Testimony of Myla C. Florence
Director, Nevada Department of Employment, Training And Rehabilitation

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on Education and Workforce, I am Myla Florence, Director of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Thank you for inviting me to testify today and it is an honor to be here at Congressman Porter’s first field hearing in Nevada. The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation administers programs authorized under the Workforce Investment Act, as well as unemployment insurance, employment services, vocational rehabilitation and the Nevada Equal Rights programs.

Our department in conjunction with the Governor’s State Workforce Investment Board and the two Local Workforce Investment Boards in Nevada has made a remarkable transformation of the publicly funded workforce system since the passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. We truly have a unified system in Nevada known as Nevada JobConnect. We are equal partners in combining the various workforce programs into a seamless system connecting business needs with a trained workforce.

I want to thank the Chairman for scheduling a hearing on President Bush’s "Personal Re-employment Account" proposal and Congressman Porter for bringing this hearing to Nevada and introducing HR444, the Back to Work Incentive Act. In state fiscal year 2002, 36,216 Nevadans exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. Of those claimants, 19,201 went on to exhaust Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) benefits (through December 31, 2002). For the week ending January 31, 2003, Nevada reported 31,092 individuals collecting regular UI benefits and 4,103 receiving TEUC benefits. And for the last two months we have seen Nevada’s unemployment rate tick slightly upwards to five percent in December 2002. (The first time since December, 2001).

Currently, Nevada’s average benefit amount is $232.29 per week and the average duration for an individual to receive benefits is 15.5 weeks. Through the support and incentives provided in HR444, if we shorten the duration by even one week, Nevada’s trust fund could save approximately $8.4 million. While the personal reemployment accounts would not be available to all claimants, we believe the heightened interest in such a program would connect more of the unemployed to the Nevada JobConnect system and the resources it can provide.

We appreciate the flexibility provided to states in HR444 and envision working with local boards on state options and program design. We also greatly appreciate the administration’s recognition of the workforce system in general, and Nevada JobConnect in particular, to administer this new program. The investment of $3.6 billion in additional resources is welcomed and builds on the successes contemplated when the Workforce Investment Act was enacted. It also builds upon worker profiling systems and reemployment services states currently provide.

In April 2002, Nevada implemented an Automated Claimant Call In Letter (ACCL) to selected claimants based upon job availability matching to their former occupational code. The call in letter matching program was later enhanced to include the implementation of an interactive voice response unit which enables Nevada JobConnect staff to increase follow up contacts with UI claimants.

The reemployment services goal was to achieve 1,437 entered employments statewide. However, with the automated enhancements and increased claimant contacts, Nevada substantially exceeded its goal with 4,241 entered employments. The committee may want to consider directing a portion of the new funding stream of $3.6 billion to reinvigorate or support existing programs that are targeted to rapid re-entry of the unemployed to the workforce or providing governors with the ability to request program waivers where appropriate.

As this legislation wields its way through the congressional process, I assure you our Department and the Nevada JobConnect system stands ready to assist in any way we can.

This year Congress will consider several reauthorizations in addition to WIA – i.e. Carl Perkins, Vocational Rehabilitation, TANF, and Adult Education. The timing of these reauthorizations provides an unprecedented opportunity to align programs and services to further enhance the one-stop workforce system.

The system exhibited its capabilities as Nevada JobConnect quickly responded to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Nevada JobConnect partners rallied to assist over 5,500 individuals who needed in person assistance to file for unemployment insurance and other related benefits at the Culinary Union Hall in Las Vegas and the Community College of Southern Nevada in Henderson. More recently, Nevada JobConnect partners have assisted with mass layoffs at National Airlines, K-Mart and American Airlines through the WIA funded Rapid Response program to enable those faced with job loss to reattach to the workforce more quickly.

Secretary Elaine Chao’s testimony to this Committee on February 12, 2003 reinforced the notion that WIA requires some fine-tuning and not a major overhaul. The flexibility provided in HR444 should be considered in WIA reauthorization proposals and deliberations.

Governor Kenny Guinn, a former businessman, believes workforce development is really economic development. When he launched Nevada JobConnect in January 2002, his remarks emphasized the critical importance on focusing on our state’s businesses’ workforce needs. He simply stated, "If we take care of business, the jobs, skills development and strong educational system will follow."

The Workforce Investment Act should have a section devoted to business services. The section should require input from the business customer, authorize the provision of services that meet businesses’ workforce needs and emphasize the linkage between workforce development and economic development.

Governor Guinn is our state’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. As such, governors need to be designated as the one in charge of determining how WIA will work in their own state.

As you have previously heard, the size of state and local boards are unwieldy. WIA must be amended to grant governors and local areas greater flexibility in determining board memberships that meet their needs, while still requiring a private sector majority. One stop partners should serve as resources to the boards and not as required board members.

We must diminish the "silo" aspect of federally funded programs and provide governors and localities greater authority to transfer funds between programs or at a minimum, a set aside from each "silo" for infrastructure support for the one stop centers. All workforce programs should run in consistent program years and federal agencies must develop common definitions, data elements and reporting requirements among the programs that provide employment and training services.

Nevada businesses have expressed a strong need for incumbent worker training. WIA resources should be more flexible to meet this need. Nevada’s experience with pilot programs has demonstrated such training enables employers to stay in Nevada and supports employee retention.

Finally, the increased demand for local data under the Workforce Investment Act must be fully funded. Businesses demand timely, "user friendly," localized data. It is a valuable economic development tool that is positioned to take advantage of existing and emerging technology.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before the Committee and I welcome any questions you may have.