NOTE. The Surveys and Investigations supervisory staff is supplemented by selected personnel borrowed on a reimbursable basis for varying lengths of time from various agencies to staff up specific studies and investigations. The current average annual fulltime personnel equivalent is approximately 42. DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1977 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1976. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ASSISTANCE WITNESSES BEN BURDETSKY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING WILLIAM B. HEWITT, ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF POLICY, EVALUATION, AND RESEARCH ALBERT J. ANGEBRANNDT, ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT T. JAMES WALKER, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT ROBERT T. JONES, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS JOHN F. SHINE, BUDGET OFFICER, OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION ALFRED M. ZUCK, COMPTROLLER FOR THE DEPARTMENT JOHN H. STETSON, DIRECTOR, JOB CORPS OPENING STATEMENT Mr. FLOOD. I see you have a statement, Mr. Burdetsky. Do you want to place that in the record? Mr. BURDETSKY. Yes. Mr. FLOOD. We will do that. We have your biographical sketch. [The biographical sketch and prepared statement follow:] BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Dr. Ben Burdetsky was appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manpower (now Employment and Training) on August 1, 1973. Prior to this assignment he has been Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), having held that post since December 1967. From July 1968 to March 1969, and from January 1973 to August 1973, he was Acting Commissioner of the BLS. He joined the staff of the Bureau of Labor Statistics as Associate Commissioner for Management in October 1966, where he served until he was named Deputy Commissioner. Dr. Burdetsky began his Government employment in the Labor Department in 1955 in the Bureau of Employment Security. His early assignments include service in the U.S. Employment Service and the Unemployment Insurance Service, and 2 years in the Philadelphia regional office. (1) From 1961 to 1965 he was Chief of the Department's Data Systems staff in the Office of the Secretary of Labor. He served from October 1965 to October 1966 as Deputy Director of the Department's Office of Financial Management and Data Systems. He presently teaches graduate seminars in industrial relations, and personnel and manpower management at American University and George Washington University, and is a frequent speaker and lecturer at meetings of business, labor, and the academic community. Dr. Burdetsky received a Ph. D. in Business Administration from American University in 1968. He received a B.S. degree (1950) and an M.S. degree (1958) from Temple University. He is a member of the Industrial Relations Research Association (Executive Board-1975-78), a fellow in the American Statistical Association, and the International Association of Personnel in Employment Security. OPENING STATEMENT Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to present the budget request for employment and training assistance for fiscal year 1977. The Employment and Training Assistance appropriation, formerly the comprehensive manpower assistance appropriation, provides the resources for programs authorized under titles I, II, III, and IV of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended (CETA). The Employment and Training Assistance appropriation has three budget activities: State and local programs, national programs, and for the first time, a summer youth employment program, the total amount reequested at this time for these activities in fiscal year 1977 is $2,394,330,000 or a net increase of $6 million over the fiscal year 1976 appropriation of $2,388,330,000, which is in national programs. I will now go into specifics concerning this request. STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS The request for State and local programs totals $1,980 million, the same amount as requested for 1976. This amount includes $1,580 million for title I comprehensive training and employment programs and $400 million for title II public service employment programs. COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS The request of $1,580 million will provide financial assistance to over 430 State and local prime sponsors to design and operate comprehensive training and employment programs tailored to meet the specific needs of their communities, as authorized under title I of CETA. These funds will permit prime sponsors—generally States, counties, or cities with populations of 100,000 or more, or voluntary combinations of these areas to enroll an estimated 1.3 million economically disadvantaged, unemployed, and underemployed persons in various training and employment programs. Traditionally these training and employment opportunities have included classroom training, on-the-job training, work experience, vocational education and counseling, remedial education, job placement services, and transitional public service employment. Projected enrollments by program based on 1975 actual experience indicates that