Workforce Bulletin - January 17, 2014
Congress Approves Omnibus Appropriations Bill - Provides Federal Government Funding for the Remainder of FY 2014
This week, both the House and Senate completed work on the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations measure funding federal government operations until September, with the House of Representatives passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547) by a 359-67 margin on Wednesday, January 15th, and the Senate passing the bill a day later in a 72-26 vote.
EUC Extension Stalls in Senate
Negotiations between the Senate Majority and Minority to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, which expired December 28, 2013, remained in limbo this week as Senators left for the Martin Luther King Jr. Congressional recess.
U.S. Likely to hit Debt Ceiling in February – Not March
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned lawmakers this week that a final deadline for raising the nation's borrowing limit is likely to arrive next month, not in March, which he had previously said was a possibility.
Treasury Offset Program (TOP) Becomes Mandatory for State UI Programs
In the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (P.L. 113-67), setting overall federal government discretionary spending levels for FY 2014 at $1.012 trillion and $1.013 trillion for FY 2015, contained a provision to raise federal revenues by requiring all state workforce agencies to implement the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to recover unemployment insurance (UI) payments due to fraud or failure to report earnings.
Register and Make your Hotel Reservations for the 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum Today!
State workforce officials and unemployment insurance professionals planning on attending the 2014 NASWA Winter Policy Forum (WPF) are encouraged to register for the Conference before the early registration rate of $475 ends on Friday, January 31st. After the early registration period, general registration will be $525 for NASWA members.
NASWA LMI Committee Chair Meets with BLS and ETA on State LMI Capacity
On Tuesday, January 14th, Labor Market Information (LMI) Committee Chair Aaron Fichtner (NJ) hosted a meeting at NASWA’s headquarters with officials from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
Executive Director Hobbie Participates in Nationwide Radio Show on UI
On Monday, January 13, 2014, NASWA’s Executive Director, Rich Hobbie, participated in the Washington-Based Diane Rehm radio show entitled “Understanding How Unemployment Insurance Works.”
NASWA to Cohost Webinar on Engaging Older Workers in the Public Workforce System
Join ETA, NGA, NASWA, NAWB, AARP and two local areas next Wednesday, January 22nd at 2 PM (EST) to discuss creative ways to connect older workers with the services, support, and training they need to attain in-demand jobs. This webinar, Engaging Older Workers in the Public Workforce System, is part of an upcoming series of discussions and consultations to update ETA’s Older Worker Protocol.
New Version of OccuCoder, ITSC’s Job Matching Tool
The Information Technology Support Center (ITSC) provides technology services and support to state unemployment insurance programs across the country and is pleased to announce a new version of ITSC’s job matching tool, OccuCoder v 2.3, is now available to all state workforce agencies.
2014 UI Technical Training Schedule Now Available, Register Today
ITSC is pleased to announce the 2014 UI Technical Training In-Person Courses for state and federal employees within the unemployment insurance system.
Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims Decrease, Continued Claims Increase
The U.S. Department of Labor reported for the week ending January 11, 2014, seasonally adjusted unemployment insurance initial claims decreased from the previous week’s revised figure.
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