ATLANTA – State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond will participate in a bi-partisan hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety Thursday, July 16, at 10 a.m. in Washington, DC.

The hearing will focus on “Modernizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 to Help Workers and Employers meet the Changing Demands of a Global Market.” The WIA governs and funds workforce training programs nationwide at the state and local levels through a system of state and local workforce investment boards.

The hearing is an important step in the legislative process of reauthorizing the WIA. Its purpose is to investigate how best to streamline and coordinate the roles of the federal and state governments with the local training areas, as well as to ensure that the needs of workers, jobseekers, employers and local communities are met.

The subcommittee, in inviting Commissioner Thurmond to participate, referred to his “unique experience serving the diverse needs of workers from the state government level” and referenced his “valued” perspective on “the workforce system and its services for current workers and future generations.”

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia is the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety.