To announce the annual list of Labor Surplus Areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.

To provide information and additional guidance about the ETA-9130 Financial Report (9130). This TEGL should be used as a supplemental resource to 9130 financial reporting. The 9130 reporting instructions are the primary sources for detailed instructions to complete the forms. Therefore, this TEGL does not contain information about all sections or line items on the 9130; rather it only covers areas where additional clarification or guidance will help ensure consistent and accurate financial reporting.

To advise State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) of their Foreign Labor Certification (FLC) grant allocations for the first 92 days of the FY 2009 Continuing Resolution (CR) in effect October 1, 2008, through March 6, 2009.

To clarify the applicability of the able and available and work search requirements under section 303(a)(12) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to participants in demonstration projects permitted under section 305, SSA.

To remind states of options that are available under Federal unemployment compensation (UC) law to mitigate layoffs, permit payments for certain self-employment activities, and extend benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular UC.

To alert State Workforce Agency Administrators and Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB) Executive Directors that a study of TBL in the public workforce system is being implemented and their completion of the State TBL Survey and Local TBL Survey, respectively, will support this effort. The primary purpose of these surveys is to gather up-to-date information on TBL opportunities and usage at the state and local levels, and factors that influence its adoption and design in the public workforce system.

• To provide instructions to states for extending the life of their State Strategic Plans for Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) and the Wagner-Peyser Act (“the State Plan”) for an additional year, through Program Year 2009;
• To provide instructions to states for extending existing waivers and requesting new waivers; and
• To announce renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for Stand-Alone and Unified Strategic State Planning Guidances.

To publicize the availability of funds for the 2012 Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Research Papers Program. This initiative will provide approximately $80,000 to fund approximately 10 projects of Doctoral students interested in writing scholarly, policy-relevant research papers on topics of interest to the public workforce investment system.

The purpose of this Training and Employment Guidance Letter is to describe common waivers to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) and the Wagner-Peyser Act that may assist states as they develop economic recovery strategies.

To ensure states are aware of the Federal military retired pay annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) provided by the Department of Defense.