The Latest

Dec. 18, 2024 — Yesterday, Congress released the legislative text of the Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend funding for the current fiscal year until March 14, 2025. The bill includes a number of pending pieces of legislation, including A Stronger Workforce for America (ASWA), which reauthorizes the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) through 2030. The inclusion of ASWA in this bill is an important milestone for our nation’s public workforce system.

We remain concerned about certain provisions in the bill and their impact on local boards’ ability to fulfill their missions – such as the redesignation process and expanding the Governor’s set-aside allowance. However, we are pleased to see several changes within the proposal that have been made since the bicameral bipartisan Committee agreement was announced a few weeks ago. These changes include:

• The 50% training mandate has been adjusted so that Supportive Services and Career Services can be calculated as up to 10% of Title I funds, giving boards more flexibility in meeting this mandate.
• ASWA increases youth work experience obligations to 40% but does not include an employer matching requirement.
• Extended implementation timelines in serval programmatic areas.

While not aligned to NAWB’s recommendation to fund local and state workforce boards at the level needed to fully meet demand, we note that this authorization would increase in funding over current levels.

Should the CR complete the legislative process and the WIOA system be reauthorized, we stand ready to work with the Department of Labor and other workforce development stakeholders to inform ASWA’s implementation.