The State at Work: The "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" and What it Means for Texas

Abstract

The Workforce Investment Act (Public Law 105-220), signed into law August 7, 1998, represents the culmination of bipartisan efforts to reform the nation’s workforce development programs. On July 1, 1999, Texas began implementing the provisions of this law, one of only a handful of states to do so. Texas was in the vanguard in large part because it had already adopted a more comprehensive and systemic approach to workforce development through state legislation enacted in 1993 and 1995.1 What prompted this federally mandated reform and how will it affect state and local workforce systems in Texas?