,000 people experience homelessness on any given night.
  - Currently, 12.3 million people are unemployed.

With that harsh reality top of mind, it’s not a big leap to consider how one might help, such as by making charitable contributions or volunteering. Considering the limited resources available to community-based organizations, coupled with increased requests for help, these acts of kindness are incredibly important to the people who need assistance and the organizations that provide it. But more than kind acts are necessary to prevent other people from a similar future fate. Edgar J. Helms, Goodwill’s founder believed that the solution starts with jobs. The fact is that policymakers’ decisions affect these challenges. I’m not just talking about more funding, although that’s certainly an important part of the equation. I’m also talking about changing existing programs, authorized in federal statutes that shape job training; elementary, secondary, higher and adult education; welfare; supports for people with disabilities; benefits for veterans; and other programs. The right changes could greatly improve the employment outlook for people nationwide. Here are some examples of the effect such changes could have in our communities.

Young people graduate high school prepared to succeed in jobs and/or higher education.
People who are not prepared to succeed are helped through a holistic approach that considers and addresses their most pressing employment challenges.
Workers have the skills employers need, the ability to adapt and opportunities to learn skills needed in the future.
Businesses benefit from a workforce that is prepared to compete.
Communities across the country are stronger and more vibrant.

With a bitterly contested election still a fresh memory and our government still narrowly divided these changes will not come easily. Yet time and time again, when many people get involved, this nation has demonstrated its capacity to succeed despite overwhelming odds. And I believe we can overcome our current differences and challenges in order to make positive changes that affect people’s lives. But these changes won’t happen unless many people get involved and collectively demand that policymakers make them a priority. This is why on this Thanksgiving Day, I also encourage to be an advocate for changes that promote opportunity and economic stability for people in your community! Getting involved by staying informed and taking occasional action is easy to do. By registering with Goodwill’s legislative action center, you will receive brief weekly updates about related developments in Washington. When needed, you will also be notified when you can urge your policymakers to support positive changes. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

All Eyes on Washington as Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Begin

As President Obama and Congressional leaders meet for the first time tomorrow to begin negotiations about avoiding the fiscal cliff — the combination of spending cuts and tax increases that will go into effect in 2013 if Congress does not act to avert them — Goodwill Industries International is monitoring the developments to see how key workforce programs and other services that support people we serve fare in the proposed solutions. As previously reported, the automatic spending cuts threaten to drastically reduce key resources that support the efforts of local Goodwill® agencies in communities across the United States to help people who face employment challenges find jobs and advance in careers. Here are two specific components we're watching: Taxes The tax rate cuts first passed under President Bush and extended by President Obama are set to expire on January 1, 2013. The president reiterated his campaign pledge for a “balanced approach” to solving the cliff and to retain the tax rate cuts for those earning less than $250,000, but allowing tax rates to rise for those earning above that amount. On this point, there is intense disagreement as Republicans on Congress urge that tax cuts be extended for all earners. Republicans have said that additional revenues are on the table, but only through reforming the tax code and limiting deductions for the wealthiest earners. Both sides have said they want some kind of tax reform, but the White House has said that capping deductions alone won’t bring in nearly the amount of revenue needed to achieve significant deficit reduction. In addition, both sides agree that there must be a “patch” for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), a punishing tax meant to apply to the wealthiest earners, but which increasingly has come to threaten middle-class earners. Congress has raised the earnings threshold for the AMT annually and needs to again for 2013. Spending An array of options to reduce spending in order to achieve deficit reduction is before Congress and the Obama administration. The default option is the sequester, a nine-year, $1.2 trillion dollar cut to both the defense and non-defense discretionary budget, which would spare programs important to Goodwill, like Social Security, Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, Pell Grants, the EITC and Child Tax Credit, and programs for veterans. Medicare cuts are limited to 2 percent. The first installment would occur in 2013, a $109 billion cut, with additional cuts each year until 2021. Alternately, Congress and the White House could agree to smaller cuts to defense and non-defense spending, and include reforms to programs like Social Security and Medicaid that cut benefits for people who rely on them. The White House has put reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the table before, but at this point there seems to be no indication that they are inclined to go that direction now. There are a myriad of options available, and no one can tell what the president and Congress are likely to agree to on the spending side. For Goodwill and the people we help get and keep good jobs, these questions are critical as key job training and income support programs could be in the crosshairs. We will keep you posted on the latest developments as events unfold.

