Stand with Goodwill in Supporting Funding for Job Training Programs

While a joint select House-Senate committee struggled to develop a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years this week, Congress is seeking to move must-pass bills that will fund government operations for the remainder of FY 2012.

Congress is currently working on the spending bill that will provide FY 2012 funding for many programs of interest to Goodwill, including the U.S. Department of Labor’s job training programs for adults, youth, and dislocated workers. Combined, current funding for these programs is approximately $3 billion.

While the Senate version proposes to reduce funding to $2.6 billion, the House version proposes to drastically cut funding to less than $725 million under the rationale that it is merely changing the annual funding cycle for these programs.

Especially at a time when unemployment remains stubbornly high, Goodwill believes that such a drastic cut would cripple the system, with little opportunity to restore current funding levels for these programs in future years due to the tight overall discretionary caps.

Action is needed to prevent Congress from drastically cutting funding for job training programs that support Goodwill’s efforts to help people with employment challenges in your community to find jobs and advance in careers.

Send a letter to your members of Congress and ask them to support the Senate version of the FY 2012 spending bill that funds the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

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