WORKFORCE CONNECTIONS - Vol. 54

In This Issue:

State and Federal Policy Updates: State Legislative Updates, WIOA Reauthorization
MWA Updates: Annual Member Summit, Member Updates, MassSkills Coalition, Workforce Solutions Group 15th Annual Workforce Summit Registration
News From Around the Sector: Jobs, funding, news and updates

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PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES

State Public Policy

FY25 Budget Update

Senate passes FY25 State Budget negotiations now head to Conference

The FY25 State Budget is currently in deliberations between House and Senate Conferees, being led by House Ways & Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz and Senate Ways & Means Chairman Michael Rodriques. On July 17th, negotiators indicated that an agreement has been made in principle. Once Conferees submit their agreement, the budget will have to be passed once again by the House and Senate, and then sent to the Governor for final passage. It is worth noting that the Governor can sign the budget, veto it, or veto it in part. If you are interested in tracking the entire budget, it can be found here: The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (malegislature.gov).

The MWA worked with our membership to advocate directly for our budget priorities and sent a letter to the Conference Committee. The MWA will continue to advocate and monitor the State Budget as it nears its conclusion.

Once the agreed upon budget has been made available the MWA will send out a separate update.

Economic Development Legislation Moving Through Legislature

The House and Senate have recently passed a large economic development package that, in large part mirrored legislation filed by Gov. Maura Healey. The House’s legislation included $3.4 billion in long-term bond authorization and an additional $700 million in tax credits. The Senate’s version included $2.86 billion in long term spending. The legislation will now head to a conference committee, and needs to be agreed upon prior to the end of the 2023-2024 legislative session ending on July 31^st.

The bond authorization included target investments in key sectors of the Commonwealth’s economy, including reinvestments into the life sciences sector and clean energy climate technology and offshore wind.

Efforts were made in the senate version to include legislation supported by the MWA that would ensure timely access to DUA wage data to understand the employment outcomes of the individuals served by the publicly funded workforce development system, including but not limited to, MassHire and Commonwealth Corporation. Further, an amendment was filed that would establish and create a governance framework for the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data System for the purpose of providing reliable and actionable information on education and workforce outcomes. This amendment also mirrored legislation filed this session that is supported by the MWA. Ultimately, these amendments were not adopted, but continue to show support from legislators for data initiatives spearheaded by the MWA and our partners.

To read the legislation and follow along on the bill’s process, see this link here: Bill H.4804 (malegislature.gov)

May 2024 Unemployment Rate and Economic Analysis

On June 24th, the state released the unemployment rate for May 2024 and the revised rate for April 2024. Click here to read the 06/21/24 state press release. Massachusetts' May total unemployment rate was 3.0%. 1.0 percentage points below the national rate of 4.0% The labor force increased by 13,600 from the revised estimate of 3,768,100 in April, with 7,500 residents more employed and 6,000 more residents unemployed over the month.

Click here to read the most recent state press release. Local unemployment estimates for May were released on 06/21. The most recent local press release can be found here.

Federal Public Policy

WIOA Reauthorization Update

In late June, the Senate HELP Committee released their initial version of the WIOA Reauthorization language. Working with MWA members, Sen. Markey’s office, and the USWA, the MWA submitted feedback to the Senate HELP Committee on July 5th relative to the draft released in late June. The Senate HELP Committee is now working through the comments from across the country, with a potential redraft from the committee being released later in July.

The legislation differed in many respects from the version passed by the House in April. The Senate version does not include the 50% training requirement that was included in the House Version. However, the Senate version does include the ability for a Governor to reserve an additional 10% of WIOA allocations for industry/sector partnerships or employer directs skills development investments. Further, the Senate draft does give some authority for the Governor to redesignate regional workforce areas, albeit with some safety nets and inputs from lead elected officials and regional workforce boards.

Importantly, this version does include a directive for states to share unemployment data with regional boards, an idea long sought after by MWA and our members.

For a broad overview of the legislation, please see here and for a more detailed section by section summary see here.

Should the Senate HELP Committee release a new draft of the reauthorization the MWA will circulate the draft for comments and continue to work with our federal partners.

MWA AND MEMBER UPDATES

MWA Annual Member Summit 2024

The MWA was pleased to convene its membership for two days in June at Salem's Hawthorne Hotel. The conversation was robust covering a wide range of topics that included statewide partnerships and internal processes.

We were fortunate to be welcomed by the Mayor of Salem,

Dominick Pangallo and hear from a few of our outstanding collaborators:

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll

As the former Mayor of Salem she was happy to join us and present on the future of workforce development in our Commonwealth.

Secretary Lauren Jones

Presented Mary Sarris with a Citation from the Governor for her 25 plus years of

service at the North Shore Workforce Board and also joined us on our private tour at

the House of Seven Gables, specializing in ESL and settlement work.

Undersecretary Alysia Ordway

Presented on our very complicated workforce development system using our

members as not just an audience but as experts in the field.

Undersecretary Josh Cutler

Presented on Registered Apprenticeships highlighting the benefits to

both participants and employers.

Susan Church

From the Office of Refugees and Immigrants walked us through work authorization pathways for shelter residents and new arrivals.

Ronnie Miller

Presented on the current and future ESOL priorities in our EA shelter system.

We are looking forward to the work ahead of us and thank you

to everyone who was able to join us!

MWA Joins

Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition

The MWA was proud to join the Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition (MCC) this month, a team of leading employers, advocates, and government partners committed to recognizing, supporting, and building creative solutions that allow family caregivers to thrive in the workplace while also caring for family at home. The mission of the MCC is to partner with and encourage employers to support employee caregivers in the workplace by examining best practices across businesses, implementing caregiver policies and

understanding the economic impact of employee caregivers. We know that caregiving can often be a barrier to employment, particularly following the recovery from COVID that left many caring for loved ones – whom may not have returned to the workforce.

The MCC has a diverse membership, including partners from across secretariats at the state level, providers like Care.com and business groups such as the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

The MassHire North Shore Workforce Board appoints Ed O'Sullivan as its new Executive Director as Mary Sarris retires.

Congratulations to both Ed and Mary! To read more click here.

The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board appoints Sarah Wilson as its new Executive Director as Rebecca Bialecki retires.

Congratulations to Rebecca and Sarah!

MTF Releases Bulletin

FY 2025 Budget Conference Committee Preview: Workforce Development

On July 2, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released a brief focusing on workforce spending in each of the proposals for FY 2025 and how the proposed funding compares to the FY 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA). To see the report click here.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECTOR

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:

Job & Training Opportunity: BEST Hospitality Training is currently accepting participants for its job seeker program.
Job & Training Opportunity: MassHire Merrimack Valley Workforce Board is hiring a Customer Outreach and Employer Engagement Specialist.
Article: DOL's New Overtime Rule, Economic Policy Institute
Funding Opportunity: Refugee Career Pathway Program, The Office of Refugee Resettlement. Click here to learn more.
Job & Training Opportunity: The African Bridge Network Team is hiring a part-time Fundraising and Development Director. To learn more about this position and others click here.