House Passes Bonamici Plan to Improve Youth Job Opportunities

WASHINGTON, DC [4/11/24] – This week the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan update to a workforce development law that includes provisions led by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) to improve job opportunities for youth.

The bipartisan A Stronger Workforce for America Act (H.R. 6655) makes critical updates to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that will increase access to skills development, strengthen connections between employers and the workforce system, and put more Americans on the pathway to a successful career. It includes provisions from Bonamici’s ACCESS Act, which she co-led with Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) to improve career counseling programs for youth that will help them access the skills they need for in-demand jobs.

“Increasing opportunities for workers of all ages to learn in-demand skills will open doors to good jobs and strengthen our economy,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “I’m grateful that this update to federal workforce development programs includes policies I crafted to help youth access the job skills they need, putting them on a path to long-term success.”

Bonamici’s remarks on the A Stronger Workforce for America Act from the Education and Workforce Committee’s markup of the legislation can be viewed here.

The A Stronger Workforce for America Act will:

• • Upgrade the skills of the American workforce by dedicating 50 percent of the adult and dislocated worker funding toward upskilling workers.
  • Create an emphasis on employer-led initiatives that equip workers with the skill sets to fill jobs in critical industries and help the currently employed workforce upskill to avoid displacement and advance their careers.
  • Allow workers displaced from their jobs through no fault of their own to access robust skill development services, including through “individual training accounts.”
  • Increase accountability, quality, and efficiency by streamlining the “eligible training provider list” to ensure programs are aligned with the skill and hiring demands and fully implementing the performance accountability system to hold states and local workforce boards accountable for achieving positive outcomes for program participants.
  • Strengthen pathways to continue economic opportunity by emphasizing work-based learning for youth, codifying a program to help individuals released from incarceration transition back to employment, and enhancing workforce education programs at community colleges that align with in-demand jobs.
  • Fuel innovation for a skills-based economy by creating a demonstration authority for targeted state and local boards to reimagine their workforce systems and providing technical assistance to employers on implementing skills-based hiring practices.

To read the bill text for A Stronger Workforce for America Act, click here.

To read a summary of A Stronger Workforce for America Act, click here.

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