JFF Supports WIOA Consideration, Urges Continued Refinement

Jobs for the Future supports House consideration this week of H.R. 6655, “A Stronger Workforce for America Act.” The expected floor vote would represent an important step in updating the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). However, we urge further refinement of the bill as it moves through the legislative process, with particular attention to including robust resources to fully fund existing authorized activities and expanded activities in the bill. Above all, the reauthorization of WIOA should significantly improve and expand the delivery of high-quality services to learners and workers through the nation’s workforce development system. To do this, Congress must authorize sufficient resources for the workforce system to fulfill its statutory obligations.  

JFF commends U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member, for their unwavering commitment to advancing this bipartisan legislation. We are encouraged that the bill acknowledges and tackles crucial priorities for enhancing the workforce development system: broadening access to skills training; focusing on program quality and participant outcomes; and bolstering the system’s responsiveness to evolving employer and labor market demand.  

In particular, we are pleased that the bill:  

• Increases emphasis on skills development, skills-based hiring, and sector-based strategies 
• Creates new, mandatory job training grants, though limited to dislocated workers 
• Provides flexibility in the delivery of services through the nation’s one-stop delivery system, such as encouraging the use of virtual services and affiliated sites 

• Makes improvements to the Eligible Training Provider List and the overall quality of training 
• Codifies the Reentry Employment Opportunities program, the Workforce Data Quality Initiative, and the Strengthening Community Colleges Workforce Development Grants program 
• Strengthens the workforce data ecosystem by promoting the use of real-time labor market information, facilitating access to wage records data, and promoting data transparency via the use of linked, open, and interoperable data formats  

However, we believe the legislation should do more to modernize and transform the workforce system in these areas:  

• H.R. 6655’s authorization levels do not provide adequate funding for the nation’s workforce development system, especially given the new and expanded activities encouraged in the bill itself and the decline in real funding levels in the past two decades. 
• The bill requires local boards to spend 50% of WIOA funding on training. Without additional funding, this requirement will cut into critical career services, career navigation, worker supports, and business services, particularly if the current definition of training is retained. This will inadvertently reduce the ability of workforce development boards to respond effectively to local needs. 
• Without additional funding, the proposed expansion of incumbent worker training under H.R. 6655, which will increase work-based learning, could reduce services for individuals with barriers to employment—especially adults with low incomes and long-term unemployment, who are not covered by the new mandatory job training grants.  
• The bill maintains priority of service for individuals facing barriers to employment, but does not adequately support such efforts or delineate strategies to serve them well and close equity gaps in participant outcomes. 
• The bill lacks focus on job quality, which could be rectified in part through new planning, employer services, and data reporting requirements.

JFF looks forward to continued collaboration with the House and the Senate on this critical reauthorization.