NEW: Senate Urges Full Funding for Workforce Investment Act
Thursday, March 08, 2012
The Rhode Island Senate Wednesday passed a resolution introduced by President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed calling on Congress to fully fund the Workforce Investment Act, federal dollars which enable Rhode Island to provide skills development opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed.
An appropriations bill under consideration in the U.S. Congress would significantly cut funding to the federal workforce programs authorized under the WIA, including the Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs. The Resolution notes that WIA appropriations help to fund Rhode Island’s comprehensive One-Stop Career Centers, local Workforce Investment Boards, contextualized training, innovative industry partnerships, and numerous other services designed to improve the skill sets and work preparedness of Rhode Islanders.
Over the past two years, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training estimates that WIA programs have assisted more than 33,600 Rhode Islanders in their efforts to obtain new skills and secure employment.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Workforce development has been a cornerstone of the Senate’s efforts to bolster the economy and foster job creation by making it easy to do business in Rhode Island,” said President Paiva Weed (D – Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown). “It is eye-opening that, with today’s unemployment rate, some Rhode Island companies still tell us they have trouble finding qualified workers. Among the steps we have taken to respond are re-focusing the mission of CCRI and improving collaboration between secondary career and technical schools and employers to ensure that students graduate with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century labor market.
She added: “It was heartening to hear President Obama spend a significant amount of time discussing similar initiatives on the federal level during his State of the Union address. These Workforce Investment funds enable us to provide valuable services to Rhode Islanders, such as on-the-job training, Rapid Response layoff aversion programs, and training and re-training opportunities for job seekers. As the name of the Act itself states, these programs are an investment in our workers. It’s an investment that will pay tremendous dividends not only for the individuals directly served by the funds, but for all Rhode Islanders through a more robust economy.”
