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Today, House and Senate leadership are announcing the release of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), bi-partisan, bi-cameral legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which was due for reauthorization eleven years ago. While the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) passed reauthorization legislation last July, the bill has yet to come to the Senate floor. Instead, Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have been negotiating a compromise between the House-passed SKILLS Act and the Senate HELP Committee’s legislation prior to bringing legislation to the Senate floor. The negotiated reauthorization bill could be brought to the Senate floor this week, but it could occur sometime after the Memorial Day recess.
NSC applauds House and Senate leaders for making the reauthorization of WIA a priority in this Congress. The nation’s primary job training program for adults and youth has been vulnerable to funding cuts due to delayed reauthorization. National stakeholders have been invited to a briefing this afternoon and NSC will keep you updated as we learn more details. In addition, NSC will share its analysis of the bill in the coming week and the extent to which the legislation addresses long-standing priorities for which NSC and its members have advocated over the last decade.
For more information:
A one-page summary of the legislation can be found HERE.
The statement of managers, including a section-by-section summary of the legislation, can be found HERE.
A summary of key improvements WIOA makes to current workforce development programs can be found HERE.
The text of the bipartisan, bicameral agreement can be found HERE.
The Senate HELP Committee press release can be found HERE.
The House Education & the Workforce Committee press release can be found HERE.
Politico’s coverage of the legislation can be found HERE.
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