Support Workforce and Local Business Development: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

ACTION NEEDED

Urge your members of Congress to support increased funding for Title I programs under the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Funded through the Labor, Health and Human Services (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill, WIOA programs provide essential financial and other resources to support a demand-driven workforce development system.

BACKGROUND

Enacted with bipartisan support in 2014, WIOA authorizes federal employment, workforce and training programs and formula funding to states and local governments. WIOA provides the needed framework for a modernized, demand-driven workforce development system to meet business and jobseekers’ needs. The bipartisan Stronger Workforce for America Act, a bill that would have reauthorized WIOA and made several significant changes to the program, passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2024, but failed to receive a vote in the U.S. Senate before the end of the 118th Congress. Among other changes to the program, the bill would have required 50% of Title I Adult and Dislocated Worker funds to be spent on training, increased the amount of funds a governor can retain to 25% and created a redesignation process that could have eliminated local workforce boards in states with a population over 5.1 million. 

Administered at the federal level under the DOL Employment and Training Administration (ETA), WIOA is the largest single source of federal funding for workforce development activities. WIOA is a vital funding source for workforce development that helps counties tackle and overcome challenges facing job seekers and employers. In 2014, Congress included several measures in WIOA to help better match businesses with the skilled workers they need to grow, including:

• Maintaining local governance authority while providing enhanced flexibility to meet the needs of businesses and job seekers
• Maintaining a business-led majority on the Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) while reducing the number of required members
• Establishing a single set of common performance metrics across all core programs and adding a measure on the effectiveness of serving businesses
• Eliminating the sequence of services requirement and integrating best practices such as industry partnerships and career pathways

WIOA recognizes the importance of local elected officials’ role in the governance of workforce development activities and provides enhanced flexibility to address local workforce challenges. WIOA also establishes the one-stop center delivery system, which provides convenient access to job search assistance, workforce training and career services through various locations across the country. 

WIOA Title I focuses on workforce development activities at the state and local level and establishes funding for three key formula grants – Adult, Dislocated Workers and Youth Programs. 

While workforce development funding has declined since 2001, there was a $1.2 billion increase in FY 2023 over FY 2022 levels. However, in FY 2024/2025 funding decreased by $135 million to $3.9 billion. Of the $3.9 billion allocated in FY 2024/2025 to WIOA Title I Programs, $885.7 million was included for Adults, $948.1 million was included for Youth and $1.09 billion was provided for Dislocated Workers.

KEY TALKING POINTS

• Enacted in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) authorizes federal employment, workforce and training programs and formula funding to states and localities. WIOA provides the needed framework for a modernized, demand-driven  workforce development system to meet the needs of businesses and jobseekers.
• Local officials play a pivotal role in the governance and administration of WIOA programs and funding. Counties are involved in 90 percent of the country’s 550 local WDBs, through which we partner with federal, state, other local governments and the private sector. 28 percent of WDBs are within a county department, or function as a county department.
• Congress should provide increased funding for WIOA Title I programs in FY 2026 to meet current program demands.