By Johnson                                            H.C.R. No. 66
       74R3045 CCK-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The demands of the global marketplace require that
    1-2  the United States have a trained and efficient workforce to compete
    1-3  effectively in a growing international economy; and
    1-4        WHEREAS, Toward that end, the federal government now spends
    1-5  more than $25 billion annually on federal programs and grants to
    1-6  the states for workforce development and assistance; and
    1-7        WHEREAS, These funds are divided among 154 programs overseen
    1-8  by 14 federal departments or agencies, creating duplication of
    1-9  effort and wasting untold millions of dollars on administration and
   1-10  compliance as opposed to actual results; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, The programs vary in target populations, eligibility
   1-12  requirements, legal definitions, documentation standards,
   1-13  administrative dictates, program years, reporting periods,
   1-14  performance measures, and other arbitrary distinctions and
   1-15  differences; and
   1-16        WHEREAS, This bureaucracy discourages participation by
   1-17  employers, thwarts access by the unemployed and undertrained, and
   1-18  loses other potential clients because of their failure to fit
   1-19  narrow eligibility categories; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, The goal of the nation's workforce development
   1-21  efforts should be to have a market-driven system characterized by
   1-22  universal access, informed customer choice, and accountability at
   1-23  every level; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, The current state of federal workforce development
    2-1  programs makes these goals virtually unattainable and begs for
    2-2  solutions to maximize employment and promote this nation's
    2-3  international competitiveness; now, therefore, be it
    2-4        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
    2-5  hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
    2-6  consolidate federal workforce development programs and to provide
    2-7  workforce development assistance to the states in the form of block
    2-8  grants rather than categorical funding; and, be it further
    2-9        RESOLVED, That a comprehensive labor market information
   2-10  system be available to serve local, state, and federal needs, and
   2-11  that eligibility standards for participants be redefined to allow
   2-12  anyone seeking job training, education, or placement to have access
   2-13  to services; and, be it further
   2-14        RESOLVED, That the workforce development system preserve a
   2-15  strong role for the private sector at all levels of government, and
   2-16  that the consolidated program be subject to consistent measures of
   2-17  accountability; and, be it further
   2-18        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
   2-19  copies of this resolution to the speaker of the house of
   2-20  representatives and president of the senate of the United States
   2-21  Congress, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the
   2-22  congress, with the request that it be officially entered in the
   2-23  Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United
   2-24  States.