Workforce Development Issues Receive Attention in Annapolis
During the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly, workforce development issues received heightened attention, due in large measure to the challenging economic conditions emerging nationally. Moreover, policymakers sought to address several critical workforce challenges facing Maryland more directly – the need to train young people for 21st century careers, bridge skills gaps and address worker shortages in critical industry sectors, and the need to prepare Marylanders for base realignment (BRAC) employment opportunities.
The Baltimore Workforce Investment Board’s (BWIB’s) Public Policy Committee, in consultation with staff from the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) conducted an extensive review and analysis of this session’s legislation, with special emphasis on bills most relevant to the concerns of workforce development practitioners and those they serve. Of over 2,650 bills introduced this year in Annapolis, the Public Policy Committee reviewed in detail twenty-eight individual pieces of workforce-related legislation.
The City’s advocacy efforts included successfully supporting bills to promote the availability of tax credits to businesses for their provision of: 1) work-based learning programs (SB 297), or, 2) their hiring of individuals facing targeted employment barriers (SB 314). Other BWIB/MOED supported legislation that was approved by the legislature included bills that would: 1) require the broad dissemination of information regarding GED programs and their availability (SB 264/HB 953) and, 2) publicize the availability of adult education and literacy services (SB 773). You can be sure that the BWIB/MOED will continue to be strong voices on behalf of workforce innovations that would benefit the residents of the City of Baltimore.
Baltimore Workforce Investment Board
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Jan. 4, 2008
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Nov. 16, 2007
