03.25.03

NEWS ALERT: Senate Passes Cantwell AmendmentRestoring $678 Million for Job Training on 51-48 Vote

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate today approved on a 51-48 vote an amendment authored by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) restoring $678 million in proposed cuts to federal workforce training programs. The amendment was carried to victory by a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans. It was one of two amendments approved by roll call vote out of 23 considered by the Senate today.

"With the high unemployment rate in Washington state, making sure that we don’t cut job training is a top priority," Cantwell said. "Today, the Senate said that instead of more tax cuts from the President’s plan we need job training dollars to make sure Americans are put back to work."

Cantwell’s $678 million amendment is paid for by a reduction in the amount of the President’s tax cut. Approximately 65,000 job training opportunities will be saved under the amendment. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Daschle (D-SD), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mark Dayton (D-MN), and Daniel Akaka (D-HI) cosponsor Cantwell’s amendment.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) restructured the nation’s workforce training systems by consolidating more than 17 federal programs into one system for delivering employment and training services. WIA required the development of one-stop centers that offer a single point-of-entry for displaced workers seeking training and employment assistance.

Just last week, Senators Cantwell and Susan Collins (R-ME) sent a letter signed by 43 senators to the Senate Budget Committee expressing strong support for increasing funding for the workforce training programs in the fiscal year 2004 budget.