WORKFORCE CONNECTIONS - Vol. 53 | |
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In This Issue:
- State and Federal Policy Updates: House Budget Updates, WIOA Reauthorization
- MWA Updates: Member Updates, MassSkills Coalition
- News From Around the Sector: Jobs, funding, news and updates
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FY25 Budget Update
Senate passes FY25 State Budget negotiations now head to Conference
In late May, the Massachusetts Senate passed their version of the FY25 State Budget: Senate Budget (malegislature.gov) totaling nearly 58 billion dollars. The Senate emphasized heavy investments in educational priorities for Massachusetts residents, including $117.5 million for free community college for all, which differs from previous iterations of the MassReconnect program, which focused on adults above the age of 25. The Senate budget also included $105 million for financial aid towards four-year institutions. These initiatives would be paid for completely from revenues from the Fair Share Amendment, which the Senate appropriates $735 million towards education and $565 million for transportation. The Senate budget also invests heavily towards child care, including $475 million for the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3), of which $150 million is funded from the Fair Share Amendment. Other initiatives include expansion of child care subsidies and an $65 million to increase provider rates.
Senate funding for key MWA line items includes:
- Career Centers: $9.86M ($100,000 decrease from H2, level with House)
Market Maker Language included in the House budget was removed by the Senate
- YouthWorks: $15.74M ($500K decrease from H2)
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Connecting Activities: $7.3M ($500K increase from H2, but 500K decrease from House)
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WCTF: $5M ($5M decrease from H2 & House)·
- Learn to Earn: $300K (level with H2 & House)
- Re-entry: $2.5M ($250K decrease from H2, level with House)
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Apprenticeships: $2.8M ($1M decrease from H2 & House)
- Career Technical Institutes (CTI): $10.38M (level with H2 & House)
The budget now heads to Conference Committee, where Legislators will negotiate the House and Senate versions. A Conference Committee was recently named, comprised of House Ways & Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, House Ways & Means Vice Chair Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and Ranking Minority Member Rep. Todd Smola. The Senate appointed Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, and Ranking Minority Member Senator Patrick O’Connor.
The MWA will directly advocate for our priorities with the Conference Committee, and work with our partners at the Workforce Solutions Group (WSG) to advocate for broad workforce development related priorities such as YouthWorks, School to Connecting Activities and Career Center Funding.
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May 2024 Unemployment Rate and Economic Analysis | |
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On May 17th, the state released the unemployment rate for April 2024 and the revised rate for March 2024. Click here to read the 05/17/24 state press release. Massachusetts' April total unemployment rate was 2.9%. 1.0 percentage points below the national rate of 3.9% The April labor force increased by 12,200 from the revised estimate of 3,757,000 in March, with 10,100 residents more employed and 1,900 fewer residents unemployed over-the-month. The largest over-the-month private sector job gains were in Education and Health Services, Professional, Scientific, and Business Services and Trade. Employment now stands at 3,733,000. Massachusetts gained 669,500 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
Click here to read the most recent state press release. Local unemployment estimates for April were released on 05/21. The most recent local press release can be found here.
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The House Appropriations Committee released initial funding allocations for the various subcommittees, including the Labor and HHS Subcommittee which is slated to receive a 10-11% cut compared to FY24. We anticipate that the markup schedule for FY25 bills will be released in late June by the House Appropriations Committee.
The Appropriations bills still need to be approved, but currently the Senate Appropriations Committee is soliciting testimony for the FY25 funding priorities. The MWA signed onto a letter with the USWA to advocate for further federal investment into WIOA programs and fully fund the law beyond its authorized levels.
The MWA will continue to work with our Federal delegation and Workforce Association Partners across the country to advocate for additional funding to WIOA programs. The funding requests for FY25 for Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Bill are listed below:
Title I – Department of Labor
- $899.987 million for Adult Employment and Training Services,
- $963.837 million for Youth Workforce Investment Activities, and
- $1.519 billion for Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Services
Title II – Department of Education
- $759.167 million for Adult Education
Title III – Department of Labor
- $723.862 million for Wagner-Peyser
Title IV – Department of Education
- $4.253 billion for Vocational
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WIOA Reauthorization Update
The MWA continues to work with our federal delegation, as well as Workforce Associations across the Country to advocate for changes to the WIOA reauthorization that passed the House of Representatives in April. Our members, in coordination with the United States Workforce Associations (USWA), have been meeting with our federal delegation to outline issues in the House Version.
Next Wednesday, June 12th, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on WIOA Reauthorization. This is an indication that there could be a bipartisan draft released by the committee in mid-June. When a draft is released, MWA will circulate language to our members for feedback and comments, and work with our federal partners to create a unified and cohesive response to the draft legislation.
If you are interested in watching the Senate HELP Committee hearing, it can be viewed here.
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MWA Joins
MassSkills Coalition
The MassSkills Coalition was launched after Gov. Healey signed an executive order in January 2024 to institute skills-based hiring among executive branch departments and agencies. Skills-based hiring emphasized a person’s skills and competencies rather than a degree or employment history in the hiring process and expands the pool of potential candidates that can fit a role while increasing access and opportunity for all.
Co-Chaired by Labor & Workforce Development Sec. Jones, Tonja Mettlach EVP of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Jerry Rubin of Eastern Bank Foundation and President Chrissy Lynch of the AFL-CIO, the MassSkills Coalition looks to engage partners across the workforce to encourage and promote skills-based hiring practices.
The membership includes government, labor, business and professional groups, academia and workforce practitioners/researchers from across the Commonwealth.
The inaugural meeting was an opportunity to hear from employers who are already implementing skills-based hiring practices in their workforce. The group heard from employers in healthcare and pharmaceuticals and how their skills-based hiring practices filled jobs that had previously been difficult to fill due to degree or credential-based requirements.
The MWA looks forward to continuing to work with the MassSkills Coalition moving forward to help facilitate and encourage skills-based hiring practices.
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Public Event
Hiring Skilled Immigrants in Massachusetts: What Employers Need to Know
The Boston Foundation will convene key stakeholders, such as Lauren Jones, Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development, and Emmanuel Owusu, Executive Director, African Bridge Network, in skilled immigrant integration and provide an evaluation of the field, while exploring opportunities to increase the visibility of and investments in this issue.
The forum will review a report by the UMass Donahue institute that examines the many ways employers can engage with skilled immigrants and reviews the African Bridge Networks' proposed verification process, which seeks to mitigate the hired of skilled immigrants in Massachusetts.
When: June 12, 2024, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Where: Edgerley Center for Civic Leadership at The Boston Foundation
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECTOR | |
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There are so many job postings and funding announcements, we moved our News from Around the Sector section to our website, where you can access the news, jobs, funding announcements and more anytime throughout the month. Go to: www.massworkforce.com/around-the-sector.
Here is a just sample of the events, funding opportunities, jobs, and more posted on our website:
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Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest workforce news and updates. | | | | |
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