To announce the release and availability of the ETA Occasional Paper 2004-4:What Can We Expect Under Personal Reemployment Accounts? Predictions and Procedures

To announce the extension of the Office of Management and Budget(OMB) approval of information collection for the Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report, Forms ETA 232 and ETA 232A, and the Narrative Plan for conducting the wage survey.

To provide State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) with specific information on the National Institute of Standards and Technologys (NIST) Information Technology (IT) security guidelines and a software tool to conduct a security self-assessment of Unemployment Insurance (UI) computer systems.

To announce the opportunity for state and local workforce investment systems to collaborate with a new four-year demonstration grant that provides funding of $2 million for the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program for spouses of fallen sworn law enforcement officers. The Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program is administered by the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation (hereafter referred to as the FOP), and provides up to $15,000 for job training and other services to spouses of fallen sworn law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty from January 2001 through December 2006. The funds made available under the Department of Labor (DOL) grant will complement scholarship funds that are currently available to eligible spouses through the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) Program and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as state and local scholarship and grant programs specifically available to spouses of fallen sworn law enforcement officers.

To provide guidelines for negotiating state performance goals for the labor exchange component of the One-Stop service delivery system for Program Year 2004.

To announce the start of a major new evaluation of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.

To transmit the directory of Federal and military agencies that request detailed UCFE or UCX benefit payment data which support the Department of Labor quarterly unemployment compensation billings.

To announce the Workforce Innovations 2004: Fueling America`s Economic Engine conference to be held in San Antonio, Texas, July 19-21.

To announce the rate of interest the U.S. Treasury Department will charge on Title XII advances (loans) during CY 2004.

To announce an effort to collect photos and stories to illustrate the value of America`s publicly funded Workforce Investment System.

To provide an opportunity for comment on proposed changes to the unemployment insurance (UI) performance management system "UI Performs".

To provide new policy guidance governing the use of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) National Emergency Grant (NEG) funds at Section 173(f) and (g) to make "gap-filler" payments of qualified health insurance premiums for individuals eligible for the HCTC.

To announce the extension of Recognition of Excellence application deadline and transmit Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

To update examples of employment situations requiring uniform interpretation of localization of work provisions in state laws and to revise and reissue the Interpretation of Localization of Work Provisions.

To provide guidance to states with Strategic Five-Year State Plans for Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act that expire in calendar year 2004.

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

To inform the workforce investment system of changes and edits to the ET 406 Handbook and to announce the availability of version 1.7 of the Labor Exchange Reporting System (LERS) report validation software.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is pleased to sponsor the first annual Recognition of Excellence on behalf of the nation¿s workforce investment system. To recognize superior employment and training related programs and improve system performance, ETA has established a system to recognize high levels of success by entities managing and partnering with ETA funded programs. ETA recognizes that achieving commendable outcomes requires much more than statutory or regulatory compliance. Therefore, high levels of success should be recognized, and it is ETA¿s hope that this recognition process will facilitate the exponential replication of promising practices throughout the workforce investment system.

To inform the workforce investment system of the implementation of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) Strategic Alliance Memorandum.

To advise State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) that the required operational date for the new ICON-IB6, Release 2 software, which is used for processing quarterly bills for unemployment claims that combine wages from two or more states, has been changed from the billing cycle for the quarter ending March 31, 2004, to the billing cycle for the quarter ending June 30, 2004.