January 17, Congress Approves Omnibus Appropriations Bill - Provides Federal Government Funding for the Remainder of FY 2014

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1 January 17, 2014 Congress Approves Omnibus Appropriations Bill - Provides Federal Government Funding for the Remainder of FY 2014 This week, both the House and Senate completed work on the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations measure funding federal government operations until September, with the House of Representatives passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547) by a margin on Wednesday, January 15 th, and the Senate passing the bill a day later in a vote. The bill is expected to be signed by the President by Saturday, January 18 th, before current funding for the federal government operations lapses. The passage of the bill was the culmination of negotiations between the Members of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations who unveiled the $1.012 trillion omnibus appropriations package Monday, January 13 th. The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education portion of the omnibus provides $156.8 billion for fiscal 2014, which is about $100 million below the FY 2013 sequestration level. Overall funding for the Department of Labor (USDOL) for FY 2014 will be set at $12 billion, a decrease of $449 million below the FY 2013 sequestration level. For the legislative appropriations language for the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), click here. The chart on the next page details the funding levels for USDOL. The first three columns of the chart provide allotments for each program, with the final two columns highlighting the differences in funding levels between FY 2014 and FY 2013 after sequestration. (the chart is also available on NASWA s website at Highlights of funding changes contained in the FY 2014 omnibus bill for state programs are outlined in the bullet points below: Training & Employment Services: Workforce Investment Act programs received a funding increase of around 5 percent from FY 2013 sequestration levels. The state allocation in the omnibus bill was also increased to 8.75 percent from 5 percent. The adjustment in the state allocation provides an increase of more than $100 million to states for administration and other state activities for the Workforce Investment Act programs, an increase of about 80 percent. NASWA has written to Secretary Perez requesting a meeting on restoration of the 15 percent state allocation. For the letter, click here. In addition to the increase in the state allocation for WIA activities, state workforce agencies will see their Base Allocations, received on July 1 st at the beginning Comparison FY 13 & FY 14 Base and Advance Funding of each WIA Program Year, return close to the FY 13 Base* FY 14 Base Diff pre-sequestration levels received in FY As WIA Adult Employment & $18,624 $54,080 $35,456 the chart to the right shows, Base funding for Training FY 13 Advance FY 14 Advance the WIA Adult program will increase by 712, ,000 0 approximately $35 million from FY 2013 to a FY 13 Base* FY 14 Base level of $54 million and WIA Dislocated Worker Dislocated Workers 95, ,598 45,678 program will receive an increase of about $46 Employment & Training FY 13 Advance FY 14 Advance million from FY 2013 for a total Base Allocation 862, ,000-2,732 of $141 million to be distributed July 1, *Funding Amounts Reduced in Base Quarter Due to Sequestration NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

2 DOL Appropriations: Revised 1/14/14 FY2012, FY2013, FY 2014 Omnibus Bill $ (000s) FY 2012 FY 2013 Final FY 2014 Omnibus Comparable Sequestration Bill Diff FY 12 to FY 14 Diff FY 13 to FY 14 Training & Employment Services WIA Adult Employ & Training $770,810 $730,624 $766, % 4.85% WIA Youth Activities 824, , , % 5.00% Dislocated Workers Employ & Training 1,006, ,652 1,001, % 4.48% Total 2,600,316 2,470,651 2,588, % 4.75% State Allocation ** 130, , , % 83.32% Federally Administered Programs Dislocated Workers National Reserve* 221, , , % % Native Americans 47,562 45,082 46, % 2.22% Migrant & Seas Farm Workers 84,291 79,896 81, % 2.50% Youth Build 79,689 75,534 77, % 2.65% Workforce Innovation 49,906 47,303 47, % 0.00% National Activities Pilots, Demos, Research 6,603 6, % % Ex-Offenders 80,238 76,054 80, % 5.29% Evaluation 9,563 9, % % Data Quality 6,463 6,126 6, % -2.06% Job Corps 1,702,947 1,613,872 1,688, % 4.60% Unemployment Compensation State Operations 3,165,161 2,949,685 2,861, % -2.99% National Activities 11,266 10,676 10, % 0.00% Employment Service State Administration 700, , , % 0.00% National Activities 20,912 19,818 19, % 0.00% Foreign Labor Certification 65,393 61,973 61, % 0.00% One-Stop /LMI 64,473 60,153 60, % 0.00% Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Security Admin Account 67,176 63,662 65, % 2.10% Veterans Employment & Training State Admin Grants 165, , , % 8.50% Transition Assistance Program 8,983 13,524 14, % 3.52% Federal Admin 35,155 36,317 39, % 7.39% Training Institute 2,439 3,284 3, % 3.96% Homeless Veterans 38,185 36,188 38, % 5.31% Data Source DOL FY 2013 Operating Plan & FY 2014 Omnibus Bill * FY 2013 Includes additional funding for Hurricane Sandy Relief ** State Allocation was increased from 5% in FY2013 to 8.75% in FY2014 NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

