Stronger Workforce for America Act

WIOA Reauthorization

Update on A Stronger Workforce for America Act, H.R. 6655

Over the past decade Oregon’s federal funding has been reduced by 50%.

Positive Provisions in Stronger

Workforce for America Act

  • Creates stable and flexible funding to help local workforce boards meet the needs of local businesses and job seekers
    • Provides a more stable state funding mechanism for one-stop center operating costs (infrastructure funding agreements), a difficult process to negotiate at the local level
    • Creates a mandatory funding source, H-1B Visa fees, to fund Individual Training Accounts (ITA) for Dislocated workers, which accounts for $250 million annually distributed directly to local workforce boards via formula
    • Increases the cap on incumbent worker training dollars, increasing the competitiveness of the employee or employer
  • Recognizes the need for localized processes and procurement
    • Removes required one stop operator procurement provision and allows local governments to serve as one stop operator through agreement with Governor
    • Increases flexibility for local workforce boards to operate one stops via affiliate sites
    • Maintains 100% transferability between Adult and Dislocated Worker accounts
  • Supports stronger and more responsive youth programs
    • Provides flexibility on out of school youth definition and priority of service, and renames Out of School Youth becomes ‘Opportunity Youth’
    • Reduces Opportunity Youth required percentage to 65% from 75% (many states had challenge meeting current 75% out of school youth requirement)

Areas of Concern – Impact to Local

Decision-making and Solutions

  • The 50% training requirement for Adult and Dislocated Worker funds does not recognize the other support job seekers need
    • Creates a federal, one size fits all, mandate for local workforce boards to spend at least 50% of their funds on training (narrowly defined, mainly to tuition) and does not allow local workforce boards to adjust to local conditions
    • Will lead to reduction in other critical services delivered to job seekers and employers that help job seekers with high barriers to employment enroll in and complete training
  • Increases the Governor’s Reserve for ‘Critical Industries Fund’, reducing local investments
    • Further reduces local resources available to deliver the very training services newly mandated by the bill
    • The proposed Critical Industry Skills Fund will increase the state set-aside from the existing 15% Governor’s Reserve to 25% across WIOA Title I ADW and Youth funding streams. This new 25% would be in addition to the 25% allowed state set-aside from the Dislocated Worker funds for Rapid Response state activities.
  • Redesignation of established local board regions disregards local autonomy, flexibility and innovation that best meet community needs
    • This language creates an opportunity for Governors to adversely impact the geography of all local workforce development areas in a state, even if a majority of local workforce development boards (LWDBs) in the state disagree with the proposal
    • Potentially eliminates the voice of local job seekers and employers, leading to an option of reducing local workforce areas into single state-wide areas

How to Communicate the Impact of this Mandate

Two ways to communicate the substantive negative impact that the 50% spending mandate for Title 1 Adult and Dislocated Workers funds will have on local workforce boards ability to effectively serve its community.

This one-pager provides the key headlines in a shareable format, highlighting the negative impacts on business services, job seekers and the boards’ ability to support the community.

This longer narrative explains how the impacts were derived, including models that you can replicate with your own board or state data.