Congress will return to Washington on November 12 for its post-election “lame-duck” session. Several “must-dos” are on its agenda, including fiscal year 2025 funding and the National Defense Authorization Act, but the lame-duck session also offers the opportunity to enact other legislation.
The community college priority with the best chance of being enacted in the lame-duck session is reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). A reauthorization bill would refine the program and provide it with a stable foundation for future funding.
House and Senate committee staff members have reportedly been meeting daily to negotiate a final bill derived from the House’s A Stronger Workforce for America Act, (H.R. 6655) and draft legislation released by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee earlier this year. Both bills have bipartisan support, with the House bill passing that chamber overwhelmingly. However, despite the ongoing talks and the fact that the bills share a fair amount in common, there are some sticking points that threaten to derail a compromise package, notably a disagreement over “blacklist” provisions in the Senate bill that bar corporations with labor law violations from participating in the workforce programs.
AACC’s focus areas
Advocacy on the legislation by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has focused on including two provisions, each of which is in only one of the underlying bills. The first is authorizing the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG) program, which is included in the House legislation. SCCTG is a U.S. Department of Labor competitive grant program to expand and improve training programs at community colleges working with businesses and other partners. While the program has been funded for several years (currently at $65 million), it is a creature of the appropriations process and does not have a permanent authorization, which is important to the program’s long-term growth and stability. AACC supports the authorization provisions in the House bill.
Related article: Senate hearing focuses on improving WIOA
The Senate bill would automatically include community college programs on the WIOA system’s Eligible Trainer Provider List (ETPL), from which WIOA participants choose the programs where they use their Individual Training Accounts. AACC has long advocated for this change, arguing that community college programs are already vetted by several different entities and that WIOA reporting requirements are discouraging colleges from putting more programs on the ETPL.
Automatic inclusion, therefore, will mean more community college programs on the ETPL and greater choice for WIOA participants. While the House bill does not have automatic inclusion for all community college programs, it does take a half-step in this direction by automatically including Workforce Pell programs — if and when that program is enacted.
Contact your reps
Now is the time for all community college leaders to contact their members of Congress and urge them to support these priorities, especially for those who have representatives on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and/or the Senate HELP Committee.
AACC has prepared a one-pager to assist college leaders in this advocacy. We thank you for your efforts on behalf of our institutions and students.