3 Federally Administered Programs: Funding for the WIA Dislocated Worker National Reserve will be reduced by approximately 10 percent (part of this decrease is a result of special Hurricane Sandy funds included in the prior year), with Native Americans, Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers, Youth Build seeing funding increased by a little more than two percent. The Workforce Innovation Fund will be flat funded for FY 2014 at approximately $47 million. National Activities: Pilot projects and evaluation activities at USDOL were not funded in the FY 2014 omnibus bill. Job Corps received an increase in funding of slightly less than 5 percent for a total of $1.69 billion for FY Unemployment Compensation: State Unemployment Insurance Operations will be funded at $2.8 billion for FY 2014, down three percent from the FY 2013 level. Employment Service (Wagner-Peyser): State administration of Wagner-Peyser services along with Foreign Labor Certification, One-Stop and Labor Market Information operations were funded at the same FY 2013 levels. Veterans Employment & Training: The Jobs for Veterans State Grant program will see FY 2014 funding levels at $175 million, an eight and a half percent increase from the previous year. EUC Extension Stalls in Senate Negotiations between the Senate Majority and Minority to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, which expired December 28, 2013, remained in limbo this week as Senators left for the Martin Luther King Jr. Congressional recess. In the absence of an agreement, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) said there would be another procedural vote on a short-term extension (3 months) without offsets when the lawmakers return from the recess the week of January 27 th. The Measure, S. 1845, is sponsored by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has offered general support for an extension with offsets, but insists any agreement must allow votes on a number of Republican amendments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he was continuing discussions with Senator Dean Heller, (R-NV), who has been looking for ways to tweak his alternative (S. 1931). The Heller plan would provide a three-month extension and provide full repeal of a cut in the cost-of-living adjustment for military retirees under the age of 62 in the new budget agreement (PL ). Majority Leader Reid earlier in the week had proposed providing an 11-month extension to the program, with the cost being offset by an extension of sequestration on some mandatory spending programs, including Medicare payment for health care providers. U.S. Likely to hit Debt Ceiling in February Not March Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned lawmakers this week that a final deadline for raising the nation's borrowing limit is likely to arrive next month, not in March, which he had previously said was a possibility. "I think that if Congress is looking at the numbers the way we are -- we have the best data -- and they would see that they would be looking more at the end of February than any time in March," Secretary Lew said Thursday. NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

4 The $17 trillion debt ceiling, which was suspended in October as part of the agreement to reopen and fund the federal government following a 16-day shutdown, will be reached again on February 7 th. The Treasury Department can then use special authority -- so-called extraordinary measures -- to prevent the nation from defaulting. These measures briefly allow the United States to meet its obligations until a later date. At that point, the federal government risks default. Secretary Lew's emphasis was a departure from a letter he wrote to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) last month. In that letter, the Treasury Secretary said his agency's authority would likely last through "late February or early March." The unpredictable nature of the tax season makes it tough to forecast the exact date when Treasury will exhaust these special measures. In November, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that would "probably" happen in March. "However, the timing and magnitude of tax refunds and receipts in February, March, and April could shift that date of exhaustion into May or June," CBO said in a report on the debt ceiling. Raising the debt limit has been a politically contentious issue for years, most dramatically coming to a head in August, 2011, when a last-minute agreement averted default but cost the U.S. its top AAA credit rating. Secretary Lew, House Speaker Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) each separately urged lawmakers on Thursday to raise the limit before a default is near. Treasury Offset Program (TOP) Becomes Mandatory for State UI Programs In the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (P.L ), setting overall federal government discretionary spending levels for FY 2014 at $1.012 trillion and $1.013 trillion for FY 2015, contained a provision to raise federal revenues by requiring all state workforce agencies to implement the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to recover unemployment insurance (UI) payments due to fraud or failure to report earnings. The TOP initiative collects UI debt from federal income tax refunds due to fraud or a person s failure to report wages while collecting unemployment benefits. For UI taxes, only unpaid employer unemployment taxes attributable to a sole proprietor or partners can be submitted for offset to the IRS. The requirement for states to implement the TOP became effective on December 26, 2013, when the measure was signed by the President. After the enactment of the bill, USDOL has communicated with NASWA it is in the process of drafting guidance to states on this collection requirement. As of November 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department listed 36 states (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WV) that have implemented TOP already. States will have to look to USDOL s upcoming guidance to meet the participation requirements for the TOP initiative with Treasury. For more information on UIC TOP, please visit Register and Make your Hotel Reservations for the 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum Today! State workforce officials and unemployment insurance professionals planning on attending the 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum (WPF) are encouraged to register for the Conference before the early registration rate of $475 ends on Friday, January 31 st. After the early registration period, general registration will be $525 for NASWA members. In addition to the early registration ending January 31 st, those planning on attending should make their hotel reservations as soon as possible. A block of rooms for the 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum has been made available at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill at the conference rate of $209 a night. Hotel reservations can be made online or via telephone by calling or When calling, mention you will be attending as part of the NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

