RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the events of the September 11^th tragedy have resulted in a major impact on Hawaii's economy, resulting in the laying off of thousands of workers as well as cutbacks in hours of employment for thousands of others; and

WHEREAS, accordingly, steps must be taken immediately to develop a strategy to help these workers with job training as well as finding alternative jobs; and

WHEREAS, in 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to provide workforce investment activities that increase the employment, retention, and earnings of individuals as well as increase their occupational skills; and

WHEREAS, under the WIA, federal funds are annually allotted to states for the operation of locally-administered job training programs; in Hawaii, these funds are administered by the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; and

WHEREAS, the Dislocated Worker Program is one of the job training and employment programs supported by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the purpose of the Dislocated Worker Program is to assist individuals who have been laid off or terminated from employment because of cutbacks, technological change, or closures of plants and facilities; and

WHEREAS, under this program, services include assessment, career counseling, occupational retraining, and job search assistance; and

WHEREAS, although approximately $4,800,000 are currently available from the WIA for dislocated workers in Hawaii, not all of these funds are readily available to address the unique pressing needs of this community; and

WHEREAS, for example, among those who need dislocated worker services in this state are employees who continue to remain on the same job but with reduced hours; under current regulations, federal funds cannot be used to assist these employees; and

WHEREAS, to compound matters, Congress has called for reductions to WIA dislocated worker moneys earmarked to the states; the amount taken from each state will depend on the amount of unspent money from local areas; and

WHEREAS, under the formula, states that have spent the most will lose the least; but states that have a large portion of unused funds will lose the most funds; and

WHEREAS, if the State is restricted from spending WIA funds for unique employment concerns, such as workers with reduced hours of employment, it will not be able to address real needs that exist in the community; moreover, the State may suffer from reduced federal funds in the future; and

WHEREAS, as a result, the State needs greater flexibility in the use of WIA funds to address a wider range of local employment concerns; this has become a more urgent matter in light of the September 11^th tragedy, which has greatly affected thousands of Hawaii workers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Third Special Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body urges the Congress of the United States and the U.S. Department of Labor to relax the federal requirements on the use of federal funds for job training and employment programs such as the Dislocated Worker Program to enable the State to address its unique employment concerns in an effective manner; and

Report Title:

Urging Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor to relax the federal requirements on the use of federal funds for job training and employment programs such as the Dislocated Worker Program.