What Election Results Could Mean for Goodwill®

With the election behind us, bleary-eyed after a late night watching the election results, concessions, and acceptance speeches, Beltway insiders are spending the week trying to understand what happened, why, and how it will shape the legislative landscape. This year, despite the expenditure of about $1 billion and a lot of talk about voter dissatisfaction, the post-election landscape looks pretty much as it did before election night. So now what? First, Congress is scheduled to reconvene next week to take care of unfinished business that cannot wait until the new 113th Congress convenes – most importantly, a deal that averts automatic spending cuts from taking effect with the start of the new year. Rather than hammering out a bipartisan deal that cuts $1.2 trillion over 10 years once and for all as required under the Budget Control Act, the “lame duck” Congress is expected to pass a deal that temporarily delays the automatic spending cuts for a few months. The president insists upon a balanced approach to deficit reduction that blends spending cuts with increased revenues. With Bush-era tax breaks set to expire, unless Congress acts, the president is in a strong position to push for tax reforms as part of the final deficit-reduction deal. As a result, the 113th Congress is likely to spend a great deal of time debating deficit reduction and tax reform early next year. In addition, the president has promised to push for legislation that will reform our immigration laws. It is unclear whether Congressional Republicans will strongly oppose such an effort; however, exit polls show that minorities – a growing portion of voters – heavily favored Democrats, while white males – a shrinking portion of voters – heavily favor Republicans. The trend may give Republicans cause to entertain support for immigration reforms that may attract minority votes in years to come. Under such a scenario, the new Congress may also give immigration reform a great deal of attention next year. What does this all mean for Goodwill? First, Goodwill continues to urge members of Congress not to allow a deficit-reduction deal to deeply cut non-defense discretionary spending, which includes many programs that support local Goodwills' efforts to help people to find jobs and advance in careers. In addition, several laws that shape the nation’s job-training and education programs are due to be reauthorized next year. As a result, Goodwill believes that the 113th Congress has a strong opportunity to create a cohesive and broad workforce system that leverages the unique strengths and resources that numerous systems bring to the table, while removing systemic barriers that allow people to fall through the cracks. However, it is unclear whether Congress will turn its attention to such an effort if its attention is fixed on deficit reduction, tax reform, and immigration reform. However, especially with unemployment still close to 8 percent, Congress should make such an effort a high priority.

Goodwill® Leverages Pell Grants to Help People Advance in Careers

More Americans are going back to school, and more students than ever are qualifying for Pell Grants, the primary federal grant program that provides funding for low- and moderate-income students.

Recent studies released by the College Board found that a record 9.4 million students — 37 percent of all those in higher education — received a Pell Grant in the 2011-12 academic year. Compare that to 2.7 million students how received a Pell Grant in the 1981-1982 academic year.

A number of federal laws include programs and supports that help people across the country to learn skills needed to find jobs and advance in careers. Among them is the Higher Education Act, which is due to be reauthorized by Congress next year. Regardless of the outcome of next week’s election, the new 113^th Congress is likely to likely look for ways to restructure the Pell Grant program.

How Goodwill Puts Pell Grants to Good Work

As Goodwill® works to help the people it serves to not only find jobs, but to advance in careers, Pell Grants – which increase access to training and education that lead to high-growth and good paying jobs – are becoming increasingly important to our efforts.

For many years, employers have continued to complain about the difficulty in finding workers who have the skills needed to fill available positions. In response, Goodwill launched the Community College/Career Collaboration (C⁴⁾ to enhance local agencies’ collaboration with community colleges.

Under C⁴, local Goodwill agencies and community colleges are combining their assets and resources to provide easy access to education, job training and other supportive services to individuals who lack a college or career credential. As a result, the importance of Pell Grants has increased dramatically for Goodwill since C4 was launched in 2009.

Enhanced partnerships between local Goodwill agencies and community colleges help people like Tyrone Coleman, who turned to Goodwill of Central Arizona for help after being unemployed for nearly two years.

“Even though I was a college graduate, my skill set was outdated,” says Tyrone. He was assessed by Goodwill, which helped him to leverage resources like Pell Grants, to pursue a number of industry-recognized IT certifications. “I am thankful for the community program at Goodwill and the services they offered me. Goodwill was able to keep my foundation and family strong,” he says.

Goodwill looks forward to continuing its work with the new Congress toward enacting improvements that a create a cohesive and broad workforce system that leverages the unique strengths and resources that numerous systems, including community colleges and community-based organizations (like Goodwill) bring to the table.

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Resale of Copyrighted Items

On October 29, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could dramatically alter the way Goodwill® stores across the United States handle the resale of donated copyrighted materials. The case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is on appeal from the 2nd Circuit Court and will highlight the conflict between the First-Sale Doctrine and U.S. copyright laws as they relate to imported goods. First-Sale Doctrine holds that the first purchaser of a copyrighted item “owns” the item and may dispose of it without the copyright holder’s permission. Because of this doctrine, the owner of a copyrighted item can donate that item to Goodwill and Goodwill can resell the item without being sued for copyright infringement. The issue before the court relates to items produced and sold outside the United States with the copyrighter’s permission, then resold in the United States by a purchaser. Why does this issue create such a conflict today? Because the 2nd Circuit's broad holding could essentially gut First-Sale Doctrine since most manufacturing today occurs outside the U.S. What could it mean for Goodwill if the Supreme Court holds for the publisher? It could mean that each donated copyrighted item received by a Goodwill would have to be checked to ensure that it was not brought into the U.S. after sale. If it was, and a Goodwill sold the item, that Goodwill could be prosecuted under U.S. copyright law. What might the Supreme Court do? The court could rule that First-Sale Doctrine applies even in the case of imported items. The catch? A phrase in the U.S. copyright law, “…lawfully made under this Title…” seems to exclude items from overseas since they were not produced and sold under U,S. copyright law. The court might narrowly apply their ruling to books since those were the items at issue in Kirtsaeng. Goodwill is participating in the Owners’ Rights Initiative, a coalition that includes eBay, New Egg, Overstock.com, Sotheby’s, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Target and the Consumer Electronics Association. In addition, Goodwill has filed an amicus brief supporting the petitioner in case, Supap Kirtsaeng, asking the court to hold in favor of the petitioner. Regardless of how the court rules, we expect the issue will be taken to Congress and the fight will continue.