Rep. Susie Lee Introduces Community-Based Workforce Development Act
WASHINGTON – Today, Reps. Susie Lee (NV-03) and Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) introduced the Community-Based Workforce Development Act. This legislation would authorize a new federal grant program — the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness, or SECTOR, Program — to assist state and local workforce systems with establishing partnerships that bring employers, educators, and workers together to train workers for in-demand jobs.
"Diversifying our economy in southern Nevada is absolutely critical to ensuring a full economic recovery," said Congresswoman Susie Lee. "Employers are struggling to find qualified workers, while job seekers say that employers aren't meeting their training expectations. This new legislation will bridge this gap by helping state and local workforce systems bring together workers, educators, and businesses to create training programs to prepare workers for good-paying jobs available in our communities. I'm proud to introduce this legislation that fosters collaboration and will spur economic development."
"Sector partnerships boost local economies by providing workers with the skills they need to obtain quality jobs and by connecting businesses with employees who meet their needs," said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. "We've already seen great success with these partnerships in Oregon, and we should do all we can to encourage their growth. I'm pleased to join Rep. Susie Lee in introducing the Community-Based Workforce Development Act, which authorizes federal funding for this important effort."
"As we train future generations for good-paying jobs, we need to make sure that employers, educators, and workers are collaborating and in sync," said Gabe Horwitz, Senior Vice President for the Economic Program, Third Way. "Sector partnerships are a way to do that and usher in a new era of collaboration into our training system. While these collaborative efforts offer so much promise, they have lacked consistent funding for years. I applaud Rep. Susie Lee for her work on the Community-Based Workforce Development Act, which addresses that gap by providing dedicated funding for sector partnerships — encouraging these kinds of initiatives and making them more available across the country."
"[Sector] partnerships identify the needs of employers so they can be embedded better and earlier in the talent development pipeline," said Jaime Cruz, Executive Director, Workforce Connections — Southern Nevada's Local Workforce Development Board. "They also help employers implement work-based training solutions and innovative attraction and retention strategies. The new labor market requires an evolution of talent development systems. Workforce Connections supports federal legislation that funds regional sector partnerships. This will help local areas craft the unique solutions needed by their businesses and employers and create sustainable talent development pipelines for their communities."
"We hear from our network of small and mid-sized businesses, community-based organizations, community colleges, and training providers consistently that sector partnerships are one of the best strategies for meeting worker and business demand — but more federal dollars are needed to ensure these partnerships are long-lasting, more successful, and serve more people," said Caroline Treschitta, Policy Analyst, National Skills Coalition. "The Community-Based Workforce Development Act is an important step for ensuring that the federal government offers a helping hand to our much-underfunded workforce system and helps ensure workers and students can access quality jobs that are in-demand and available within their community. With priority given to those areas that have been historically underserved by the workforce system, this bill is an important step to ensuring our workforce system is more equitable and works for all people."
BACKGROUND:
More than three-fifths of workers and job seekers say employers are not meeting their training expectations, and nearly half of workers report that they would transition to a new job if offered skills training opportunities. New research also reveals that the workers who need training most are not getting it, making it harder for companies to source skilled workers and for workers to land ready, good-paying jobs.
Sector partnerships help solve these problems, for workers and businesses alike, but there is currently no dedicated federal funding for such job training partnerships. As a result, workforce systems at the state and local levels often must utilize a patchwork of different federal, state, and private funding that does not provide the consistency or longevity that these partnerships need to succeed.
The Community-Based Workforce Development Act would authorize a new federal grant program — the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness, or SECTOR, Program — to assist state and local workforce systems with cultivating, establishing, and growing sector partnerships.
Specifically, the Community-Based Workforce Development Act would:
• Authorize funding for the SECTOR Program through Fiscal Year 2028.
• Allocate 80 percent of authorized funding directly to states and localities via formula to convene, develop, or expand sector partnerships.
• Reserve 20 percent of authorized funding for awarding national competitive grants to eligible sector partnerships for the purposes of expanding workforce development and employment opportunities for high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations. Priority would be given to applications serving economic regions that are experiencing high poverty or facing significant worker dislocation — or places that have traditionally been underserved by regional economic development and sector partnership activities, including rural areas.
• Require the Department of Labor to evaluate the effectiveness of the SECTOR Program and provide its findings to Congress as well as publish them online for public review.
The legislation is supported by the following organizations:
• National Skills Coalition
• Third Way
• Workforce Connections
You can read more about the Community-Based Workforce Development Act here.
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