Press Releases

Employers are struggling to find workers with the skills necessary to fill nearly nine million open jobs in the country. Job seekers are struggling to gain the skills necessary for success. That mismatch is hurting America’s economic competitiveness. In order to address these challenges and ensure qualified workers can access good-paying jobs, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) needs immediate reform.  
 
Education and the Workforce Committee leaders Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) have a solution. Today, the House will vote on H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. The bipartisan legislation makes critical updates to WIOA that expand the amount of skills development provided under the law, strengthens the relationships between employers and the workforce system, and puts more Americans on the pathway to successful careers. 
 
Here's what they are saying about H.R. 6655,  A Stronger Workforce for America Act: 
“Employers continue to cite a shortage of skilled workers as one of their biggest needs—and our higher education system is doing a poor job of meeting that need. The Stronger Workforce for America Act is a big part of the solution, as it reforms and reauthorizes the Nation’s largest workforce development program to make it more flexible and less bureaucratic. This legislation would empower employers, governors and local leaders to find needed workers and equip them with the necessary skills to fill in-demand jobs right in their own communities. It particularly emphasizes finding new opportunities for workers who have watched their jobs disappear due to changing economic conditions and ensures that the modern economy does not leave them behind.” — Linda McMahon, Center for the American Worker at the America First Policy Institute 
 
“H.R. 6655 is a blueprint for a more dynamic workforce where the private sector and education providers rather than government are empowered to meet the needs of America’s workers and employers. We urge you to support this bill, recognizing its potential to significantly contribute to a stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous America.”— Brent Gardner, Americans for Prosperity 
 
“The public workforce development system is not keeping up with the economy. The system is inefficient, ineffective and too cumbersome to use at scale… A Stronger Workforce for America Act would help address these shortcomings. For example, it would dedicate no less than 50% of WIOA adult and dislocated worker funding toward upskilling workers through individual training accounts, on-the-job learning and other industry-led training.” — Scott Kirby, Business Roundtable

“Walmart strongly supports the passage of, H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. This legislation would amend current workforce development law to further skills development for in-demand industries and encourage non-traditional pathways to good paying jobs – both of which align with Walmart’s commitment to providing millions of Americans with opportunity.” — Bruce C. Harris, Walmart 
 
 “Since WIOA’s bipartisan reauthorization in 2014, the construction industry has faced new challenges and a workforce shortage that has left many contractors throughout the country in desperate need of qualified, skilled craft professionals. To ensure the workforce is equipped to meet industry demand, ABC is committed to pursuing policies and legislation like H.R. 6655 that address these unique challenges.” — Kristen Swearingen, Associated Builders and Contractors 
 
“Millions of Americans will need upgraded skills to keep pace with industry needs and workers and jobseekers want to know the time they spend on learning a new skill will lead to a strong economic return. H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act re-envisions a workforce development system that strengthens the employer role and improves access to high-quality education providers and programs.” — Cengage Group
 
“Some critical updates to WIOA included in H.R. 6655 would support employer-led and on-the job workforce upskilling programs and opportunities; include more dollars for tangible worker programs; ensure programs are aligned with in-demand jobs for better workforce opportunities; allow for better evaluation of program success; and improve efficiency and effectiveness of workforce programs. Autos Drive America appreciates these bipartisan, commonsense solutions to improving the pathway to career-track jobs and urges the House to vote in favor of this important legislation.” — Jennifer M. Safavian, Autos Drive America 
 
“We applaud the improvements in H.R. 6655 that will make WIOA more efficient. By requiring a higher percentage of funds to be used on education instead of other expenses, WIOA will better serve our workforce. Expanding opportunities for incumbent workers will benefit those who have proven themselves in a job but are looking for career advancement.”— Ed Gilroy, American Trucking Associations

 “The Manufacturing Institute strongly supports H.R. 6655 and its essential updates to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. This legislation modernizes WIOA to meet the needs of today’s manufacturing by expanding both the amount and options for skills development provided under the law and most critically, strengthening connections between employers and the workforce system to ensure that skills development is connected to regional needs.” — Carolyn Lee, The Manufacturing Institute
 
“On behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) – representing over 27,000 construction firms in every state – I urge you and your colleagues to vote “YES” on H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act to reauthorize and reform the nation’s public workforce system. H.R. 6655 will improve the workforce development system by increasing opportunities for skills development and strengthen connections between employers and the workforce system.” — James V. Christianson, Associated General Contractors of America
 
