Gov. Tom Wolf talks workforce reforms at White House
WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf doesn’t see eye-to-eye with President Donald Trump on most issues. The two politicians from opposing political parties have been in the same room only a few times, including Thursday, when Wolf headed to the White House.
He was part of a bipartisan group of governors there to talk about a range of workforce issues, from job training to child care to occupational licensure to employment for those who have spent time behind bars.
As governor, Wolf has focused on several of those issues, including removing a question about criminal convictions from state government employment applications, and loosening restrictions on certain occupational licensing rules.
He also signed the first-of-itskind Clean Slate Law, which allows for sealing an ex-offender’s record of lower-level nonviolent crimes after 10 years without a conviction, removing the stigma for those who have served time and are seeking a job.
Wolf said the administration was interested in hearing what states like Pennsylvania have been doing. And he said Pennsylvania was ahead of the curve on several workforce issues they discussed.
“This was an area where people with clearly different ideas can actually find some common ground,” Wolf told a group of Pennsylvania reporters after the luncheon.
Trump told the governors his administration would do what it could to “make it very easy for you” to streamline overly burdensome occupational licensing rules that keep workers out of jobs. He also touted last year’s bipartisan criminal justice reform law, saying provisions in that have helped ease the transition for former inmates rejoining the workforce.
Washington correspondent Laura Olson can be reached at 202-780-9540 or lolson@mcall.com.