5 Conference with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. The deadline to reserve rooms at the $209 a night rate is Tuesday, January 28 th by 5pm (EST). NASWA s annual Winter Policy Forum serves as the premier NASWA event for state workforce agency administrators and other workforce agency professionals to hear from and discuss current economic conditions in the U.S. with national experts in the field and also learn about the legislative outlook on a variety of workforce system issues facing Congress. The 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum will be preceded by the NASWA Board of Directors Meeting on February 19, 2014, which all state administrators are encouraged to attend. A number of speakers have been confirmed, including U.S. Department of Labor Chief Economist Jennifer Hunt on the economic and employment situation and outlook; John Colbert, Partner, Capitol Hill Partners, who will discuss the federal budget situation; economist Will Carrington of the Congressional Budget Office on long-term unemployment and Naomi M. Barry-Perez, Director, Civil Rights Center, U.S. Department of Labor. For additional information on the Conference Agenda, Registration and other Conference items, please visit NASWA LMI Committee Chair Meets with BLS and ETA on State LMI Capacity On Tuesday, January 14 th, Labor Market Information (LMI) Committee Chair Aaron Fichtner (NJ) hosted a meeting at NASWA s headquarters with officials from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss efforts that could be made in improving the capacity of state workforce agencies to analyze labor market information allowing state agencies to make the best use of LMI in making decisions. Participating in the discussion were BLS Deputy Commissioner Jack Galvin, BLS Associate Commissioner Tom Nardone, ETA Acting Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretary Eric Seleznow, LMI-WI Program Manager Anthony Dais and several NASWA staff members. Discussions centered on federal funding for LMI operations and the priorities of ETA and BLS in the upcoming year. Additionally those representing states, BLS and ETA shared ideas on ways to identify best practices in states from reports received at ETA, improving analytical capacity by identifying and promoting best practices and training across states, and serving business strategies and agency needs. LMI Committee Chair Fichtner plans to improve the alignment of the partnership with BLS, ETA and others to leverage existing efforts and resources while building on the unique capacity and expertise of each. NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

