On Tuesday morning, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), Senate CTE Caucus Co-Chair, spoke with Punchbowl News to discuss the bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), S. 1260, which the House plans to consider in the next few weeks.
Asked what should be done to address workforce shortages in high-tech fields, Sen. Young noted the need to skill, reskill and upskill workers to remain globally competitive.
“Skilling and reskilling needs to be informed by the needs of the market,” Young said. “We need investments in our people – workforce training – for the modern economy.”
Young added that he expects the USICA to be considered by the House, then the bill will go to conference or back to the Senate pending any changes made by the House to the Senate-passed bill. The goal is to have the bill completed by Memorial Day.
Over the summer when the Senate was debating USICA, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced an amendment that would have expanded Pell Grants to short-term CTE programs. The amendment was modeled after the JOBS Act, a bipartisan bill that had been introduced and championed by these senators over the past few years. While the amendment was not ultimately adopted during the Senate process, as the bill moves to the House, we will continue advocacy efforts on this issue.
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