President’s budget invests in skills.

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UPDATE: National Skills Coalition has prepared a full analysis of key education and training programsincluded in the President’s budget request.

President Obama today released his fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget proposal. The President’s budget would roll back the harmful sequester, and make new investments in skills. National Skills Coalition has prepared a preliminary analysis. More details will be available soon.

At the Department of Labor, most programs’ funding will remain the same as FY 2013, while other programs would experience moderate increases or decreases:

• $791,644,000 for WIA Adult Programs (a $20 million increase over FY 13 enacted);
• $846,632,000 for WIA Youth Programs (a $22 million increase over FY 13 enacted);
• $1,045,490,000 for WIA Dislocated Worker Programs (a $37 million increase over FY 13 enacted);
• $6 million for the Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI);
• $150 million for the Workforce Innovation Fund, including $50 million for veterans’ reemployment and $10 million for disconnected youth programs;
• An increase governors’ set aside to 7.5% (an $80 million increase over FY 2013 enacted);
• $25 million in new funding for older Americans programs;
• $8 billion for the Community College to Career Fund;
• $4 billion for Reemployment NOW program;
• $12.5 billion for a Pathways Back to Work fund;
• $25 million for innovative states to pursue strategies to get UI beneficiaries back to work;
• $1,691,923,000 for Job Corps;
• $5 million for a new Transition Goals, Plans Success (GPS) program, providing transition assistance for veterans;
• An increase in the of level of wages subject to unemployment taxes in 2016;
• $50 million to test and replicate innovative ex-offender programs;
• $10 million for a the Pay for Success program;
• Eliminating funding for the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupation (WANTO) program.

The President’s budget would also transfer the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living. Although the budget does include $25 million in new investments to pilot changes to the public workforce system to improve outcomes for older workers, the SCSEP program itself faces a $70 million cut under the President’s plan.

At the Department of Education, funding for the Adult Education and Family Literacy program would remain relatively the same as FY 2013, and does funding for career and technical education state grants. The budget also sustains funding for the Pell grant program, and provides sufficient funding to support a maximum award of $5,785 for academic year 2014-2015.

NSC is encouraged by the President’s proposal for increased investments in WIA formula grant programs and by his ongoing commitment to skills, as demonstrated by his proposals for new investments in workers, including the Community College to Career fund and the Pathways Back to Work fund.

NSC is preparing a full analysis of the President’s budget, and will provide further details during our Federal Policy Update webinar on Thursday, April 18 at 1pm.

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