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Legislative Network Alerts Alert Number 142 October 24, 2005 For Your Information Much to Monitor -- WIA/Waivers/Warnings/Watches To: Members of the Legislative Network From: Patricia Leahy, Director of Governmental Affairs For those who read on the run, this Washington Wire addresses several issues, including: The status of the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title IV of which comprises the programs administered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; Last week's Senate HELP hearing on the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) and Randolph-Sheppard programs; and The Status of Senate and House Appropriation’s bills and the Reconciliation process (mandatory spending cuts). The WIA/Waiver Watch The reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) MAY -- and we use that word advisedly -- MAY -- be headed for the Second Session of the 108th Congress (January of 2006). Why do we say this? The Senate WIA bill passed unanimously in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee months ago, but has yet to come to the full U.S. Senate Floor for a vote. Until the Senate WIA bill comes to the Floor for a vote, the House-passed bill (to which the National Rehabilitation Association has come out in strong opposition) and the Senate bill, with which NRA has continuing concerns, cannot be conferenced. If the House and Senate bills cannot be conferenced and because we are in the First Session of the 108th Congress, the bills will simply roll over (retaining the same bill numbers) to the Second Session of the 108th Congress and will be taken up again in early February or March of 2006. Time is running out and given the House and Senate bills are so distinctly different, WIA may not be reauthorized this Session of the Congress. So, all of this begs the question: Why hasn't the Senate WIA bill come to the Senate Floor? The answer is both simple and complicated at the same time. Almost all of the Senators who comprise the Senate HELP Committee want the Senate WIA bill to come to the Floor as it was passed in the Committee (no amendments) under Unanimous Consent (UC). Certain Senators -- and we believe they are very few in number -- want to open up the Senate WIA bill to additional amendments on the Floor -- amendments that would provide greater flexibility (additional block grants, consolidation of the Title I WIA Labor Programs) in the Senate WIA bill. And, therein lies the rub. We will keep you advised of developments on the WIA Senate bill as they become known to us. Turning to the Appropriations process, as you are aware, the Federal government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) which is stopgap funding (at the lower of the House and Senate bills' 2006 budget recommendations) through midnight of November 18, 2005. A CR is implemented -- and has been implemented for many years in the immediate past -- when many Appropriations's bills have not been signed into law by September 30, the end of the fiscal year. This year, however, is a bit aberrational because both the House and Senate have made recommendations to cut additional funding to additional programs. These recommendations -- which we are told are ostensibly to pay for the costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- are part of what is known as the Reconciliation process. Previous Washington Wires have identified additional cuts to Medicaid on the order of 50 billion over 5 years, in additional to other programs serving the under-represented, including food stamps and housing assistance. The Congress was to have voted on the Reconciliation bill last week, but has postponed that vote until Wednesday of this week, October 26, 2005. We will keep you posted re developments on the timing of the Reconciliation bill as those developments become known to us. And, last but not least, a lesson in Congressional control. On Thursday, October 20, 2005, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee convened a hearing to address concerns regarding the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) and Randolph-Sheppard programs. The JWOD program are administered under the U.S. Department of Labor. The Randolph-Sheppard program is administered under the U.S. Department of Education. A representative of the U.S. Department of Education -- we believe the recently-installed Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) as invited, but declined, to testify. To the best of our knowledge, a representative of the U.S. Department of Labor was not invited to this hearing. Several Members of the Senate HELP Committeee attended and participated in this hearing, including the Chairman, Senator Mike Enzi (R.WY) and the Ranking Democrat, Senator Edward Kennedy (D.MA.), Senator Mike DeWine (R.OH.), Senator Chris Dodd (D.CONN);, Senator Johnny Isakson (R.GA.), and Senator Ensign (R.N.V.). The thrust of the hearing was to address concerns with executive compensation, number, salary level and working environment of individuals with disabilities being served by the two programs. The hearing began with an accomplished and articulate individual who talked about her dreams, aspirations and real-life experiences in the workplace. Her inspirational journey through her educational and various employment arenas provided a dramatic backdrop to the testimony that was to follow hers. The next witness was Jim Gashel, former Director of Governmental Affairs, now Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives, of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Mr. Gashel summarized his statement in many regards but began by the differences between the Randolph-Sheppard Act and the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act. As Mr. Gashel's summary states: 'The Randolph-Sheppard Act helps blind people to be entrepreneurs by running small businesses on public property. The JWOD Act, as Mr. Gashel stated, is a Labor jobs law, awarding noncompetitive Federal contracts to nonprofit agencies when blind or disabled people are hired for 75 percent of the direct labor hours. Randolph-Sheppard vendors earn average profits of about 40,000 annually and manage their businesses with all of the responsibilities of small business owners. JWOD workers earn average wages of abour 8,000 annually from production, assembly, light manufacturing and maintenance work.' Mr. Tony Young, who is NISH's Senior Public Policy Director thanked both Chairman Enzi and Senator Kennedy, with whom he had been working closely, for holding this hearing, which Mr. Young stated was long overdue. Mr. Young stated as part of his testimony: 'In 2004, NISH nonprofit agencies, primarily serving people with severe disabilities reported a record 41,154 people with severe disabilities who earned an average annual hourly wage of 9.14. The average hourly wage paid to employees in the JWOD program significantly exceeds by nearly 4.00 the Federal minimum wage of 5.15 per hour. 'NISH also works with approximately 1,400 affiliated nonprofit agencies to help build their capacity and enhance their performance. These include many independent organizations as well as nearly 200 nonprofit agencies that are affiliated with large, well-known National Non-Profit Agencies that include The ARC of the United States, American Congress of Community Supports & Employment Services, Goodwill Industries International, Inc, the. International Association of Jewish Vocational Services, Easter Seals and United Cerebral Palsy.' A number of other witnesses testified regarding the benefits of working in an inclusive environment as opposed to one in extended employment. One thing that will occur as a result of this hearing is that change is about occur to both programs, which the Members of Congress agreed would be in concert with the disability community. All information on the timing of legislation is current as of this time and date and is subject to change. |
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