Barry Moore opposes workforce mandates from bureaucrats "who've never worn callouses on their hands"

Statement

Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02), a successful small business owner before coming to Washington, issued the following statement on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (H.R. 7309), a misguided bill that empowers union bosses, not workers.

"Small business owners' livelihoods depend on the successful hiring, training and developing of employees, and it's counter-productive for bureaucrats who've never worn callouses on their hands to tie small businesses down with one-size-fits-all workforce mandates," said Moore. "We should empower small businesses, not entangle them with red tape and regulations designed to increase their dependence on the government."

Background:

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, last reauthorized in 2014, serves as the nation's primary workforce development law helping job seekers obtain the skills necessary for successful careers and helping employers access the talent they need to grow their businesses. Instead of drafting a bill that considers our nation's future workforce needs, Democrats are proposing top-down, inflexible workforce development rules that expand the role of the federal government, prioritize labor unions over job-seekers, and limit input from employers who are better positioned to understand the needs of their businesses and their local economies. Committee Republicans offered an alternative set of reforms that would allocate a greater portion of funds for skills development and encourage innovation and flexibility through a workforce development system that can be tailored to local employers and community needs. The Democrat bill does the following:

Expands the size of state and local workforce boards, which reverses a reform made in 2014 to streamline the boards, to diminish employer input and increase the role of labor unions.
Encourages top-down definitions and measures of "job quality", a vague term that will only create barriers to employment and hinder the workforce development system's ability to respond quickly to the job market.
Requires Job Corps contractors to comply with prevailing wage requirements which will increase costs to taxpayers while doing nothing to increase the program's effectiveness.
Increases state administrative burdens by requiring states to publish "state equity" reports that identify disparities in performance outcomes for individuals with barriers to employment, including dividing groups by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Source