You may have noticed that the latest major election cycle, which will culminate in November, has begun in earnest.  This means that WLP professionals need to be finding out where the candidates stand on training-related issues.  

You may have also noticed that "training" is a very popular subject these days. Public officials across the political spectrum see training as one of the great social needs of our time.  And while their ideologies and approaches to issues may vary widely, officials understand very well that our nation, as well as individual states and cities, must somehow provide more training and re-training to many more people if we are to tackle the festering problems of unemployment and for our country to be more competitive globally. What the officials don't have much awareness of is the professionals who provide the training and who have the first-hand knowledge of current needs and best practices.

That's where I come in as the Chapter's Director of Public Resources Information and Strategies, responsible for the Chapter's government affiars activities.  I want to make sure the WLP profession takes advantage of this golden opportunity to exert more influence on shaping training-related legislation and policies.

I am currently setting up informational interviews and with the Washington State Senate and House committee chairmen who oversee workforce development programs and policies.  Over the weeks and months to come I will be extending this information-gathering effort to the two major gubernatorial campaigns, the candidates for federal offices (the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives), and selected key races for state office.

I want your input, whether general or specific, that we should be asking all candidates or even certain ones about their stands as it impacts training in Washington State?

Here are three basic questions I have come up with so far:

How can Washington State use training to help attract and retain the businesses and jobs of the future? 

How should we be providing assistance to promote lifelong learning to help upgrade workers' skills and keep skills current? 

How should we be providing training to help the unemployed (particularly the long-term unemployed) rejoin the workforce?

I look forward to hearing from you.