NAWB Joins NLC, USCM, NACO, USWA in Laying Out WIOA Reauthorization Recommendations

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May 7, 2025— This week, NAWB was proud to co-author a letter laying out formal recommendations for congress as they consider reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

The letter – signed by NAWB President & CEO Brad Turner–Little; National League of Cities CEO and Executive Director Clarence Anthony; US Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director, Tom Cochran; National Association of Counties CEO and Executive Director, Matthew Chase; and US Workforce Associations Director, Ryan Hundt – lays out a set of specific recommendations for how Congress can streamline, improve, and strengthen the public workforce system.

“Locally WIOA has been successful in leveraging funds for activities like apprenticeships, summer youth programs, adult and youth career exploration and piloting innovative opportunities for new businesses,” the letter states. “As the network that serves job seekers and small businesses and supports strong local economies, the one stop career system is a stable and critical partner to economic development and is recognized as one of the most impactful and remunerative investments Congress has made, and can continue to make, in the years ahead.”

Read the letter now.

President’s FY26 Budget Proposes Deep Cuts to Workforce Development Programs

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President Trump’s initial FY26 budget, released today, proposed to dramatically reduce non-defense discretionary investments, where workforce development and other domestic program funding is derived, by $1.63 billion or 22.6% overall. The budget proposes to increase defense spending by 13% and further proposes a 65% percent increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This proposal now goes to Capitol Hill to be considered by the Appropriations Committees.

This initial release from the Administration does not include significant details regarding program-level funding, which is expected to be provided at a later date. Nevertheless, the high-level information released today indicates that the President is proposing a $4.6 billion reduction in funding for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)—a 35% cut over currently enacted levels.

Throughout the budget request, a significant amount of program elimination or consolidation has been proposed. As part of these components of the budget, the Administration is proposing to create a new consolidated workforce grant program dubbed “Make America Skilled Again” (MASA) which would combine a number of existing workforce development programs into a single programmatic grant. The budget request indicates that the total amount for these grants would reduce current funding levels overall by $1.64 billion.

Current FY25 funding for workforce development programs under Title I of WIOA is currently $5.67 billion, meaning that MASA likely represents a roughly 29% reduction in the federal investment for a number of workforce development programs under this portion of the budget. The budget request provides the following information and related justification for MASA:

“Consistent with the Administration’s efforts to promote the full range of post-secondary education and training options, the Budget proposes to give States and localities the flexibility to spend workforce dollars to best support their workers and economies, instead of funneling taxpayer dollars to progressive non-profits finding work for illegal immigrants or focusing on DEI. Under the last administration, these grant programs funded things such as: certifying Minnesota employers that were ‘committed to advancing DEI in their workplace cultures and communities’; promoting the hiring of illegal aliens and migrants; sometimes providing them subsidized housing in addition to a job; and green jobs in California. States would now have more control and flexibility to coordinate with employers and would have to spend at least 10 percent of their MASA grant on apprenticeship, a proven model that trains workers while they earn a paycheck and offers a valuable alternative to college.”

In addition, the budget request proposes to completely eliminate Job Corps, the Senior Community Service Employment Program, and Adult Education funding under Title II of WIOA.

A high-level overview of this initial budget request can be found here, while a slightly more detailed version of the request can be accessed here .

NAWB will continue to advocate for the highest possible funding levels and to try to learn more about the proposed consolidation. We encourage our members to contact Congress (per our Policy Alert from earlier this week) to urge them to prioritize funding for workforce development.

U.S. Department of Labor Cancels TEN 21-24 to Implement DEI Executive Order

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February 28, 2025 — Last night, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) issued a notice cancelling the Department of Labor (DOL)/ETA Training and Employment Notice (TEN) 21-24, issued on January 22, to implement President Trump’s Executive Order (EO).

The EO, which was issued on January 20, called for the termination of all “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government.” Federal agencies were directed to terminate programs, positions, grants and contracts related to DEI. The TEN 21-24 was issued to formally implement the EO. It is unclear when or if new guidance will be issued, but NAWB will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted on any developments.

