National Coalition for Literacy

By Jackie Taylor

Appropriations

The Senate Appropriations Committee (Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies) markup for FY11 (S. 3686, Senate Report 111-243) is now available and reflects the President’s budget request for adult education. The full House committee markup is not yet available and contacts on the Hill have indicated that we may not see an appropriations bill until after December or January.

WIA Reauthorization

A Senate bipartisan team is finalizing a draft WIA reauthorization bill and anticipates that it will be available for public comment after Congress returns from recess (after September 13 and 14). The House usually takes the lead from the Senate in preparing for WIA reauthorization. Once the Senate releases its version of the bill, this helps to “set the clock” for the House to begin work on the House version. House staff hopes to have a white paper on WIA reauthorization released later this fall.

The chances of the House passing a WIA reauthorization bill this fall are low. However, we hope to see it move forward in the first work period of a new Congress. Our contact cautioned that it will be important for Coalition Members to keep the WIA reauthorization conversations moving with the House Education and Labor Committee Members so that WIA reauthorization does not get pushed aside for work on different legislation when a new Congress begins.

The Coalition will soon share the results of the recent guest blog discussion of WIA Reauthorization—What is a priority for you? with Education and Labor Committee Members and staff, as well as with the staff working on WIA reauthorization in the Senate. If you have not contributed to the conversations please do so now. See tips for using the WIA reauthorization blog discussions for advancing WIA reauthorization.

NRS Reform

While legislative changes needed to advance NRS reform must wait for WIA reauthorization, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) plans to make some revisions within the parameters of existing WIA legislation. OVAE met with state directors on August 4-5 to gain their feedback on six discussion points for revising the NRS. Several Coalition Members were allowed to attend as “observers” and participate in part of that meeting. Jeff Carter, Director of Policy and Government Affairs with ProLiteracy, offers a summary of the six discussion points from OVAE, OVAE recommendations, and state director reactions.

The Coalition has since adopted general recommendations on NRS reform and has written Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier requesting for increased field input into the revision process. We anticipate having a more specific set of recommendations to her, in response to the six discussion points, by mid-September.

See the NRS reform blog article for updates on NRS reform.

House Resolution 1472 Designating National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

The Coalition is grateful to Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) , the 20 co-sponsors, and to the U.S. House of Representatives for dedicating National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week for September 13 – 19, 2010. This is a one-time dedication and we encourage everyone to plan awareness raising activities during this week.