More Job Training Is Essential in Revamping America’s Workforce
Cheryl Oldham
April 5, 2024
Included in the legislation being considered to reauthorize WIOA is a meaningful update that at least half of the dollars fund skills training and work-based learning opportunities.
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider A Stronger Workforce for America Act (H.R. 6655), bipartisan legislation developed by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5) and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), to reauthorize and revamp the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or “WIOA” (P.L. 113-128).
Why it matters: WIOA is the main source of federal funding for states and local communities to provide job training opportunities to youth, dislocated workers, and adults.
H.R. 6655 includes many positive reforms to a system that needs significant improvement, including increased accountability for results, a focus on promoting skill-based hiring and re-directing H1-B user fees to support individual training accounts for dislocated workers.
One of the most meaningful updates is the legislation’s requirement that at least half of the dollars fund skills training and work-based learning opportunities.