We held listening sessions in late January for its members and provided the results of these sessions to DOL. NAWB members expressed concern and confusion about how their efforts to reach all potential workers – including those hardest to serve – could be affected by the order.

“We are glad to see DOL take swift action to reverse course, given the unintended consequences and widespread confusion caused by the initial executive order,” said Brad Turner-Little, president and CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards. “Our members – workforce boards from across the nation and its territories – look forward to working with the department on our shared goals of strengthening the economy by increasing labor force participation and filling the 7.6 million vacant jobs in America.”

House Committee Holds Hearing on Unleashing America’s Workforce and Strengthening Our Economy, Announces WIOA Hearing for Wednesday, March 5

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February 26, 2025 — This morning, the House Education and Workforce (E&W) Committee held a hearing focused on ways to strengthen the economy through various federal policies. The hearing began with Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) laying out his view that federal regulations imposed on employers have harmed the economy and that deregulation is a key strategy to strengthen it in the future. He also strongly endorsed President Trump’s and Congressional Republicans’ plans to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as an additional way to spur economic growth. In his opening remarks, Ranking member Bobby Scott (D-VA) noted that the House’s recently approved budget resolution—a key procedural step in the wider budget reconciliation process that was passed along party lines late last night—calls for at least $330 billion in funding reductions from the E&W Committee, and that these potential cuts will harm the American workforce.

Several recurrent themes emerged during the hearing, including persistent workforce shortages in key sectors of the economy, the impact of ongoing inflation, and the role immigration, including guest worker programs, have in supporting economic growth.

Witnesses included Rosanna Maietta from the American Hotel and Lodging Association who noted that the hotel industry has roughly 200,000 job openings to fill. Dr. William Beach, senior fellow in economics at the Economic Policy Innovation Center and former director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggested that regulatory relief and tax relief would lead to increased productivity, as would addressing the federal budget deficit. Dr. Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, expressed grave concerns about how pending budget cuts would affect workers. Elizabeth Milito from the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Center highlighted that small businesses have faced many challenges including COVID, supply chain interruptions, and regulatory burdens (at a cost of $1.8 trillion to small businesses, she noted). She advocated for policies to broadly provide more certainty for the business community.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) noted several steps that would unleash the workforce, including providing access to needed skills, reauthorizing WIOA, and updating federal job training programs. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the former committee chair, expressed that regulations could be even more impactful than tax cuts, and Dr. Beach agreed. Foxx also emphasized her view that a lighter federal regulatory burden would affect worker upskilling and education. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) expressed significant concern about high prices, inflation, and barriers to employment. As chairman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, he said he is eager to focus on workforce issues, including how to create a skilled workforce, emphasizing that there are many pathways toward family-sustaining employment. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) shared her concerns about the House’s recent budget resolution that would likely cut programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and Head Start.

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) discussed the importance of workers having multiple pathways to workforce. He voiced concern over government assistance programs creating disincentives for participation in the labor force. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) noted that low wages lead many Americans to rely on public assistance and that cutting these programs would be counterproductive. She voiced support for an increase in the federal minimum wage. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) raised significant concerns over treatment of the federal workforce and whether Americans’ private data is still secure amid ongoing activities spearheaded by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) expressed her concerns about firings at wage and hour offices around the country. Shierholz responded that a lot of sensitive personal info has been compromised, and that unemployment claims and OSHA cases are at risk due to these disruptions.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) focused his remarks on the importance of supporting business franchising, the growing role of independent contractors, and the need to teach the power of entrepreneurship. Owens also defended efforts to “rightsize” the federal government, as is often done in the private sector. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) expressed concerns about recent events concerning the National Labor Relations Board and that the agency’s independence has been compromised with recent executive actions taken by President Trump. DeSaulnier also expressed concern about workforce development tools for disabled people and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act if the U.S. Department of Education were to be eliminated. Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) raised the issue of tax-free tips and asked if this policy change would help with employee retention.

