U.S. Representatives call for increased workforce funding

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On March 24, a bipartisan group of 55 Representatives sent a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education urging them to ensure that their Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriation invests in necessary job training and adult education programs. This letter, drafted by Reps. Bonamici (D-OR) and Duckworth (D-IL), follows a similar letter sent last week by 27 Senators to the Senate Appropriations Committees Subcommittee with the same jurisdiction. 

The Representatives urged the Appropriators to invest in new and existing workforce training and education programs, including: 

• From the President’s FY 2017 Budget Request, the Opening Doors for Youth Initiative, which would target job and skill training opportunities for youth, the American Talent Compact, which would build off of the Administration’s job-driven action plan, targeting regional partnerships to train workers to meet local employers’ demand, and a new system of career navigators to work with the long-term unemployed;
• Continued investment in expanding apprenticeship including reinvesting $90 million, consistent with FY 2016 funding levels, funding the President’s Apprenticeship Training Fund and continued investment in the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program; 
• WIOA Title I employment and training programs, Title II adult education and literacy programs, and vocational rehabilitation under Title IV at authorized levels to ensure effective implementation of the bipartisan legislation; and
• Title III Wager-Peyser Employment Services at no less than $680 million, consistent with the President’s FY 2017 budget request.

Representatives who signed on to the letter are listed below: 

1. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)
2. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
3. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
4. Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT)
5. Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA)
6. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV)
7. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
8. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
9. Rep. Daniel W. Lipinski (D-IL)
10. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD)
11. Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU)
12. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY)
13. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)
14. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
15. Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-MD)
16. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA)
17. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
18. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA)
19. Rep. John Conyers, Jr.  (D-MI)
20. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL)
21. Rep. Terri A. Sewell (D-AL)
22. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
23. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
24. Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA)
25. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL)
26. Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
27. Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)
28. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ)
29. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)
30. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
31. Rep. John K. Delaney (D-MD)
32. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
33. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA)
34. Rep. William R. Keating (D-MA)
35. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY)
36. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)
37. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
38. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
39. Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ)
40. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI)
41. Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
42. Rep. Ketih Ellison (D-MN)
43. Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN)
44. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
45. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA)
46. Rep. Jerry McNerny (D-CA)
47. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI)
48. Rep. Alma S. Adams (D-NC)
49. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)
50. Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY)
51. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
52. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
53. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)
54. Rep. Diane Degette (D-CO)
55. Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI)

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