On April 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing entitled “COVID-19 Recovery: Supporting Workers and Modernizing the Workforce Through Quality Education, Training, and Employment Opportunities.” The witnesses for the hearing included Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs For the Future; Deniece Thomas, deputy commissioner of workforce learning and development in the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development; Scott Ralls, president of Wake Technical Community College; and Alejandro Mendoza, human resources director at Optimax Systems Inc.
In general, the hearing covered a broad range of issues facing workforce programs in light of the jobs crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, both parties agreed on the need for bipartisan proposals to provide increased funding and attention to our nation’s workforce programs.
Setting the stage for the need for renewed investments in our workforce system, Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) in her opening statement said “our nation is in the middle of the most unequal jobs crisis in modern history. Millions of people have lost jobs they relied on to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, pay their bills, and afford a postsecondary education. And some estimates suggest, at least, a third of COVID-related job-loss will be permanent.” Ranking Member Richard Burr also echoed similar sentiments by comparing the job situation now to what it was only one year ago. Specifically, he said that “before the pandemic, our economy was booming. Jobs were available and unemployment was at a 50-year low. Today, a year later, nearly 10 million people are out of work. Unemployment is at 6 percent and some suggest, 9 percent.”
With these statements largely setting the stage, the witnesses and Committee members spent the hearing talking about the need to expand skills-based education and training opportunities, like finding ways to expand access to apprenticeships; providing better support and wraparound services to ensure program completion and success; preparing workers for the STEM workforce; reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA); and extending Pell Grant eligibility to students who attend high-quality short-term programs at community colleges and public institutions, among others.
More specifically to the last point, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), who co-chairs the Senate CTE Caucus, discussed how community and technical colleges in Virginia and all across the country are at the forefront of offering high-quality short-term programs that provide not only post-secondary pathways, but also, immediate job skills to get individuals back into the workforce quickly. He went on to ask Dr. Ralls, “how do you think expanding Pell Grant eligibility to students for enrollment in high-quality short-term programs might open doors, both for first time college students, but also, for adult students with families who have faced hardships in this most challenging time?” Rails answered, “I very much endorsed that proposal and making Pell eligible for quality short-term credentials because so many students, nontraditional workers and people in the workforce, they need those short-term credentials to get the skills to get a job. And a lot of times they need those jobs to get the further higher education they need to further their career. So, to me it's not as much in either, or as it's made out to be. It's really an ‘and.’ And we need to work more diligently to make it an ‘and.’ And I think you can make it more ‘and’ by providing Pell for short-term credentials.” This same sentiment was shared by multiple witnesses and members of the committee. ACTE strongly supports the JOBS Act, which would expand Pell eligibility to short-term, high-quality job training programs, and is actively engaging Congress on its passage.
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