approximately 60 percent of 1977 enrollees will probably be in work experience programs, 23 percent in classroom training and the remaining 17 percent in public service employment, on-the-job training, or receiving job placement services. However, as prime sponsors develop their 1977 program operating plans in light of current economic conditions, the program mix could change. With the expected improvement in the economy by 1977, more emphasis is expected to be placed on training programs aimed primarily at serving the economically disadvantaged, and less emphasis on work experience. PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS A total of $2,100 million is being requested for public service employment jobs, including $1,700 million as a fiscal year 1976 supplemental to the Temporary Employment Assistance appropriation and $400 million in fiscal year 1977 included in this request. Approximately 310,000 public service jobs are currently being funded under titles II and VI of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Title II provides for approximately 50,000 jobs in areas where the unemployment rate is 6.5 percent or higher. Since January 1975 an additional 260,000 public service jobs have been funded under title VI as a temporary measure to help alleviate the effects of high unemployment. As I indicated in my earlier statement, the $1,700 million supplemental for 1976 will continue nationally most of the 260,000 jobs through calendar year 1976, with a gradual 9-month phaseout beginning in January 1977. This phaseout proposal is consistent with the general expectations of the pace and direction of economic recovery and anticipates continuing improvement which will allow participants to obtain regular jobs in the private or public sector. Most of this supplemental will be used in areas of high unemployment, that is, areas with an unemployment rate of at least 6.5 percent. Nearly all of the temporary public service jobs under the title VI program are in prime sponsor areas which include these high unemployment areas. Areas with lower unemployment rates will be phased out earlier as their ability to provide for these individuals is greater. The $400 million requested for 1977 will provide for the continuation of the 50,000 jobs in the permanent title II program during fiscal year 1977. About one-half of these public service jobs have been created in public works and transportation (22 percent), education (15 percent), and law enforcement (12 percent). The remaining jobs were distributed in such areas as health and hospitals, environmental quality, parks and recreation, etc. NATIONAL PROGRAMS AND PROGRAM SUPPORT The fiscal year 1977 request for national programs, the second budget activity in this request, is for $414,330,000 a net increase of $6 million over 1976. This total includes: $175 million for the Jobs Corps, $113,760,000 for Indian, migrant, and seasonal farmworker programs, $83,200,000 for other special target group programs, and $42,370,000 for program support activities including research, demonstration, evaluation, labor market information, and training and technical assistance. The net change of $6 million is for special target group programs. The Job Corps will provide an estimated 20,500 years of training to enrollees at 60 Job Corps centers in 1976 and 1977. Through the end of November, 145 designated Indian prime sponsors grants were awarded or renewed totaling $50,148,000. Over 50,000 Indian and other Native Americans are expected to be served by these grants. A total of about 64 migrant and seasonal farmworker grants will be awarded or renewed starting in January 1976. It is anticipated that about 140,000 individals will be served by these grants. Other special target group programs will provide additional employment and training services to special emphasis groups through activities such as minority group skill training, offender programs, SER, OIC, and trade adjustment assistance. The $6 million increase for special target group programs will provide for the continuation and expansion in 1977 of the pilot school-to-work programs for school-age youth initiated in 1976. SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM A program to provide jobs for economically disadvantaged youth aged 14 to 21 during the summer months is now included in this budget for 1976 and 1977. A preliminary estimate of $440,300,000 for the 1976 program will support approximately 740,000 9-week part-time summer jobs at the new minimum wage of $2.30 per hour. This proposed level is approximately equivalent to the level of effort provided in the summer of 1975, allowing for an improvement in the unemployment rate for youth. The preliminary estimate for the 1977 summer program is $400 million which would provide 672,000 jobs. This program provides part-time summer jobs in various organizations, including schools, hospitals, libraries, community service organizations, and private nonprofit agencies. Supplemental budget requests for the summer program will be formally transmitted to the Congress as soon as data on the projected level of youth unemployment and other relevant economic factors become available, which is usually early March of each year. |