6 Executive Director Hobbie Participates in Nationwide Radio Show on UI On Monday, January 13, 2014, NASWA s Executive Director, Rich Hobbie, participated in the Washington-Based Diane Rehm radio show entitled Understanding How Unemployment Insurance Works. Mr. Hobbie was joined by Gary Burtless, senior fellow of economic studies, The Brookings Institution and Michael Rose, Capitol Hill reporter covering labor and employment issues, Bloomberg BNA. The Diane Rehm Show is produced at WAMU 88.5 and distributed by National Public Radio, NPR Worldwide, and SIRIUS satellite radio. To hear the show, please go to the following link: NASWA to Cohost Webinar on Engaging Older Workers in the Public Workforce System Join ETA, NGA, NASWA, NAWB, AARP and two local areas next Wednesday, January 22 nd at 2 PM (EST) to discuss creative ways to connect older workers with the services, support, and training they need to attain in-demand jobs. This webinar, Engaging Older Workers in the Public Workforce System, is part of an upcoming series of discussions and consultations to update ETA s Older Worker Protocol. Older workers are praised by employers for their experience and professionalism, but suffered disproportionately high rates of unemployment in the Great Recession. American Job Centers can help connect employers with these workers by assessing how they serve senior customers. Individuals presenting during the webinar include: Moderator Kim Vitelli, Division Chief, United States Department of Labor; Terri Bergman, National Association of Workforce Boards; Yvette Chocolaad, National Association of State Workforce Agencies; Kelly Folks, Arapahoe/Douglas Works; Martin Simon, National Governors Association ; Lori Strauss, AARP Foundation and Kristina Payne, Lane Workforce Partnership. Register now at /info. New Version of OccuCoder, ITSC s Job Matching Tool The Information Technology Support Center (ITSC) provides technology services and support to state unemployment insurance programs across the country and is pleased to announce a new version of ITSC s job matching tool, OccuCoder v 2.3, is now available to all state workforce agencies. OccuCoder is a software tool developed by ITSC through U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) funding to code both unemployed job seekers and job openings with a standard occupational code. OccuCoder uses the O*NET job coding database of occupational information to attach a Above is a flow chart showing how OccuCoder works. NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

7 job code to unemployed job seekers to enable them to be quickly matched to current job openings that are also coded with the appropriate O*NET Code. The O*NET database contains information on hundreds of standardized and occupation specific job descriptions developed by the O*NET Center. For more information on OccuCoder or to demo the tool, click here. What s New in v 2.3? Updated to use O*NET 17.0 database Better Performance to extract occupational codes from longer job descriptions. Bright Outlook Jobs, a listing of occupations that are expected to grow rapidly in the next several years. Green Jobs, a listing of new and emerging occupations within green economic sectors. Military Occupational Classification (MOC) cross match. How to Download? The software is free to all state agencies. To receive the software, please contact ITSC Webmaster Steve Hanle at stephen.hanle@itsc.org with a request to access to the OccuCoder section of the ITSC website and instructions on how to download the OccuCoder software. Need Support? For maintenance and support to install or troubleshoot OccuCoder, there is an optional annual cost. For details on how to obtain maintenance and support for OccuCoder from ITSC, please contact ITSC Product Manager John Quichocho at (202) or jquichocho@naswa.org UI Technical Training Schedule Now Available, Register Today ITSC is pleased to announce the 2014 UI Technical Training In-Person Courses for state and federal employees within the unemployment insurance system. Wanda Burth, ITSC s UI Training Administrator, will be conducting several courses within various USDOL regions and at the national office in Washington, D.C. The training courses are three to four days in length, focusing on increasing the state s ability to configure and maintain, use both commercial as well as UI developed applications, and analyze the data contained in the database. Courses will be offered on a graduated scale addressing the needs of the different staff levels. See below for the anticipated training schedule and more information about the trainer. To register for training courses or to access detailed course descriptions and agendas, please sign in to the ITSC s Members-Only section at Please note that each course has limited availability and offered on a first come basis. There are no registration fees for these courses; however, state agencies will be responsible for all travel expenses. For more information, please contact Wanda Burth at (202) or wanda.burth@itsc.org. If you are having issues registering or accessing the ITSC s website, contact ITSC Webmaster Stephen Hanle at stephen.hanle@itsc.org UI Technical Training Schedule DATE COURSE LOCATION March 10-14, 2014 BAM Supervisor Washington, D.C. (National Office) March 31-April 4, DV Benefit and Tax Washington, D.C. (National Office) 2014 April 21-25, 2014 BAM Investigator Region (Atlanta) May 12-16, 2014 BAM Investigator Washington, D.C. (National Office) June 9-13, 2014 BAM Investigator Washington, D.C. (National Office) NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

