BUDGET ALERT: Legislative Plan Would Cut Workforce Funding
Budget negotiations have heated up over the past several days, as we approach the June 30 deadline for a 2007-08 state budget. One of the areas under discussion appears to be Pennsylvania's Workforce Development programs. The Senate is considering a bill that would cut more than $48 million in vital workforce program funding, and an earlier version would have cut significantly more.
Today's workforce development system looks dramatically different than it did three years ago. The entire system has been overhauled with an industry-led, demand-driven approach that has developed real results for Pennsylvania's workers, its businesses and the economy.
It was an effort that started in 2004, when the commonwealth began a strategic repositioning
of workforce training and education programs. This overhaul was designed to boost the state's
competitiveness and economic opportunity through four key goals:
Create industry-led strategies that focus all new and existing job
training and occupational education funds to high-skill, high-demand employer needs.
Create new opportunities for adult citizens to engage in lifelong learning, leading to
family-supporting jobs.
Better prepare our emerging workforce, Pennsylvania's youth, for careers of today and tomorrow.
Implement rigorous accountability standards, making Pennsylvania more accountable to taxpayers,
employers and job seekers.
