Take Immediate Action  

The funding we depend on to serve local employers and job seekers is in jeopardy. Please contact the offices of Senators Brown and Vance as soon as possible and ask them to “put a hold on the bill called A Stronger Workforce for America Act” (ASWA). State that the reason you would like them to put a hold on the bill is because there are major concerns with it that need resolving before it goes to a vote. In particular, these provisions in the bill would harm our ability to serve our community at the level of service we are providing now: 

• Providing for only a 3% increase to funding in year one, then flat-funding for the next four years doesn’t begin to dig us out of the hole of being flat-funded for the past 10 years 
• Increasing the amount of funds governors can hold back from local workforce boards from 15% to 25% means less funds to help our community members 
• Mandating that at least 42% of funds must go to training takes away our ability to pivot as local needs evolve and change 

Contact information 

• Senator Brown: email 
• Senator Vance: (202) 224-3353 or email 

Background and Details 

ASWA is the bill that would fund workforce boards across the country, replacing the current bill called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).  

WIOA is our primary funding stream and is up for reauthorization in Congress. On Nov. 21, they released a revised bill that would replace WIOA. The latest version of ASWA is very similar to the one the House passed in April and therefore contains many of the same problems. Our primary concern is the inadequate funding level. The latest version allows for an initial 3% increase in funding over existing allocations in the first year, then flat funding after that. This is grossly inadequate because:   

• WIOA was never fully funded at the authorized level  
• WIOA funding has been flat for 10 years  
• The value of WIOA funding has not kept up with the size of the economy, with inflation plus population growth, or even just with inflation  
• Other changes incorporated in the ASWA bill further reduce funds for local workforce boards, including increasing the amount of the funds that governors can hold back for use at the state level from 15% to 25%  

On Dec. 2, the Senate began its “hotline” process, which would allow ASWA to move quickly under Senate rules via unanimous consent if no Senators raise a concern about the bill by putting a “hold” on it. A few Senators have done that, so now the issue is to see whether their concerns can be resolved in the next week or so. This presents a narrow window of opportunity to get some improvements to the bill and we need your help. 

Organizations like the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) are having ongoing discussions with Senate and House Committees on ways to refine and improve the bill in the areas of greatest concern to local workforce boards. If these issues can be resolved, then the Senators will likely remove their holds and the bill can stay on the fast-track process. NAWB needs us to contact our Senators as soon as possible to prevent these harmful provisions from becoming law and limiting our ability to serve our local employers and job seekers.

If their concerns don’t get resolved, then the legislation becomes subject to a 60-vote threshold for a filibuster and would likely take up too much floor time given the short legislative calendar before the end of the month.   

This blog post will be updated as we learn more about what action Congress may take. 

Read about the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Reauthorization – A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA).