ACTE Legislative Alert: Additional Block Grant Threat to Perkins Possible in WIA

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April 13, 2005

WHAT: Yesterday we alerted you to provisions that could be harmful to Perkins that are being considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in the Senate’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) deliberations. It has come to our attention that an additional proposal that could be even more harmful to Perkins funds may be under consideration. Some members of the HELP Committee may agree to include a Department of Labor (DOL) proposal, called "WIA Plus", in the Senate WIA bill.

WIA Plus is an extension of the Administration’s proposal to block grant WIA’s existing funding streams (adult, dislocated, youth and employment services), and would allow Governors the option of consolidating other job training and employment programs administered by the Departments of Labor, Education and Agriculture. Reportedly, Perkins is now among the programs being considered for inclusion in this proposal. THIS COULD MEAN A BLOCK GRANT OF PERKINS FUNDS WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO STATES.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact Senators serving on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (particularly Republican members of the Committee - see list below), IMMEDIATELY and ask them to:

OPPOSE ADDING ANY WIA PLUS PROVISION to the HELP Committee’s WIA reauthorization legislation.
OPPOSE INCLUDING PERKINS IN ANY WIA PLUS PROPOSAL.

Let them know that:

Consolidating education and job training programs would be destructive to each program’s ability to effectively meet its unique mission.
Block granting the Perkins program as part of the adult job training system would unnecessarily harm career and technical education programs in America’s high schools, and hinder states’ ability to deliver effective career and technical education in general.
Perkins is working well in your community, and the career and technical education programs supported by Perkins make positive investments in your state’s future by providing relevant learning experiences for students, effective and proven links to skills-building and enhanced academic opportunities and improved employment outcomes; that they reduce dropout rates for high school students; and that employers in your local area benefit from the programs Perkins supports.
Thank HELP Committee members for their support of the Perkins program and ask them not to undo their own good work in the Committee’s recent Perkins reauthorization legislation (S. 250) by allowing a proposal to go forward that could threaten Perkins’ ability to deliver quality career and technical education to your state’s students.

To find contact information for your Senators, please visit ACTE’s Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/acte/home/.

Senate HELP Committee Members:

Republicans - Sens. Enzi (WY-Chairman), Gregg (NH), Frist (TN), Alexander (TN), Burr (NC), Isakson (GA), DeWine (OH), Ensign (NV), Hatch (UT), Sessions (AL), Roberts (KS).

Democrats - Kennedy (MA-Ranking Member), Dodd (CT), Harkin (IA), Mikulski (MD), Bingaman (NM), Murray (WA), Reed (RI), Clinton (NY)

Independent - Jeffords (VT)

BACKGROUND: When DOL originally laid out this proposal when the President’s budget was released in February, Perkins was not included on the Administration’s list of programs to be consolidated (likely because the Administration proposed to eliminate Perkins in the Education budget). Additionally, the House of Representatives chose not to include WIA Plus in its version of WIA reauthorization legislation passed earlier this year. For more information on WIA reauthorization, please visit
www.acteonline.org/policy/legislative_issues/WIA.cfm.

We appreciate your efforts! For more information, contact the Association for Career and Technical Education's Public Policy Department, 1410 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22315, 1-800-826-9972, www.acteonline.org.