The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hosted a hearing on June 12, 2024, titled “The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Supporting Efforts to Meet the Needs of Youth, Workers, and Employers” to discuss the reauthorization of The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
The opening statement provided by Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) highlighted the effects that WIOA has on the working population and the ways that it impacts youth by providing valuable training either during secondary school or post-secondary. Chair Sanders also brought to light bringing community college credits to prisoners to bring down recidivism rates. Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) stated that WIOA has not been reauthorized since 2020 and provided three improvements that he would like to see, which included directing more funding to training, improving the eligible trainer provider list, allowing states flexibility to implement innovative workforce development models.
There were five panelists from different backgrounds dealing with WIOA. Taylor White, M.Ed., works for the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeships and Postsecondary Pathways (PAYA); David Bradley, Ph.D., works with Jobs for the Future; Monty Sullivan, Ph.D., works for Louisiana Community and Technical College System; Lisa Bly-Jones, Ph.D., works for the Chicago Jobs Council (CJC); and Mathew Dickerson, a business development and strategy officer at Mid-South Extrusion all gave testimonies and suggestions on the ways that they felt it is best to improve WIOA.
The hearing included suggestions to fund community colleges through workforce Pell Grants and supporting people who return to school. Another suggestion was to set aside WIOA funding for more high schools, allowing for trades training to start while students are getting their high school education and providing early exposure to more students, especially in larger cities. The panelist said that WIOA helps bring people back into the education system, usually those who are left behind or voluntarily disengage because they are not interested in college or high school education. Another suggestion is to help more employers gain apprentices by making the paperwork more manageable to navigate or investing in more administration to help ease the process.
The panel also noted struggles that come along with WIOA training, such as hiring instructors who are good at their trade and teaching, the pay cut that instructors take, and that most people don’t have time to pick up another skill once they have transitioned to the workforce or cannot afford to go back to school full-time.
By Kylie Schmerbach, Policy Intern
