TL/DR: WIOA reauthorization is back on the legislative agenda, but this version departs from the 2024 bipartisan compromise in ways that make passage unlikely. Instead of a long overdue strengthening, it means cuts, consolidation, and changes that undermine support for workers and employers.
Republicans on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce are moving forward with a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) modeled on bipartisan legislation from the last Congress. In 2024, a broadly bipartisan version of A Stronger Workforce for America (ASWA) was included in an end of the year spending package, but last-minute objections unrelated to the bill resulted in ASWA being stripped from the package.
While there have been conversations about reviving negotiations around ASWA, the political situation has changed since 2024, and a bipartisan effort is no longer on the table. The newest version of ASWA keeps much of the previous version intact including preserving the overall structure of the workforce system, retaining minimum training requirements, creating new governor set-aside programs targeted toward businesses, updating requirements around the ETPL among others updates which we dive into below.
At the same time, Republicans are leveraging their majority in both chambers to make significant changes including codifying efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and permanently move its programs to the Department of Labor, a non-starter for Democrats. The previous bill was imperfect but represented a meaningful step toward modernizing the workforce system through bipartisan collaboration and compromise. The latest version walks back that progress.
The most recent version of ASWA uses the previous bill as its foundation, with most provisions staying generally the same between the two. Here’s a quick reminder of what’s retained:
Mandated training percentage: The newest version of ASWA maintains a requirement that 50% of funds be used for training, allowing up to 10% of that total to be offset by spending on supportive services. Basic needs like transportation, child care, and nutrition are essential to allowing people to succeed in training programs, and the offset acknowledges the value of these supports. As we noted in our analysis of previous versions of ASWA, without additional funding, the 50% training requirement could reduce resources for the other services that the workforce system provides.
Two programs focused on industry partnerships are funded through governor set-asides: The legislation maintains the Critical Industry Skills Fund, which reimburses employers and sector partnerships that upskill workers in priority industries, and the Industry Sector Partnership and Career Pathways Development Fund, which supports establishing and expanding industry partnerships. Industry and sector partnerships are critical to aligning workforce development with actual employer needs. While these efforts are a welcome addition, the bill does not provide new funding to support them. Without it, funding decisions are left up to each state governor, reducing funding available for local areas and other workforce priorities.
Resisting proposed cuts: Notably, even as the President’s budget request would eliminate certain workforce programs like Job Corps and Adult Education, both programs are retained in the proposal. Programs that would have been subsumed under the administration’s Make America Skilled Again (MASA) block grant proposal including Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant Program which connects community colleges with industry partnerships to develop career pathways and the Reentry Employment Opportunities Program which supports training and education for justice-impacted individuals are also codified. These programs have long been critical in providing education and skills training to people with barriers to employment, and their retention signals their importance as well as a potential split between the Congressional Republicans’ approach and the Trump Administration’s priorities.
Opportunity Youth: The reauthorization codifies the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program, a welcome commitment to supporting pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities for young people ages 16-24, disconnected from school, and facing barriers to employment. The program prioritizes areas with workforce shortages in specific industries, and communities with median household incomes near the poverty line. Expanding access to apprenticeship for Opportunity Youth is a targeted and effective way to connect young people with the in-demand skills employers are seeking.
Dislocated Worker Training Accounts The proposal retains funding for Dislocated Worker Training Accounts with a minimum of $5,000 per worker for training services. Reliable, dedicated workforce funding is important for sustaining the workforce system. Yet, as we noted with the previous version of ASWA, this provision’s funding mechanism, H1-B Visa fees, already serve as a flexible source for innovative workforce development initiatives so it effectively redirects existing resources rather than adding new ones which are sorely needed.
The changes to the eligible training provider list requirement are also retained. Under this provision, governors set performance levels for training providers to receive WIOA dollars based on outcomes like credential attainment, job placement, and earning levels compared to pro. m cost. The Workforce Innovation Leader (WIL) designation which recognizes providers if they exceed by specific metrics the performance standards required for standard ETPL eligibility is similarly retained.
Workforce Pell Connection: Although much of the ETPL section remains the same as noted above, there is an important addition. With the passage of Workforce Pell, this version automatically recognizes Workforce Pell eligible programs as eligible training providers, similar to how Registered Apprenticeship Programs are treated. This alignment is particularly important as Workforce Pell launches this summer, connecting it with WIOA and expanding access to training and funding for participants.
Consolidation of Department of Education: One of the most notable changes in the legislation is also one of the biggest sticking points for Democrats. The Trump Administration is working to shutter the Department of Education and has already moved the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) through interagency agreements – a move that Democrats in Congress broadly oppose. While Labor and Education should work in close coordination, moving OCTAE and other programs out of the Department of Education risks losing specialized expertise, technical assistance, and targeted grantmaking experience creating inefficiencies in an already underfunded system that harms those who depend on these programs. Consequently, these changes erode the bipartisan support the bill needs to pass, making meaningful modernization of WIOA less likely and moving better outcomes for workers and employers further out of reach.