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) raised concerns about a bill to eliminate OSHA and how heartbreaking it has been to lose workers on the job (which he noted has happened twice in his career). Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN) noted the vital nature of the Sec. 199(a) small business deduction, and urged its renewal. Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO) expressed strong support for the H2B guestworker visa as essential. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) highlighted concerns about tariffs, noting that the price of steel has already increased since the November elections. He also noted that Farm Bureau and National Association of Home Builders are both sounding the alarm about tariffs and rising costs due to these policies. Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) highlighted that veterans are disproportionately employed by the federal government and noted that an estimated 6,000 veterans have been terminated in recent weeks as part of aforementioned efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce.

Chairman Walberg closed the hearing by noting that the Committee is committed to “considering legislative solutions to improve the standard of living for American workers, reduce the burdens on business, and strengthen the economy, and that includes WIOA reauthorization and Workforce Pell.”

Shortly after the hearing concluded the E&W Committee announced a new hearing, specifically focused on WIOA, has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 5. NAWB will continue to share more information about these efforts as they become available. In the meantime, we urge you to continue making the case for WIOA funding to federal policymakers, especially if your member of Congress serves on the House E&W Committee and the vital role workforce development boards play in WIOA implementation.

A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA) Hotline Process

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Dec. 11, 2024 — As you are aware, a bipartisan, bicameral agreement, known as A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), was announced by Congressional leaders just before Thanksgiving. We have previously highlighted that while there are elements of this legislation that are aligned with NAWB’s vision for the public workforce system, our members continue to raise serious concerns regarding specific aspects of this agreement. These concerns continue to be centered around ASWA’s proposed training mandate, increased allowance for state-level Title I reservations, and the wider process for redesignation of local workforce areas—areas of the legislation we highlighted explicitly last week.

At the time of this writing, ASWA is still being considered by the Senate via a “hotline” process which requires the consent of all 100 Senators. There remain several holds on this hotline process, from both Democrats and Republicans, on a range of issues including the concerns raised by NAWB and its members. This process is still ongoing and remains extremely fluid.

Another possible path forward for ASWA is attaching it to another “must pass” piece of legislation under consideration in the current Congress. While these options are limited and have other associated challenges outside of the current hotline process, the need to fund the federal government beyond December 20, 2024 via an extension of current federal funding (known as Continuing Resolution, or “CR”) remains a key outstanding issue that lawmakers must address by next week.

While it remains unclear whether ASWA can be advanced via either of these paths in the coming days ahead, we are continuing to reiterate these concerns directly to lawmakers. Concessions have been made already in certain areas; we remain hopeful that additional improvements to the legislation can be made at this late stage in the reauthorization process.

Updates on WIOA Reauthorization

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As we reported on November 27, Congressional committee leaders have reached a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize WIOA. Since that time, NAWB, as well as partners from our local coalition, have been actively engaged with committee staff on aspects of the bill which stand to jeopardize the ability of local boards to fulfill their mission.

Through all these conversations, we have reiterated the importance of local boards being empowered to serve those individuals seeking paths to employment and businesses needing to hire that talent. Local boards are best positioned to understand economies on the ground, talent needs in their region (which could include training but should not be unnecessarily required), and build strategies to address those needs and connect people with work.

The bill’s training mandate, redesignation, and the additional state set-aside provisions as currently constructed threaten a local board’s ability to meet that objective and would severely limit its ability to be demand-driven. By directing a majority of a local board’s resources to be used for explicit and limited purposes, tens of thousands of employers will no longer be effectively served by the American Job Centers. More job openings will remain unfilled and the system will add fewer new workers to our nation’s tax base.

