The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA): Reauthorization of Job Training Programs in the 109th Congress

Publication Date: August 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Education

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Abstract:

Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), P.L. 105-220, the nation's chief job training legislation, authorizes several job training programs, including Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Activities; and Job Corps. The authorization for WIA programs expired on September 30, 2003, although annual appropriations have continued funding for WIA through FY2005.

On February 25, 2005, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce reported H.R. 27 (H.Rept. 109-9), the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005, which would reauthorize and revise WIA. On March 2, 2005, the House passed H.R. 27, the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005. On September 7, 2005, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, reported S. 1021 (S.Rept. 109-134), the Workforce Investment Act Amendments of 2005. On June 29, 2006, the Senate incorporated S. 1021, as amended, into H.R. 27 and passed its version of H.R. 27.

Both the House and Senate versions of H.R. 27, in addition to reauthorizing the Title I WIA training programs, would also modify the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) and reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All three programs would be authorized through FY2011. The focus of this report is on Title I of WIA.