8 June16-20, 2014 SQL Training Washington, D.C. (National Office) July 28-August 1, DV Benefit and Tax Washington, D.C. (National Office) 2014 Sept. 8-12, 2014 BAM Investigator Region TBD Sept , 2014 BAM Supervisor Washington, DC (National Office) About the Trainer Wanda Burth comes to ITSC with over 25 years of training experience within the UI program. Ms. Burth recently managed the UI Training Center in the State of Minnesota which was moved to ITSC in January As a technical trainer, Ms. Burth developed and delivered a variety of courses surrounding the USDOL supplied SUN server. Program topics included BAM, Data Validation and UIR. Courses included concepts such data analysis, data migration, forecasting, data mining, statistical reporting, data anomalies and rates calculations. In addition, Ms. Burth has extensive experience in offering BAM investigator, BAM supervisor training, and Data Validation courses covering both technical and non-technical topics. Ms. Burth is well versed in developing successful curriculums with respect to various learning styles, group activities, lab work, demonstrations and illustrations. She also converted many training topics to live on-line learning solutions, created innovative on-line video tutorials, and several on-line training sessions for selfpaced learning. Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims Decrease, Continued Claims Increase The U.S. Department of Labor reported for the week ending January 11, 2014, seasonally adjusted unemployment insurance initial claims decreased from the previous week s revised figure. Seasonally adjusted initial claims decreased by 2,000 to 326,000 from last week s revised figure of 328,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,000, a decrease of 13,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,500. The unadjusted initial claims level totaled 534,431 up 51,190 from the previous week, and down 22,190 from the level of 556,621 for a comparable week in UI continued claims, seasonally adjusted, for the week ending January 4, 2014 were 3,030,000 up 174,000 from the previous week s revised figure. The 4-week moving average increased 38,250 to 2,908,750 from the prior week s revised figure of 2,870,500. The total number of individuals claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 28, 2013 was 4,703,499, an increase of 508,309 from the prior week. Regular state continued claims increased by 438,728, EUC 2008 increased by 63,626, and EB decreased by 145. During the week of December 28, 2013, continued claims for ex-federal employees stood at 22,811 up 2,103 from the prior week, and for newly discharged veterans, 30,676, up 2,111 from the prior week. Under current law, the week of December 28 th was the last week for filing claims under the ECU 2008 program. The chart to below shows the entire claims history of the program and the periods of time when different total duration weeks were in effect. NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

9 Notices, Advisories and Reports January 17, 2014: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) for the month of November According to the BLS report, there were 4.0 million job openings at the end of November, little changed from the revised October 2013 figure of 3.93 million (seasonally adjusted). In November, the hires rate and separations rates were unchanged holding at 3.3 percent and 3.1 percent. January 16, 2014: BLS released the December 2013 Real Earnings reporting real average hourly earnings seasonally adjusted for all employees fell 0.3 percent from November to December. This result stems from a 0.1 percent increase in average hourly earnings being more than offset by a 0.3 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Real average weekly earnings fell 0.5 percent over the month due to the decrease in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3 percent decrease in the average workweek. January 15, 2014: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a Cost Estimate for S.1356 the Workforce Investment Act of 2013, which would revise and reauthorize job training, employment service, adult education and literacy, and rehabilitation programs currently authorized under the Workforce Investment Act of The cost estimate reports that implementing S.1356 would cost $29.2 billion over the period. January 10, 2014: CRS Report Unemployment: Issues in the 113 th Congress The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report providing an overview of the unemployment situation in the labor market, reviews the policy steps taken by the federal government to address unemployment in the wake of the Great Recession and analyzes policy issues that typically arise during consideration of stimulus legislation. Additionally the report takes a look at whether measures should be taken to increase jobs, what measures would be effective and how the proposals should be funded. January 8, 2014: CBO issued its Monthly Budget Review for December 2013 reporting the federal government ran a budget deficit of $182 billion for the first three months of FY 2014, almost $111 billion less than the shortfall recorded during the same period last year as revenues are higher and spending is lower than it was at the same point in FY Unemployment insurance outlays were estimated at $15 billion for the first three quarters of FY 2014, down $4 billion from the FY 2013 level of $19 billion, a 22.1 percent decrease. NASWA BULLETIN January 17,

10 December 31, 2013: CRS Report Tax Provisions Expiring in 2013 ( Tax Extenders ) CRS issued a report providing an overview of dozens of temporary tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013 known as tax extenders including the expiration of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. December 31, 2013: CRS Report Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants CRS released an overview of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants (TAACCCTG), which are competitive grants to institutions of higher education to support the development, offering, and improvement of career training programs that can be completed in two years or less. BULLETIN CONTRIBUTIONS Articles contributions were by Tim Griffith, Brian Langley, John Quichocho, Josie Link, Don Wehbey, Jim Van Erden and Marc Katz FEEDBACK For questions or comments, please contact NASWA Bulletin Editor Marc Katz at mkatz@naswa.org. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES 444 North Capitol Street, N.W. Suite 142 Washington, D.C (P) (F) NASWA BULLETIN January 17,