Bush administration to fund employment services at -100% (yeah, that's ZERO)
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March 12, 2008 - Once again federal Employment Services funding is at risk. Except this time—instead of chiseling away at the funding like they have for years—the Bush Administration has recommended just not funding these services at all. (see chart)

OCSEA Operations Director Bruce Wyngaard yesterday in Washington, D.C., told legislators that there is no more important time than now— especially with Ohio’s critical economic situation—to invest in training and employment services.

His testimony was heard by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

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The anchor of our nation’s labor exchange system is the Employment Service and the reemployment services provided by Wagner-Peyser funds. Employment Services provide a host of essential services, including:

• Job search and placement assistance
• Skill assessment,
• Counseling,
• Testing,
• Labor market information, and
• Help for workers who have been dislocated from plant closings.

Wyngaard, who also serves as the Vice Chair of Gov. Ted Strickland's Workforce Policy Advisory Board, said these essential services “represent the cornerstone of our nation’s federal-state partnership to help unemployed persons adjust to a turbulent global economy.”

All of this Wagner-Persyer-funded work is performed by OCSEA members who work in Ohio’s One-Stops. Wyngaard said without funding, it’s likely many of these centers would close.

OCSEA is not certain how far Congress will take the president’s recommendation, if anywhere at all.

However, union leaders are clear about this: The more friends labor and working-people have in Washington, the better.

The union's political action committee, for example, can help elect members of Congress—who make decisions on issues like whether or not to fund Employment Services—who share our members' interest in preserving essential public services delivered by public employee union members.

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Prepared remarks of Bruce Wyngaard for the committee (PDF)

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