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The following information was provided by Veronica Champayne, Legislative Chair, California Chapter:
| Instructions for Writing Your Legislators on behalf of IAWP |
One of the many functions of IAWP is to speak up on behalf of issues that affect the Workforce Services, Unemployment Insurance, and other branches of the Employment Development Department. In this effort IAWP recognizes each of our Legislative activities through the award process. Every letter receives from 3 to up to 5 points for their chapter, but to get credit, copies must be submitted via chapter reports. If you send a letter for any legislative activities (IAWP promoted or local initiatives) please send a copy of the letter and the response (the response may arrive a few weeks or months later) to your Chapter President/Legislative Chair.
Please take a look at the following guides and samples to help you with your letter writing campaigns. Veronica Champayne welcomes your questions - you may contact her at vchampayne@yahoo.com.
Legislative Duties
Legislative Plan 2012
Legislative Aciton Network
Letter Writing Guidelines
IAWP California Action Letters/Writing Campaign (Action Letter Format)
CA-11-01 TAA Action Letter - Completed
CA-11-02 WIA Action Letter - Active
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The following information was obtained
through NASWA. For additional information on these and
other related matters, please visit www.naswa.org
December 23, 2011
House Majority Agrees to Extension of UI and Payroll Tax Cut
· Congressional leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), agreed Thursday to accept a temporary two month extension of the expiring Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act (EUC08) program and Social Security payroll tax cut. Passage came swiftly in both the House and Senate early Friday morning as the compromise legislation was passed in both Chambers by voice vote.
· In announcing the agreement, House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday, “Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement that will ensure taxes do not increase for working families on January 1 while ensuring that a complex new reporting burden is not unintentionally imposed on small-business job creators.”
· Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Thursday evening he was “grateful that the voices of reason have prevailed,” and added that “I look forward to appointing members of my caucus to continue negotiations toward a year-long agreement. Two months is not a long time, and I expect the negotiators to work expeditiously to forge yearlong extensions of these critical policies.”
· The House Majority, which rejected a similar compromise on Tuesday, came under increasing political pressure over the week – much of it from its own party – to accept the two-month extension that passed the Senate last Saturday. It was reported House Speaker Boehner was determined to settle the issue and announced the decision on a conference call to House Members on Thursday, ending a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress and President Obama in town through Christmas.
· When Congress returns, attention will turn to the conference committee assigned to hammer out a deal between the two chambers. But the differences remain large over how to pay for the deal with Republicans looking to areas such as freezing wages of federal workers and Democrats still considering increasing taxes on millionaires.
Unemployment Rates Drop in Most States for November
· Unemployment rates dropped in 43 states and Washington, D.C. in November compared to a month earlier, but job growth remained relatively subdued as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this week.
· Nationally, the unemployment rate declined to 8.6% last month from 9% in October. Nineteen states and Washington, DC have rates higher than the national average. Just three states — New York, Rhode Island and Wyoming — reported increases in their unemployment rates, while four states — Hawaii, New Jersey, Indiana and Oklahoma — were unchanged. The BLS report notes that no state posted a statistically significant increase in its unemployment rate, while 13 of the 43 states that posted declines also were not statistically significant. That means when margins of error are taken into account, the rates in those states might as well be flat.
USDOL Notices
· USDOL announced the availability of approximately $98.5 million in Workforce Innovation Grants. The complete USDOL Workforce Innovation Grant Solicitation <http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm> and any subsequent amendments, in connection with this solicitation is described in further detail on ETA’s Web site.
· The Web site provides application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures and other program requirements governing this solicitation.
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