The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee recently released a draft for reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Though it improves upon the House’s version from last year, further adjustments are needed to meet the needs of workers and businesses.
WIOA governs workforce programs for adults, dislocated workers, youth, adult education, Wagner-Peyser, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation. You can read a refresher on WIOA here.
Last year, the House introduced the A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), a significant step in reauthorizing WIOA. In our analysis, NSC noted the bill’s improvements and shortcomings. Despite broad bipartisan support, and the bill’s passage in April, ASWA does not fully align with our network’s priorities for an inclusive economy.
As negotiations moved to the Senate. NSC and our network partners worked to influence the legislation to better reflect workforce stakeholders’ needs, through Summit advocacy and giving testimony at the recent Senate hearing.
Congress has made considerable progress towards reauthorizing WIOA with passage of a bipartisan WIOA reauthorization bill in the House and a bipartisan discussion draft in the Senate. Given increasing polarization in both Chambers, in part due to the upcoming elections, progress of this magnitude is impressive. It indicates that both liberal and conservative members of Congress grasp the importance in advancing workforce policy this Congress.
NSC looks forward to engaging with both Chambers as the negotiations continue to improve upon the legislation released by the leadership of the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
NSC’s is using our 2023 WIOA reauthorization recommendations as a lens to analyze the bill. Those policy recommendations prioritized criteria from in-depth listening sessions with a wide range of partners. These policies aim to transform WIOA from an underfunded system to one that is adequately resourced to deliver high-quality skills training, support working people, help small businesses, and advance racial equity.
Here’s what we are looking for in the bill:
Advocates want WIOA to:
The Senate bill punts on the question of investments, instead authorizing the amounts deemed necessary by appropriators. It allows governors to set aside a greater portion of their state allocation than current law, without requiring the use of industry or sector partnerships. And while it contains digital skills definition updates, there is still more work to be done to get workers and businesses the skills they need.
Robust investments in WIOA and other workforce programs are urgently needed. Current funds are insufficient to meet workforce training needs or support effective strategies like industry sector partnerships, career supports, and supportive services.
Recent polling shows 82% of voters support increasing government funding for skills training in America, but Congress has not provided the necessary investment. Since 2015, WIOA funding has not kept pace with inflation and population growth. Were it adjusted for inflation, WIOA would be funded at $4.41 billion. Yet, the 2024 level falls $400 million short. This shortfall, compounded by over 20 years of underfunding, leaves the system unable to meet demand.
ASWA sets proposed WIOA workforce program funding levels slightly above 2020 levels, effectively a cut when considering inflation. The Senate bill sets authorizations at “such sums as necessary” through FY2029, serving as a placeholder for future negotiations rather than a strong legislative proposal. Neither approach demonstrates a strong commitment to federal workforce programs from the respective chambers.
One major difference between the two bills is that the Senate bill removes the requirement for 50% of local funds to be spent on training. Without additional resources, this proposal would spread existing funding too thinly. Yet, even without this proposal, both bills lack sufficient funding to meet demand, shuffling funding at the expense of other programs.
This is particularly concerning as it’s coupled with House appropriations negotiations that propose to further erode investments in skills programs. The House Appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health, and Human Services sets funding $3 billion below FY24 levels, including cuts like:
This lack of investment makes it crucial to pass short-term Pell legislation alongside WIOA reauthorization, enabling workers to use Pell Grants for short-term, high-quality training programs. With WIOA funds insufficient to meet training demand, and strong bipartisan support in the Senate, short-term Pell legislation should be included with WIOA reauthorization.
NSC recommends creating Skills Training Grant Accounts providing up to $10,000 based on income eligibility to cover training tuition, fees, and supportive services like equipment, supplies, exam costs, childcare, and transportation.
ASWA would provide for Individual Training Accounts (ITA) offering at least $5,000 for dislocated workers using H1B funds, but the program is limited and would take funds from existing workforce activities. Diverting money from locals to create new programs doesn’t help the system overall.
The Senate bill expands on House ITAs by creating supplemental ITAs for a broader range of people, including adults, dislocated workers, and youth. However, it limits spending to $5,000 for training costs alone, and excludes career services, transportation, childcare, and other supportive services which are crucial to worker success. Like the House bill, it also uses H1B funds, with $65M set aside for a new Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program, but funds are still being diverted from existing activities instead of creating new funding sources.
Like ASWA, the Senate bill lacks dedicated funding for industry or sector partnerships. Instead, it proposes funding them by increasing the state reserve share. The discussion draft also includes provisions that create a parallel governor reserve focused on individual employers, rather than industry partnerships. The critical industry skills reserve from ASWA, which focused on incumbent workers in in-demand industries, is not in the Senate version.
Overall, both the House and Senate bills fall short on supporting the critical role these partnerships play in supporting workers and businesses.
The Senate bill updates references to digital skills much like ASWA. These updates are an important first step.
The Senate can do more by including and passing Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce. NSC has recommended that WIOA reauthorization fund and reflect our nation’s new digital reality through new Digital Skills at Work grants that would support upskilling and reskilling opportunities for workers to gain key digital skills; a proposal that has bipartisan and bicameral support in Congress. NSC also recommended that WIOA support Integrated Education and Training (IET) models that teach literacy, numeracy, digital skills, and English language skills in the context of training for a specific occupation.
ASWA and the Senate version updates key WIOA definitions that ensure digital skills are better integrated throughout the legislation.