“On behalf of America Forward, we write in strong support of the A Stronger Workforce for America Act (H.R. 6655). … We are pleased that H.R. 6655 institutes long-needed, foundational improvements to make our nation’s workforce system work better for many of the participants and programs our Coalition serves.” — Chase Sackett, Karen Quarles, America Forward
 
“A skills-first approach increases opportunities for workers in the U.S. while ensuring critical parts of our economy are staffed. … A Stronger Workforce for America Act is a significant step forward to transform how we prepare the U.S. workforce for the jobs of the future and more efficiently and equitably match talent to opportunity.” — Blake Lawit, LinkedIn 
 
“SHRM strongly supports H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act, which is critical legislation to fortify the workforce development system. The widely bipartisan effort to reauthorize WIOA is a significant stride towards bolstering America's global competitiveness. Strategic investments in inclusive talent pipelines and aligning education and development programs with industry demands, H.R. 6655 promises to mutually benefit businesses and workers, and we urge its swift passage.” — Emily M. Dickens, Society for Human Resources Management 
 
“We commend the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for favorably reporting [A Stronger Workforce for America Act] on December 12, 2023, and urge you to vote YES on the House floor. America’s learners, workers, and employers deserve a workforce system that keeps pace with technological advancements demanded in the workplace and is accountable, flexible, and innovative in its delivery of high-quality learning.” — The Skills First Coalition

“IBM believes the talent gap is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today and we are taking bold action to help close it through our social impact education programs. In our experience leading skills development programs, we know that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. That’s why we’re thrilled that today A Stronger Workforce for America Act is advancing out of the House. This bill would modernize our public workforce system and dedicate funds to quality, in-demand skills programs that help more Americans enter the workforce and advance careers which will continue to be shaped by the rapid adoption of AI.”  — Lydia Logan, IBM
 
We are writing to share the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA)’s support for H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. … H.R. 6655 contains many provisions that establish a strong foundation for the nation’s workforce development system. These provisions allow state leaders to innovate their workforce development programs to meet the needs of all workforce development stakeholders, provide additional support to dislocated workers seeking to develop their skills and connect to high-quality jobs, and authorize stable funding that will better position WIOA to support jobseekers aiming to enter high-demand fields like the trucking industry.” — Danny Bradford, Andrew Poliakoff, Commercial Vehicle Training Association 
 
“The Chamber supports ‘A Stronger Workforce for America Act’. .. the Chamber is pleased this legislation would take meaningful steps to lay a foundation for a workforce development system that effectively serves both workers and employers and is better able to support economic growth and competitiveness.” — Neil L. Bradley, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
 
“NRCA strongly supports H.R. 6655 because it contains reforms that will streamline the current bureaucracy and provide more flexibility within the WIOA system to improve accessibility for roofing industry employers, especially small businesses. This legislation will provide better functioning state and local workforce boards to spur innovation and enable programs to respond more effectively to regional workforce shortages to help close the skills gap.” — McKay Daniels, National Roofing Contractors Association 
 
“Through A Stronger Workforce For America Act, STI/SPFA applauds the legislation’s efforts to address this growing skills gap by: prioritizing employer-led initiatives to provide workers with skill sets to fill jobs in critical industries, emphasiz[ing] the importance of work-based learning programs for youth, [and] strengthen[ing] workforce education programs at community colleges to align with in-demand jobs.” — Tim O’Toole, Steel Tank Institute/Steel Plate Fabricators Association
 
“AARP, which advocates for the more than 100 million Americans age 50 and older, writes in support of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. This bipartisan legislation modernizes the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs to better align with the current labor market while strengthening accountability to ensure the programs provide adequate job training and career services to help older job seekers.” — Bill Sweeney, AARP 
 
“We write on behalf of the nation’s community colleges and their more than 10 million students to state our support for A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWAA), which we hope will be considered by the full House soon. This bill will help our current and future students better participate in our economy, enabling them to generate family-sustaining wages. We thank the committee for the many hours of work that produced this bipartisan measure.”— Walter G. Bumphus, Jee Hang Lee, Association of Community College Trustees
 
