Despite repeated pledges to increase public investments in the U.S. workforce, President Bush has reneged on his commitments. From The Workforce Alliance:
Programs that invest in building the skills of America's workforce were among the numerous domestic spending programs cut in the Bush Administration's FY2006 budget request, which was released on February 7th. Despite calling for the need to train more workers for the 21st century economy in his State of the Union address only days ago, the President has recommended slashing select education and job training programs by approximately 6%.
The President's FY06 budget would reduce spending for training programs at the U.S. Department of Labor by $329 million (or 5%) from their FY05 appropriated levels. As part of the budget proposal, the Administration recommends consolidating existing funding streams for the WIA Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs with Employment Service state grants, the Labor Mart Information Service, and Work Opportunity Tax Credits into a single block grant to states that would be funded at $3.91 billion - an overall decrease in funds of approximately 4% for the subsumed programs. In addition, states would have the option of consolidating funding from additional programs (such as Vocational Rehabilitation and Adult Education) under the WIA Plus Consolidated Grant program, designed to give more flexibility to states.
Similar to last year, the budget eliminates funding for the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker program and proposes $250 million in Community Based Job Training grants for training in high growth industries at community colleges. The Job Corp program is funded at $1.52 billion, a $30 million decrease from its FY05 level.
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Department of Education programs with a potential connection to workforce development are the hardest hit. Vocational and adult education would be slashed by $ 1.7 billion - an overall cut of 89% from FY05 levels. The President's budget recommends no new funding for the current Perkins Vocational and Technical Education program. Appropriations would be redirected to support the President's new High School Intervention initiative to provide formula grants to states for targeted interventions in high-need secondary schools. The budget also proposes a severe cut of $362 million or 62% to the Adult Education and Family Literacy program.
The Administration's budget would allocate $4.7 billion in mandatory funding to retire the current Pell Grant program shortfall and increase the maximum award by $100 (to $4150) in FY06. Discretionary spending for the program would increase by 7% to $13.2 billion to accommodate for the increase in individuals eligible for awards.
Finally, the Administration's FY05 budget calls for level funding of the state family assistance grants under TANF at approximately $16.5 billion for the next five years, while proposing continued funding and programming for fatherhood and marriage initiatives. The administration's TANF reauthorization proposal -- which includes increased work requirements and reduced flexibility to count education and training as a work activity -- remains unchanged. Within the same Health and Human Services budget the Administration proposes to eliminate the $637 million Community Services Block Grant program, which can be used by states and local areas to fund employment and training services. The budget also eliminates the Community Services Discretionary Programs, which includes the Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) competitive grant.
Posted by sarah at February 9, 2005 9:47 AM