Washington Report - April 18, 2024

Workforce
On April 9, the House passed comprehensive, bipartisan workforce development legislation H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act which reauthorizes the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or WIOA. The vote was 378-26. This is a very positive development for our sector.

In addition to reauthorizing and fully funding all of the workforce development programs embedded in WIOA the bill would:

• Dedicate 50 percent of the adult and dislocated worker funding toward upskilling workers through “individual training accounts” (ITAs).
• Manages the nation’s network of One-Stop Career Centers.
• Administers the Job Corps program with increased performance accountability.
• Streamlines the application process for “eligible training providers” to promote faster eligibility determinations and minimize administrative burdens for training providers active in multiple states.
• Encourages innovative sector partnerships by allowing states to invest in critical industry skills initiatives.
• Authorizes state and local workforce boards to aid employers in implementing skills-based hiring practices.
• Places greater emphasis on work-based learning for youth and on workforce education programs at community colleges that align with in-demand jobs.
• Establishes grant programs that support employment and training services for formerly incarcerated individuals.
• Strengthens the workforce data system by promoting the use of real-time labor market information, facilitating access to wage records data and promoting data transparency.
• Incentivizes regional consortia for workforce development areas so that workforce development boards may ensure that jobseekers are connected to industries and employers that are prominent in a region’s economy.

To read the fact sheet for A Stronger Workforce for America Act, click here .

To read the summary for A Stronger Workforce for America Act, click here.

To read the section-by-section for A Stronger Workforce for America Act, click here.

The bill now proceeds to the Senate where its path forward is uncertain. WIA will be checking in with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff to obtain a better sense of the upper chamber’s plans on this issue/legislation.

Regulatory Machine on Overdrive
The Biden regulatory agenda will be overly active in the coming weeks as the President seeks to solidify his legacy on policies ranging from climate and other environmental issues to labor and everything in between. Evidence of this is already occurring with the recent unveiling of EPA’s final tailpipe emissions rule affecting light and medium duty vehicles beginning in model year 2027. And then earlier this month, EPA announced finalization of its tailpipe rules for heavy duty trucks.

Before these two major rule packages were made final, the Administration finalized the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate disclosure rule as well as Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule. The sense of urgency is tied to two factors—the potential change in who occupies the White House next year as well as the Congressional Review Act or CRA.

The CRA is a little known (outside of Washington) parliamentary tool whereby the next Congress—in this case the 119th Congress—may repeal rules and regulations issued in the previous year. A Congressional Review Act resolution only needs a simple majority in the House and Senate to pass Congress and then, of course, needs to be signed by the President to take effect. This “lookback” provision is limited to the final 60 working days of the previous Congress, which is a bit of a moving target since it is not known right now when Congress is going to adjourn. Based on history, the 60 working day lookback reaches at least into June, but can extend to May or even April of the previous year.

Given the specter of the CRA, the Biden Administration is on the clock and is accelerating finalization of rules and regulations so that they are not subject to this parliamentary procedure. WIA is monitoring developments from departments and agencies that oversee policies that affect the wood machinery manufacturing sector as well as the forest products supply chain. As always, we will keep you regularly informed.

Tax
Members of Congress returned to Washington last week after a two-week recess. We are watching developments on the tax front closely as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was signaling that he intended to bring up the House-passed tax bill (H.R. 7024) for a vote on Senate floor—bypassing Senate Finance Committee consideration. WIA has been visiting with key Senate staffers and representatives from other trade groups that are working this issue. What we are hearing is that Leader Schumer may be reluctant to move quickly to a Senate floor vote as it threatens to poison the well with Senate Republicans and may have serious repercussions for negotiations on other policies/legislation. However, the politics are intriguing for Democrats as forcing a vote in the Senate would put Republicans on record as opposing key business tax benefits (100 percent bonus depreciation, R&D tax credit) as well as the Child Tax Credit.

Unfortunately, Senate Republican opposition to the tax package appears to be hardening. Complicating the situation is that Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are both vying to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and both Senators—while they may support the underlying policies—do not want to run afoul of Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee. Crapo has been the most vocal opponent of the bill. The situation is fluid, but WIA is close at hand and will report on our efforts and developments.