On Friday, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) introduced the Relaunching America’s Workforce Act. The bill aims to invest $15 billion in America’s workforce training infrastructure, including career and technical education, in order to help workers quickly re-enter the workforce as the economy emerges from the deep decline due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will be introducing a Senate companion to the legislation soon.
In the press release, Chairman Scott stated that, “Providing additional resources to the nation’s workforce system now is a critical step in relaunching America’s workers and businesses as the nation begins to recover from the COVID-19 national emergency. The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act is a desperately needed investment in workers, employers, and our economy.”
The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act provides over $10 billion to the state and local public workforce system by supporting dislocated workers, employers, youth and adults seeking jobs. These funds will support workforce training activities, including career navigation services, access to online skills training and employment services, while prioritizing short-term training to health care and essential frontline workers. Further, it invests $2 billion to restart the community college career training grant program initiated during the last recession to help build partnerships between educators and employers and provide individuals pathways to high-skill, high-wage and in-demand employment opportunities.
The bill also includes a section dedicated solely to providing relief for CTE programs. It includes several important provisions that ACTE has been tirelessly advocating for, such as providing additional funds to expand and modernize digital and physical infrastructure to deliver in-person and virtual educational and work-based learning activities, and several waivers aimed to provide additional flexibility at the local and state level during the pandemic.
More specifically, the bill authorizes $1 billion in funding to support Perkins CTE programs and activities, including the ones mentioned above. The funding may also be used to restock supplies that have been donated to COVID-19 response activities (medical equipment, etc). The bill also provides a waiver that will allow local Perkins CTE funding recipients to retain any funds that have not used during the 2019-2020 academic year as a result of the COVID-19 national emergency, rather than return them to the State for redistribution in the following year. Another provision waives certain requirements for professional development during the national emergency to ensure that CTE professionals are still able to receive professional development opportunities that address short-term needs. Further, the bill allows local Perkins CTE funding recipients to pool funds to support the transitions from secondary to postsecondary education or employment for CTE students whose academic year was interrupted by the COVID-19 national emergency.
Our goal is for this bill and its provisions to be included in an upcoming comprehensive COVID relief package, but your advocacy remains critical to help with this effort! ACTE will continue to work with Chairman Scott and the Committee to ensure that our CTE programs, students, and communities receive much needed relief during the pandemic.
Below are links to various documents related to the legislation:
Please continue to contact Congress about the needs of CTE. It is vital to make sure this legislation garners broad support to show Congressional leaders why it is important to include our workforce and CTE systems in any upcoming relief package and ensure that they have the necessary resources to get Americans back to work.
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