Key Takeaways:
- WIOA, the nation’s primary workforce development program, was not reauthorized when congress passed the stopgap funding bill.
- Community colleges, workforce boards and state officials have expressed concern over the fate of workforce training programs.
- It’s unclear whether the 119th Congress will reconsider funding WIOA in 2025.
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the nation’s primary workforce development program, was not including in the final version of stopgap legislation to fund the federal government, sparking concern among advocates about the fate of critical training initiatives.
“This leaves our nation’s public workforce system once again at a crossroads as workforce development boards look ahead to the future,” said the National Association of Workforce boards in a statement.
WIOA was last updated and authorized in 2014.
An earlier version of the stopgap measure — or continuing resolution — included funding for A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), which would have reauthorized WIOA through 2030. Ultimately, Congress sent a stripped down version of the bill to President Biden’s desk, narrowly averting a government shutdown, as reported by The Hill. The legislation will fund the U.S. government through mid-March 2025.
Among the stakeholders who were advocating for WIOA’s reauthorization were community colleges, which are critical to the nation’s workforce training.
“Specifically, through the Strengthening Community College Training Grants (SCCTG) program, community colleges can develop and grow workforce training programs and partnerships to align education with the needs of the local job market,” says American Association of Community Colleges President and CEO Walter G. Bumphus. “Considering that community colleges serve more than 10 million students annually and forty percent of them are enrolled in career and technical education programs, allocating resources for these programs is an investment in the American workforce.”
It’s unclear whether there will be enough advocates in the 119th Congress for funding workforce training in 2025. As The New York Times has reported, the incoming Donald Trump administration was instrumental in tanking a more robust version of the continuing resolution, which included funding for WIOA, and they are eager to eliminate support for programs they deem unnecessary.
But unlike so many budget items that fall along partisan lines, workforce training has long enjoyed bipartisan support, as Inside Higher Ed explored in October. State lawmakers need workforce training programs to adapt to industry shifts, contributing to a nimbler and more competitive national workforce. The nonpartisan National League of Cities called reauthorization of WIOA a critical priority at the end of 2024.
If the Trump administration wants to gut the workforce training programs that are viewed as relative successes, it may face opposition from political foes and friends.