MLC approves trio of resolutions

On the final day of this year’s Midwestern Legislative Conference Annual Meeting, participating lawmakers approved three policy resolutions on federal workforce policy, the U.S.-Canada border and relations with Taiwan.

Renew federal workforce innovation law

“Workforce Innovation and Transformation” is this year’s MLC Chair’s Initiative of Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke, who led work on an MLC resolution urging the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The resolution singles out several provisions that lawmakers say would help modernize the WIOA and reflect state priorities and innovations in workforce policy:

• funding flexibility for states to identify critical industry sectors and then implement sector-based workforce strategies;
• an expansion of work-based learning opportunities for young people;
• more employment training for justice-involved individuals; and
• codification of a grant program for community colleges to build sector-based career pathway programs in high-demand fields.

Delay dog rule at U.S-Canada border

The MLC passed a resolution calling for an 18-month delay at the U.S. northern land border regarding a rule that imposes new requirements on people entering this country from abroad with a dog.

Additionally, the resolution asks U.S. health officials to consider a permanent exemption for those entering the United States from Canada.

The intent of the regulation is to prevent dog rabies from entering the U.S. The MLC resolution notes, though, that Canada shares the same rabies-free status as the United States, and that it has measures in place to address the risk of dog rabies from off-shore.

Commemorate Taiwan Relations Act

In commemoration of the 45-year anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, legislators affirmed continued support of the relationship between the MLC’s 11 Midwestern states and Taiwan.

The MLC Annual Meeting is typically the venue for legislators to consider policy resolutions. A bipartisan committee reviews and votes on these resolutions before they are sent to a vote of the full MLC. Saskatchewan Minister Lori Carr, MLC first vice chair, presided over this year’s resolutions process. She is pictured below during the MLC’s business session in July with Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke, MLC chair, and Michigan Sen. Roger Victory, immediate past chair of the MLC.