On June 12, the Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the bill that provides funding for the important job training programs for youth, adult and dislocated workers. Goodwill needs your help to urge Senate appropriators to support this urgent funding.
READ MORE from Support Job Training? Let Senate Appropriators Hear Your Voice
When I tell people I’m a lobbyist, they usually recoil (it’s even worse when I tell them I’m also an attorney). But when I tell them I advocate on behalf of Goodwill Industries they smile and say, “That’s great! I love Goodwill!” And then it hits them…Why does Goodwill need a lobbyist? What type of issues does the organization work on?
READ MORE from Building Jobs on Capitol Hill: What Goodwill® Does and How You Can Help
A recent piece in The New York Times, The Human Disaster of Unemployment, noted that the number of people who have been out of work for longer than six months has increased significantly due to the recession. As the economy slowly recovers from the recession, Goodwill® has a firsthand understanding about the impact that long-term unemployment will have for years on the people, families and communities that our member agencies work to strengthen every day.
READ MORE from Public Programs Leverage Goodwill® to Address Long-Term Unemployment
May not only heralds Mother's Day, it's also Older Americans Month -- and a perfect time for Americans to demonstrate how we value the moms, grandmothers and other older adults in our community and in our workforce by funding services that can make a difference in their lives.
READ MORE from Congress: Remember Your Moms as You Consider Funding for Older Workers
For individuals struggling to find work, federally funded employment and social services programs are crucial resources on the road to employment. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee worked to advance legislation that aims to avoid an automatic, across-the-board spending cut scheduled for January.
READ MORE from Proposed Legislation Could Hurt Programs That Help Job Seekers
As the election season heats up, voters want candidates to focus on getting people back to work. Unfortunately, a recent poll revealed a disparity between reducing unemployment and the need for providing new skills training for the unemployed.
READ MORE from Job Creation and Skills Training Should Be a Priority this Election
Enacted in 1998, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is long overdue to be reauthorized. Once Congress reconvenes on May 4, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is expected to consider two bills, a Republican version – H.R. 4297; and the Democrats’ alternative – H.R. 4227, that propose to reauthorize the 14-year-old law.
READ MORE from Goodwill® Remains Hopeful about Bipartisan Job Training Bill
On Tuesday, April 14, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing to explore the merits of recently-released bills that would reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act. The hearing occurred on the very day that approximately 200 representatives from local Goodwill® agencies across the country met with more than 320 congressional offices to urge Congress to provide adequate funding for job training programs while improving existing job training programs by reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act.
READ MORE from House Workforce Legislation Would Consolidate Training Programs
Goodwill Industries International (GII) is looking forward to conducting its sixth annual advocacy day on Tuesday, April 17, as part of the GII Spring Conference. Nearly 200 Goodwill advocates from around the country will visit Capitol Hill to advocate for federal funding for programs that leverage Goodwill and benefit the people we serve, and for
READ MORE from Join the Goodwill® on the Hill – Virtual Advocacy Day!
As the economy slowly recovers, governments at both the state and federal levels are hard pressed to stretch limited resources to cover an increasing number of priorities. Squeezed between the proverbial rock and a hard place, government officials are not only looking for programs that they can eliminate or scale back, but new sources of revenue.
READ MORE from Tight Government Budgets Make Nonprofit Sector a Tempting Revenue Source
Today, Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), and Joe Heck (R-NV), all members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 . While Goodwill is still analyzing the bill’s details, it proposes to consolidate 27 programs into one Workforce Investment Fund. The new proposal is based upon on previous bills introduced last year by the three representatives.
READ MORE from Employment-Boosting Legislation Introduced in House of Representatives
This week, House Republicans unveiled a $3.5 trillion spending plan that proposes to reduce the national debt. The proposal, which aims to balance the budget by 2040, relies heavily on significant spending reductions for a number of popular social programs including Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. Education and job training programs would also be consolidated.
READ MORE from House Bills Unveiled This Week Have Implications for Job Training