Reduction in funding: While ASWA is an authorizing bill and does not set appropriations, authorization levels do signal Congress’s priorities and commitment to workforce programs. This version of ASWA reduces authorizations for nearly every program compared to the 2024 bill, and in some instances, drops below WIOA authorization levels from FY2020. And, while WIOA included annual increases, ASWA holds authorizations flat through 2032.
| Program | ASWA 2024 | ASWA 2026 | Difference |
| WIOA Youth | $976,573,900 | $948,130,000 | -2.91% |
| WIOA Adult | $912,218,500 | $875,649,000 | -4.01% |
| WIOA DW | $1,391,483,193 | $1,331,412,000 | -4.32% |
| Job Corps | $1,760,155,000 | $1,760,155,000 | 0.00% |
| YouthBuild | $108,150,000 | $105,000,000 | -2.91% |
| Native American Programs | $61,800,000 | $62,500,000 | 1.13% |
| Migrant and Seasonal Worker | $100,317,900 | $97,393,000 | -2.92% |
| Reentry Employment Opportunities | $115,000,000 | $110,000,000 | -4.35% |
| Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants | $65,000,000 | $65,000,000 | 0.00% |
| Adult Education | $751,042,000 | $729,167,000 | -2.91% |
For decades, the workforce system has been underfunded, forcing states and local areas to do more with less. Demand will only increase as workers seek to train, retrain, and upskill throughout their careers, particularly as automation and AI transform jobs and the economy, changes to SNAP and Medicaid push more workers toward workforce programs, and employers look to upskill their workforce. This bill does not make the funding commitments necessary to support existing demand, let alone support the new programs and requirements it would enact.
Consolidation of workforce programs into a block grant: One particularly concerning change is the expansion of a pilot program that would allow states to consolidate WIOA funding as a block grant. This version doubles the number of allowable pilots from five to ten and removes prior limitations related to labor participation rates and state populations. The program has also been renamed after the administration’s budget proposal that would consolidate 11 workforce programs into a single state block grant, Make America Skilled Again (MASA).
While the pilot itself does not reduce overall funding, block granting has historically preceded funding cuts, and inequities in how dollars are spread among communities. That concern is validated by the administration’s FY27 MASA proposal, which would cut $1.23 billion from the combined funding of the programs that are eliminated. Proponents of the pilot suggest that the approach will streamline participant access and spur innovation in the workforce system – both goals that resonate with NSC’s network. But this program comes with real concerns of shifting decision making away from local areas who are best positioned to understand and respond to local needs and lays the groundwork for the kinds of reductions already included in the pilot’s namesake.
Changes to career matching services: The legislation removes language about an optional, publicly available credential navigation tool that would allow people to navigate and compare credentials and the state’s eligible training provider list, replacing it with a Talent Marketplace. While the goals of the credential navigation tool and the talent marketplace appear to be similar, the Talent Marketplace would allow the creation of both public and privately owned platforms that match individuals with training and job information. The legislation also makes the talent marketplace one of the ways certain employment service funds can be used. This is a change worth noting particularly for organizations that focus on training provider list transparency and credential information.
Terminology Rollbacks and Additions: The bill walks back modern, inclusive language from the bipartisan version. “Opportunity Youth” reverts to “Out of School Youth,” “Justice-Involved Individual” reverts to “Offender,” and “Youth Experiencing Homelessness” reverts to “Homeless Youth.” While these may appear to be minor changes, these are the terms that our network partners are increasingly utilizing and empowering language can impact how and if people engage with these programs.
The bill does take a meaningful step in explicitly naming digital literacy and AI literacy Skills as allowable uses of funds. With nearly all jobs requiring digital skills and AI increasing in importance in the current and future landscape of work, A more impactful step to expand on these changes would have been inclusion of grant programs or initiatives that help workers develop digital and AI literacy skills.
The economic landscape has changed dramatically since 2014 when WIOA was last reauthorized. Reauthorization is an opportunity to modernize the workforce system, provide stability for programs that have been vulnerable to shifting administration priorities, and signal the importance of workforce investments.
Ultimately, getting WIOA reauthorization across the finish line, will require bipartisan support to overcome the Senate’s filibuster. As it stands, this version of the legislation doesn’t have the support needed.
NSC and our network will continue to work with Congress and the administration to deliver a WIOA bill that not only sustains existing programs but modernizes the workforce system, invests in workers, and supports businesses to truly meet the demands of today’s economy.
