Special Message from NAWB Staff and Board of Directors

This is a special issue of NAWB’s Workforce Brief devoted exclusively to the national emergency resulting from Hurricane Katrina and the response by legislators, government officials, and the workforce investment system. NAWB offers deepest sympathy to all of those suffering losses from Katrina, including our member WIBs and their associated One-Stops in the affected areas. We commend all the men and women working so hard and giving so much of themselves to make a difference in the recovery.
NAWB is very proud to be part of the workforce investment system that will play such a critical role in helping job seekers and businesses alike in the effort to re-employ thousands of dislocated workers. We recognize that WIBs throughout the country – both those in the Gulf Coast area as well as in the many states that are welcoming evacuees -- will be affected as they respond to this unprecedented challenge. We will continue to keep you informed of new developments in Washington, DC and elsewhere that will have an impact on WIBs and One-Stops as they assist in the recovery effort.

Congress and Government Agencies Take Action in Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Congress reconvened last week and postponed consideration of a variety of matters, including federal budget reconciliation, in order to move quickly on appropriations to assist those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Similarly, federal, state, and local government agencies have been focusing efforts to address the myriad needs of the thousands of individuals and businesses in need of help.

Cabinet-level officials including U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez toured the Gulf Coast region last week to assess near- and long-term needs for assistance to the area. Congressional members including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Max Baucus, D-Montana will tour the New Orleans, Mobile, and Biloxi areas Friday.

Former Representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana has suggested an initiative similar to the Depression-era Work Projects Administration (WPA) that would put the region’s displaced residents back to work.

Congress passed a supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 3673) totaling $51.8 billion for hurricane response efforts that includes $813.4 million for Disaster Unemployment Assistance. The Senate Finance Committee is working on a package of temporary tax breaks to assist taxpayers affected by Hurricane Katrina. Included is a provision to extend the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to employers hiring hurricane-affected workers and to provide an employee retention tax credit. The House Ways and Means Committee is working on similar draft legislation.

Congress currently plans to move forward in late October with budget reconciliation, and will need to consider the effect of the many demands on the federal budget arising from Katrina.

WIA Reauthorization Not Moving with Katrina Relief Legislation

There has been a rumor circulating in Washington this week that the WIA reauthorization bill is going to be attached to the Disaster Relief bill for Katrina. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff has verified that this is not true. While they do want to move WIA, they are not planning to put it on the Katrina aid package because it would require a conference deliberation that would slow the aid package down.

However, amendments to WIA to better enable assistance to the impacted areas are in preparation. It is not clear yet whether these efforts would earmark new money from the supplemental appropriations bill at this point.

NAWB Joins National Workforce Associations to Discuss Katrina Relief Response

NAWB joined 15 national workforce associations, including the National Governors’ Association, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, The Center for Law and Social Policy, and the National Association of Counties, at a meeting on September 12th to discuss their memberships’ potential for assisting those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Deliberations will continue as information and guidance surface.

To this end, NAWB would like any NAWB members who may be able to volunteer time to travel to various affected areas (including those areas that have received many evacuees) to provide respite for the WIB, One-Stop, and workforce agencies’ staffs who have been working at an arduous pace since the disaster hit. Please let us know by e-mailing your potential interest in becoming a respite volunteer to nawb@nawb.org. (Note: there is no firm plan at the moment; NAWB is gauging interest and capacity.)

Senate HELP Committee Discusses Needs Arising from Katrina

The Senate HELP Committee convened a roundtable on September 8th to discuss the health, labor, and education needs of individuals and communities affected by Katrina. In addition to the HELP Committee members, participants included representatives of service organizations and businesses, as well as federal, state, and local agencies.

Following are needs and recommendations articulated by the participants:

K-12 Education

Higher Education

Labor

USDOL Announces Grants to Assist Workers Dislocated by Katrina

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced several National Emergency Grants to provide temporary jobs for dislocated workers to help with recovery and clean-up efforts:

Similarly, a National Emergency Grant of $75 million has been announced to assist Louisiana and Mississippi evacuees now in Texas. Additionally, $30.8 million will be provided to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to expedite processing of unemployment insurance claims and payment of benefits to victims of Katrina.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance will be available to individuals from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi should they have lost their employment or self-employment due to Hurricane Katrina and should they not qualify for regular state unemployment insurance.

For more information, see USDOL’s Employment and Training Administration website at http://www.doleta.gov/Katrina/eta_default.cfm.

USDOL Creates “Katrina Recovery Job Connection”

The U.S. Department of Labor is developing a new web-based resource, the “Katrina Recovery Job Connection,” to support the transition back into employment for individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina. The site will connect job seekers with employers interested in hiring them for new permanent employment or for the jobs related to the clean-up, recovery, and rebuilding process in hurricane-affected areas. USDOL is asking for the help of workforce boards, one-stop career centers, and businesses to populate the site with available jobs as soon as possible. Employers can elect to migrate their existing job openings on America’s Job Bank – www.ajb.org -- to the Katrina Recovery Job Connection -- www.jobsearch.org/katrinajobs.

The site will also provide links to state resources in the areas primarily affected by Hurricane Katrina – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

For more information, see Katrina Recovery Job Connection.

Florida Reaches Out to Assist Gulf Coast States

The Florida workforce investment system is reaching out to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to share lessons learned and best practices from the four hurricanes that devastated Florida in 2004. Workforce Florida has been in contact with counterparts in these states to share resources, brainstorm creative approaches to the recovery effort, and work toward coordination of data systems in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida to track evacuees and the services provided to them in destination states.

Workforce Florida has also arranged with its designated training institute for workforce professionals, Dynamic Works Institute, to open access to resources that can help other states with the recovery effort.

For more information, see www.dynamicinstitute.com/FlaDocs/, www.myflorida.com, and http://www.floridajobs.org/emergency/emergency.html or call Mike Switzer at Workforce Florida in Tallahassee at (850) 921-1119.

Vol IV
September 15, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE: