By DAVID BERTOLA
dbertola@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1621

People who work for Workforce Investment Board Inc. or take advantage of its services are keeping a close eye on the progress of a bill that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. It cuts funding for the workforce system and eliminates all funding in program year 2011 for Workforce Investment Act programs. The program year begins July 1.

"The House over the weekend voted to shut down the program effective July 1, which would have wide-ranging implications for people who are unemployed and actively looking for a job or seeking job training," said James Finamore, executive director of Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Investment Board Inc.

The bill, referred to as HR 1, is headed to the Senate to be voted on. It cuts more than $100 billion in domestic programs from President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 request. The labor, health and human services section of the request cuts excess spending in Labor Department jobs-training programs.

Under this proposal, as of July 1, there will be no funding for Workforce Investment Act programs, including the business services unit, which Finamore said has connected with thousands of businesses in Erie County.

"The absence of that would definitely be felt by most by area businesses," he said.

Business Services, he said, identifies candidates for employers through its database, provides funding for on-the-job training and finds tax credits for companies.

"All of that would stop," said Finamore, who expressed confidence that there may be enough support in the Senate to not make cuts to job programs.

Those likely to be cut are offered through Workforce Investment Board, Finamore said, include the Summer Youth Jobs program, and others geared toward helping people earn high school equivalency degrees. The three area one-stop centers would also close. Workforce Investment Board also supports Greater Buffalo Works' Welfare-to-Work program, run through Erie County. Finamore said the ability to support this would be in jeopardy.

According to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee website, the bill represents the largest reduction in non-security discretionary spending in the history of the nation, and the first of many Appropriations bills aimed at significantly reducing spending this year.

In a statement on the website, Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky) said: "This year, our nation is spending $1.5 trillion more than we have, running our debt to $14 trillion. The taxpayers have told us loud and clear that this is simply unacceptable, and have demanded we get our nation's fiscal house in order."

Finamore estimated 3,000 people were helped annually the last five years through some level of payment. This figure, he said, doesn't include the countless number of people who have been helped by sharpening skills at workshops that teach how to conduct yourself at a job interview or resume writing.