There are currently a handful of Senators who have placed a hold on the bill, which stops it from moving. The deadline for the hotline process on the Republican side is Thursday, Dec. 5 and the Democratic side is Friday, Dec. 6. As we continue to have ongoing discussions with Senate and House Committees on ways to refine and improve the agreement in the areas of greatest concern to our membership, we urge you to contact your Senators and ask them to place a hold or to continue their hold on ASWA to prevent these harmful provisions from impacting your board’s operations. Please free to share these perspectives and also connect them with NAWB directly for any questions regarding these efforts.

NAWB Issues Statement on WIOA Reauthorization

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NAWB President and CEO, Brad Turner-Little, made the following statement in response to the Congressional committee leadership’s bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

The new bill, which we provided an initial summary of, is currently being considered on a fast-track procedure in the Senate.

“Since WIOA’s reauthorization in 2014, workforce development boards (WDBs) have sought to meet the evolving needs of employers, jobseekers, and the local communities that they serve. It is laudable that lawmakers have reached consensus on legislation to make significant updates to the nation’s public workforce development system, including improvements that recognize the vital role that WDBs play in strengthening local economies.

Since the initial release of a new bicameral and bipartisan WIOA reauthorization agreement last week, A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has spent time analyzing this proposal and engaging with our members to understand how the bill would affect ongoing operations, service delivery, and the ability of WDBs to serve jobseekers and employers alike throughout the nation. Through these discussions, it has become clear that there are aspects of this legislation that conform with NAWB’s vision for the future of the public workforce system, while there are other significant components of this agreement that will be challenging to implement at best and could undermine WBDs’ ability to meet their mission.

ASWA would renew the law for five more years, sending a powerful signal that the public workforce system authorized by this legislation is critical to wider efforts in preparing and sustaining the skilled workforce needed for America’s wider success. NAWB is pleased to note that many of the organization’s recommendations have been incorporated into this legislation. These include clarifying local WDBs’ authority over local budgets; increased flexibilities to serve incumbent workers; improvements to cost-sharing requirements for one-stop centers, including flexibilities for the sharing and pooling of these resources; increased professional development opportunities for local staff; allowing for marketing and outreach efforts on behalf of the system; allowing WDBs to serve as one-stop operators when meeting certain conditions; a new emphasis on skills-based hiring; and dramatic improvements to data collection and subsequent reporting to make the public workforce system more transparent and responsive to the needs of workers and employers.

While NAWB appreciates these and other aspects of the agreement, the legislation unfortunately continues to advance provisions that our organization does not support, including a new systemwide mandate for training and an overly prescriptive work experience requirement for youth funding which we believe runs counter to local autonomy and flexibility. While we appreciate the agreement’s recognition of the important role supportive services play in the success of worker skills development, we continue to call on Congress to ensure that any new requirements reflect the realities facing the populations WIOA is structured to prioritize.

NAWB’s members have made clear that increased state-level set-asides will mean fewer resources will be available to local WDBs to implement these and other aspects of this legislation with fidelity. In conjunction with the proposed local workforce area redesignation provisions, NAWB’s members have also made clear that there is a strong potential that aspects of the public workforce system will need to close, staff laid off, and business services significantly curtailed under these new operating constraints.

Taken together, we remain deeply concerned that these aspects of the agreement will make it more difficult for the public workforce development system to serve jobseekers and employers alike moving forward.

We are grateful to have heard from so many of our members who provided thoughtful and meaningful perspectives as part of NAWB’s analysis of this legislation. They are the true experts, working every day with local community partners, elected officials, businesses, and jobseekers. We recognize the extremely challenging environment that workforce boards will be in whether this bill is enacted during the final days of the 118th Congress or if current law remains in place for the time being.

In either scenario, NAWB remains committed to working closely with the incoming administration and new Congress to ensure that the public workforce development system is responsive to the needs of workers, learners, and businesses, and can fulfill the significant workforce development needs of our nation now and in the future.

This will certainly be among our top priorities during Workforce Advocacy Day, scheduled for April 1-2, 2025 in Washington, DC. NAWB members need to share their expertise with members of Congress to ensure that the workforce system has the necessary resources to serve their local communities.”

Learn more about NAWB’s work on WIOA.