Government Open for Business Again

After 16 days of a tense stand off, a 252-144 House of Representatives and 81-18 Senate vote ended the government shutdown with President Obama signing a bill last week that reopened the government until the middle of January and effectively raised the debt ceiling until early February.

As an organization dedicated for 3 decades to employment and workforce development—preparing job seekers for tomorrow’s global economy and supplying employers with a trained and reliable workforce—KRA Corporation is pleased that those furloughed workers have returned to work.

Regarding the bill signing, and the end of the shutdown, President Obama said, "I've said it before, I'll say it again: I am willing to work with anybody, I am eager to work with anybody—Democrat or Republican, House or Senate members—on any idea that will grow our economy, create new jobs, strengthen the middle class, and get our fiscal house in order for the long term.”

However, there is some fallout caused by the furloughs. For the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the areas most affected deal with the immigration and the e-Verify processes. Website, Labor Immigration Law, believes that as a result “immigration-related services to be, at the very least, heavily backlogged for some time.”  And, Lexology is reporting that “while the DOL and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are considering temporary solutions for the affected H-1B petitions, these proceedings are in limbo.” We at KRA Corporation wish all those businesses and individuals affected by the shutdown a speedy resolution and all the best in hiring the most-qualified candidates.

As for official announcements, other than the Statement on September Employment Situation report and the posting by Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy, Kathy Martinez, addressing the importance of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the official blog, Work In Progress, has remained somewhat quiet since the restart with no words or thoughts from DOL Secretary Tom Perez.

The KRA Corporation team, however, remains confident that the important work and innovative policies coming out of Secretary Perez’s office regarding workforce development will resume at the blistering pace they were before the shutdown occurred, and there will be plenty to highlight in the coming weeks.

KRA Corporation is most pleased that with the government employees back in their offices, we can get back to doing what we do best: supporting the mission of those Federal, state, and local agencies that improve the lives of individuals and strengthen the communities in which we live.