On Passage

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022

This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 and expands programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The bill also revises workforce investment, vocational rehabilitation, employment, training, and literacy programs for eligible individuals.

For example, the bill

• increases workforce representation on state and local workforce investment boards from 20% to 30%;
• reworks one-stop center infrastructure funding by requiring costs to be covered by state allocations of WIOA funds;
• establishes subsidized youth employment programs that include work-readiness training and mentoring;
• allows states and localities to partner with educational institutions to address the skill needs for in-demand jobs;
• establishes grants to connect youth in communities disproportionately affected by gun violence with in-demand jobs;
• eliminates a requirement that the Department of Labor ensure that individuals participating in WIOA activities comply with Selective Service laws;
• modifies the allotment of youth workforce investment funds to states;
• requires Labor to prioritize providing access to certain services to girls and women and applications for assistance from minority-serving institutions;
• expands the Job Corps program, including by serving individuals in outlying areas and relaxing age requirements;
• establishes grants to expand training programs through industry or sector partnerships;
  
• expands grants for integrated English literacy and civics education to outlying areas; and
  
• expands Wagner-Peyser employment services to the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

The bill also provides statutory authority for Labor to award

• competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to improve employment and training outcomes and reduce recidivism of justice-involved youth; and
  
• competitive grants for states to create workforce longitudinal administrative databases.