GOP Spending Bill Eliminates Worker Job Training and Workplace Safety Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Republican spending bill on the House floor would end vital workforce services like job training for returning veterans, local business services to help match them with qualified workers and even shut down a website that helps employers keep their workers safe, a congressional committee learned today.
“No one is in favor of wasteful spending or outdated government regulations that don’t work. Instead of indentifying real government waste – like subsidies for big oil or tax cuts to billionaires – House Republicans have decided to cut on the backs of working people and students,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “Our workers’ safety and our nation’s economic competitiveness can ill afford these unwise cuts.”
The Republican bill would force the 3,000 local ‘One-Stop’ career centers to phase out services and eventually close their doors beginning in April. One-Stop career centers provide job training, career counseling, job listings and small business services. And, local workforce boards made up of businesses, community colleges and others leaders will be unable to respond to local employment conditions.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis testified about the importance of maintaining our nation’s ability to provide essential services to working families dealing with fallout from the economic crisis.
“For a newly unemployed or underemployed worker, navigating the world of job searching, education and training opportunities, and federal support programs can be daunting,” said Sec. Solis.
In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would face a severe cut under the Republican spending bill, which would cut assistance to businesses trying to keep their workers safe by shutting down the agency’s website. Staffing levels, including accident fatality investigators, would likely be reduced to 1974 levels even though the private sector workforce has increased by 65 percent since then.
Secretary Solis said that cuts to OSHA would mean 8,000 fewer workplace health and safety inspections.
“We’ve seen what happens when you rely on self-certification, voluntary compliance and inadequate protections. Upper Big Branch happens. Deepwater Horizon happens. Imperial Sugar happens,” Rep. Miller said.
Next Article