House passes WIOA bill
The House on Tuesday passed a bill to reauthorize the nation’s main workforce development law mostly along party lines, 220 to 196. But the future of H.R. 7309, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022, is uncertain as lawmakers wait for the Senate to move on its own legislation.
Education and Labor Committee Chair Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) said that the bill would replenish underinvestment in workforce development at a critical juncture in the U.S. economy.
“By investing approximately $80 billion over six years, this legislation would more than double the number of people receiving training services in fiscal year 2023, and allow us to train one million workers per year by 2028,” Scott said on the House floor.
He also highlighted several parts of bill, including the codification of the Strengthening Community College Training Grants Program.
Republicans, meanwhile, countered that the legislation would increase bureaucracy and administrative burdens without any true reforms to the nation’s workforce development system.
