Department of Labor

President Trump has nominated former Bush official and current Kentucky workforce chief John Pallasch last month to head the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which oversees a large block of youth employment dollars that the administration has targeted for cuts in its first two budget proposals.

A House bill introduced today would provide tax credits of up to $2,400 to employers who hire current and former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 27. The Improved Employment Outcomes for Foster Youth Act would for the first time include foster youth as an eligible category under the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which incentivizes the hiring of certain groups who struggle with barriers to employment.

by Seth Turner The editorial page of last Sunday’s Washington Post featured the article, “Congress debates the future of job-training program.” Rather than presenting a refreshing and balanced perspective on an important, yet long-delayed, piece of legislation, the editorial rehashed an old partisan debate over a false choice: Should the nation’s network of job training programs be consolidated or not?