HR0723 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0723 LRB103 40401 ECR 72705 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States of America has proposed budget cuts that would decrease funding to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which supports workforce development activities, adult education and literacy, U.S. employment services, vocational services for disabled workers, and numerous other programs that invest in our workforce; and

WHEREAS, The WIOA has had a positive impact on the livelihoods of millions of Americans, having provided job training to 237,836 people nationwide in the midst of a global pandemic in program year 2020; and

WHEREAS, Throughout Illinois, the program has grown substantially in the last several years, having seen the number of local workforce innovation area incumbent worker training projects greatly increase from 64 to 378, the number of businesses utilizing incumbent worker training increase from 62 to 278, and an increase in the number of incumbent workers able to receive training from 125 to 4,228; and

WHEREAS, These efforts and others like it have resulted in a statewide unemployment rate of only 5.1%; and

WHEREAS, Last year, the One-stop Operator in Champaign County, a single location where all four core programs of the WIOA are collocated, helped 362 visitors with resume, interview, career fair, application, employment workshop, and job search advice; it also connected 227 visitors to services, including rent assistance, GED classes, printing, veterans' services, and youth services; and

WHEREAS, Among those visitors, the East Central Illinois Workforce Board provided career coaching and supportive services to 262 low-income or skill-deficient adults as well as 163 youth with barriers to employment; and

WHEREAS, The WIOA gives preference to veterans, low-income individuals, individuals with disabilities, unhoused individuals, youth who have been in the foster care system, eligible migrants and seasonal farmworkers, single parents, and long-term unemployed individuals; and

WHEREAS, Unfortunately, the East Central Illinois Workforce Board was forced to turn away over 600 adults last year who wanted to receive job training but who could not be provided with services due to funding limitations; and

WHEREAS, Budget cuts like the ones proposed recently would make it even more difficult for organizations enacting the provisions of the WIOA to render high-demand services to underserved and underutilized members of the community; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation that maintains funding for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and for President Joe Biden to sign that legislation into law; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.