This guidance letter updates the procedures states should follow to apply for WIA section 503 Incentive Grants.

To provide summary performance data of the State Workforce Agencies' (SWAs) Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax programs and announce the posting of detailed performance data on the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) Web site for the quarter ending (Q/E) June 30, 2004.

To announce the release and availability of ETA Occasional Paper 2005-05: The Next Generation of Workforce Development Project: A Six-State Policy Academy to Enhance COnnections between Workforce and Economic Development Policy: Final Report. This report prepared by the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices shares the challenges, experiences, and lessons learned by six state - Idaho,Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia, that participated in this research project.

To advise states of the general principles that apply to the payment of royalties on intellectual property that was created using Federal grant funds

To provide policy guidance on how the data validation program will be administered and information about the characteristics of UI DV software currently under development.

To inform the state workforce agencies(SWAs) of special filing "relief periods" for WOTC/WtWTC certification requests in Presidential Disaster Areas(PDAs) struck by recent tropical storms and hurricanes and provide guidance for its implementation.

To announce the release and availability of Comparison of State Unemployment Insurance Laws 2005.

To inform the workforce investment system of: 1)a conference sponsored by the United States Department of Education`s Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA) and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation to enhance the transition delivery system (from education to employment) for youth with disabilities and, (2) the request for proposals that may be presendted at the conference.

To remind State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) that information sufficient to identify unemployment insurance claimants must be provided to employers in order to permit them to participate in claims processes related to their former employees.

To issue fringe benefits guidelines for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).

To inform states and grantees of the Employment and Training Administration`s (ETA) revised policy on common performance measures for Federal job training and employment programs, and rescind Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 15-03.

To inform states of the guidelines for negotiating PY 2005 and PY 2006 WIA title 1B performance and customer satisfaction goals. The negotiated performance goals for these two program years will be included in the WIA and Wagner-Peyser Act State Plans, which are due to ETA by May 31, 2005.

To delineate requirements for the PY 2005 State Senior Employment Services Coordination Plan (State Plan).

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is pleased to announce the 2005 Recognition of Excellence (ROE) on behalf of the nation's workforce investment system.

To announce Workforce Innovations 2005: A Declaration of Innovation to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 11 - 13, 2005

To transmit the Participant Eligibility Guidance for participation in the National Farmworker Jobs Program(NFJP) and the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker(MSFW) Youth Program under Section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

provide expanded Department of Homeland Security FICs and revise FIC 401.

To provide State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) with additional information on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Information Technology (IT) security guidelines and a new version of the software tool to conduct a security self-assessment of unemployment insurance (UI) computer systems.

To provide guidance to state workforce agencies (SWAs) responsible for management of the WOTC and WtWTC from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005, and to provide state allotments for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005.

To inform states that OMB has approved the extension of data collection to support the BAM Program.