Deal Struck to Modernize, Reauthorize Federal Workforce Programs

Earlier this week, Congressional negotiators unveiled long-overdue bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would reauthorize and update federal job training programs. Known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the measure represents a compromise between the SKILLS Act (H.R. 803), which passed the House of Representatives in March 2013 with bipartisan support, and the Workforce Investment Act of 2013 (S. 1356), which passed through the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee with a bipartisan vote in July 2013. The negotiated bill, which contains the Rehabilitation Act and moves Independent Living Programs to the Administration for Community Living, appears to have a clear track to final passage next month.   

To view the full text of the bill, please click here.
To view a one-page summary of the legislation, please click here.
To view the Manager's Statement, which includes a section-by-section summary of the legislation, please click here.
To view a summary of key improvements WIOA makes to current workforce development programs, please click here.