On Tuesday, July 22, President Obama signed the Workforce Investment and Opportunities Act, completing its passage into law. The legislation was passed by near unanimous votes in both the Senate and House earlier this summer.
The Workforce Investment and Opportunities Act (WIOA) reauthorizes the nation’s workforce development programs that were previously authorized under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The law introduces new provisions that bring the statute in line with contemporary best practices in workforce development, while increasing accountability, and also eliminating some training programs.
The Department of Labor has already issued some guidance and information regarding the law’s impacts. That information can be found at: http://www.doleta.gov/wioa/.
Among the information shared is a timeline of key dates with respect to implementation. Relevant dates for the Job Corps community are:
- December 1, 2014 – The Department is required to submit criteria for potential Job Corps center closures to Congress.
- January 18, 2015 – Notices of Proposed Rulemaking to implement WIOA (including the Department’s interpretation and regulations related to WIOA provisions) must be published in the Federal Register for public comment.
- January 21, 2015 – Job Corps’ first financial report must be submitted to Congress.
- January 22, 2016 – Finals rules to implement WIOA must be published.
The NJCA is looking forward to working with its partners at the Department to ensure the new Job Corps provisions of WIOA are implemented in a manner that best serves our students. For a summary of the Job Corps-related changes in WIOA, visit: http://njcaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/WIOA-Job-Corps-Analysis.pdf.
