Federal Policy

TANF Waivers Back in the News

/ The Old Crank

Trying to keep up with the flurry of activity in recent weeks on immigration reform and WIA reauthorization is hard enough, (the House held a hearing on their WIA bill this past Tuesday, which I wasn’t able to catch), but another issue that I think has potential impact on adult education is the continuing controversy over the Obama adminstration’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) waiver proposal, which I wrote about last July when the policy was announced.

The House Ways and Means Committee is hold a hearing this morning on the policy, which Republicans say guts welfare’s work requirement. My view has been that allowing states more flexibility on how they adminster TANF could potentially lead to improved acccess to educational opportunities for TANF recipients.

Here’s the opening statement from today’s hearing from Human Resources Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA).

And Now Here’s the Republican WIA Bill – Plus a Hearing on the 26th

/ The Old Crank

Sure enough, hot on the heels of the reintroduction of the Democrat’s WIA reauthorization bill from last year (the Workforce Investment Act of 2013, or H.R. 798) last week, Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans announced today they plan to reintroduce their old WIA bill under a new name on February 25th. (At least that’s what it appears to be… I haven’t checked to see whether there might be any substantial differences worth noting.)

Here’s a copy of the bill, which will be known as “The Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act.” Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will chair a hearing on Tuesday, February 26th to discuss.

Quote of the Day

/ The Old Crank

This post today by Ezra Klein about Alan Simpson contains just about the best one-line description of the way a lot establishment D.C. people seem to think that I’ve ever run across:

There’s a widely acknowledged nobility and morality to proposing painful plans that would require lots of sacrifice — though the worst of that sacrifice rarely falls on the kind of people putting together these plans.

Can’t wait until March 1, which we might as well go ahead and designate as Bowles-Simpson Scold’s Christmas.

Odds and Ends

/ The Old Crank

I’ve been under the weather for several days and haven’t had the energy to post anything. A couple of quick things:

  • Also on Friday, Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee reintroduced their WIA reauthorization bill from last year. It’s now called the Workforce Investment Act of 2013 (H.R. 798). Press release here.

A lot of old legislation gets reintroduced at the beginning of a new session, so I have no idea how excited to get over this. It’s worth remembering that it has zero chance of passing the Republican-controlled committee.

My recollection is that Republicans on the committee were planing to reintroduce their WIA reauthorization bill early this year as well, and while that presumably would pass the committee (like their bill did last year), whether it would get to the floor anytime soon, and whether it would get through the Senate or form the basis for a compromise bill is another question.