“The American Library Association (ALA) supports House passage of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. We commend Chairwoman Foxx and Ranking Member Scott for their bipartisan leadership in developing this legislation. … We urge Members to vote “yes” on passage of H.R. 6655 and to continue working together to ensure libraries can help more Americans gain the skills to fill in-demand jobs, support their families, and strengthen the economy.” — Alan S. Inouye, American Library Association
 
“Communities in Schools (CIS), a national non-profit network of local affiliates, is pleased to support many of the youth provisions within the bipartisan H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. H.R. 6655 will help keep at-risk students in school and also serve to re-engage opportunity youth by providing them skills to succeed in the workforce and other post-high school opportunities.” — Rey Saldana, Communities in Schools
 
“A Stronger Workforce for America Act updates important provisions in the existing federal workforce program called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Key provisions in the bill will ensure that the program allocates more funding toward workforce skills education and increases business and community participation, which in turn will strengthen the program and lead to improved outcomes for all stakeholders.” — Chris Keuleman, International Paper 
 
“We believe these changes to the public workforce system are a step in the right direction and will serve to help address the electrical contracting industry’s workforce needs more effectively. For these reasons IEC requests your support of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act.” — Jason E. Todd, Independent Electrical Contractors
 
“The legislation is timely as it has been nearly 10 years since the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was enacted, and today’s workforce needs have grown and evolved significantly since that time. H.R. 6655 would help many workers obtain the skills needed for today’s jobs by increasing the cap on ‘incumbent worker training’ funds to allow more of the current workforce to reskill and upskill, directing 50% of funds toward workforce skilling education through Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), on-the-job training, and employer-led initiatives, as well as including digital literacy skills which play a pivotal role in today’s jobs.” — Jason Oxman, Information Technology Industry Council
 
“We write to express our support for passage of HR 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through the US House of Representatives. WIOA is critical for organizations like the members of the Louisiana Opportunity Youth Coalition (LOYC) to help reconnect youth to successful career outcomes. This reauthorization will improve numerous training services, planning, and outcomes for Opportunity Youth.” — Louisiana Opportunity Youth Coalition
 
“This bill, H.R. 6655, represents a crucial step towards aligning our education and workforce systems to meet the demands of our rapidly evolving economy. By providing more flexibility in funding for work-based learning opportunities for in-school students and requiring some internships to be paid, we enhance high school students individual educational and economic prospects and cultivate a skilled talent pipeline that benefits communities and our nation. NAF urges policymakers to continue recognizing the importance of investing in our youth through initiatives in this legislation and we look forwarding to engaging with lawmakers to ensure a brighter future for generations to come.” — Lisa Dughi, NAF
 
“We support the Stronger Workforce for America Act’s goals makes critical improvements to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that will expand the skills development provided under the law, strengthen the relationship between employers and the workforce system, and put more Americans on the pathway to successful careers.” — LaNelle Weems, National Forum of State Nursing and Workforce Centers 
 
“On behalf of Per Scholas, I am writing to express our support for A Stronger Workforce for America Act (H.R. 6655) and urge its swift passage on the House floor. We are thrilled that this bipartisan effort would reinvigorate our national workforce system with improvements that better align workforce development providers, employers, and workforce boards with the needs of America’s workers.” — Plinio Ayala, Per Scholas
 
“H.R. 6655 would make critical improvements to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that would strengthen the relationship between employers and a pipeline of talented workers. It would also expand and improve the quality of skills development provided under the law, allowing more Americans the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to support their families and the economy. … . RAMC urges final passage of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act.” — Monty Sullivan, Rebuilding America’s Middle Class 
 
“I am writing to express support for H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act, a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The bipartisan nature of this legislation is to be commended and recognizes the critical importance of improving the federal workforce development to meet the demands of today’s labor market. … This legislation will encourage educational institutions to better meet their role as talent development entities for all types of learners.” — Michelle Clare, University of Cincinnati 
 
“[A] Stronger Workforce for America Act is the beginning, not the end, of the change that’s needed to create the workforce system our nation needs to remain competitive and provide good jobs for all Americans. But H.R. 6655 is an important start – thoughtfully crafted, subtly innovative and attentive to employer needs. The Jobs and Careers Coalition urges its swift passage and looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to revamp the public workforce system for a changing 21st-century economy.” — Jobs and Careers Coalition