Yesterday, the full Senate voted 95-3 to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The Senate’s action clears the bill for House consideration. WIOA is a long-overdue bipartisan and bicameral compromise to reauthorize and update the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the law that shapes the nation’s approach to job training. Goodwill® has worked for years
READ MORE from Senate Passes Long-Overdue Job Training Bill: On to the House
If I had a magic wand, after winning the lottery and achieving world peace (in that order), I’d shift the debate about poverty reduction from “did these investments work?” to “how can these investments work better?”
READ MORE from To Break the Generational Cycle of Poverty, Look at the Whole Picture
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program provides employment and support services to people with disabilities. Seen as having achieved mixed results, this year Congress is likely to reauthorize the nation’s job training program through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which would impact VR.
READ MORE from Major Provisions of Title IV in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
Time is melting away on the 113th Congress. Just a few short weeks remain to take care of business. The House is scheduled to be in session 38 more days until the fiscal year ends on Oct. 1, 2014; the Senate for 51. And there is much to be done in those critical days.
READ MORE from Tick, Tock … The Congressional Clock Is Running Out
When I talk about the importance of being engaged in public policy despite partisan gridlock, I often talk about one of my kids’ favorite Dr. Seuss stories, called “The Zax.” In the story, a north-going Zax and a south-going Zax encounter each other in the Prairie of Prax. Rather than stepping an inch to the west or an inch to the east to allow both Zax to continue their journey, they square off and stubbornly hold their ground.
Yesterday, House and Senate leadership unveiled the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a bipartisan and bicameral bill that would finally reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). A quick read confirms that priority positions advocated by Goodwill are reflected in the final deal
READ MORE from Long-Delayed Workforce Investment Act Bill Makes Its Way Toward the End Zone
This week, Goodwill advocates from around the country will visit Capitol Hill and meet with hundreds of lawmakers to advocate on behalf of Goodwill. You can help by participating in Goodwill on the Hill Virtual Advocacy Day!
READ MORE from Join the Goodwill® on the Hill Virtual Advocacy Day!
Soon after the first Goodwill store was established in 1902 to convert donated household items and clothing into revenues to pay wages to Goodwill employees, Goodwill recognized that simply providing jobs that pay wages was not enough. More needed to be done to help the people Goodwill employed and served to escape poverty.
We have fairly conclusive proof that having survived “The Recession” many Americans are having to go through that long climb back up the ladder. That means taking jobs that pay much lower than those many held before 2008. Much lower apparently.
Today's youth need the skills and experience gained in part-time jobs to drive their future careers and our economy.
READ MORE from Tomorrow’s Economic Crisis Is Today’s Youth Unemployment Crisis
Last week, the GOP-led House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that would seem to balance the budget by gutting domestic discretionary spending, boosting military spending, cutting taxes for the wealthiest and raising them for working Americans. In fact, the Ryan Budget Resolution cuts discretionary programs more deeply than the continuation of sequestration would, by a whopping $791 billion.
READ MORE from For What It’s Worth—The House Budget Resolution
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez compared programs that help people find family-sustaining careers to apps on a smartphone or tablet. Whether you are a person in need of a job or a community stakeholder who understands that work is an effective anti-poverty tool, there’s an app for that called Goodwill.
