Horsford Votes For Bipartisan Bill To Improve America’s Workforce Development System

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Steven Horsford (NV-4) voted for H.R. 803, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a bipartisan bill that will improve the nation’s workforce development system.
“This is a critically important bill that will help train and educate thousands of Nevadans while connecting them with local businesses that need skilled employees,” Horsford said. “As the former head of Nevada’s largest labor-management partnership, I understand the importance of providing the unemployed or underemployed with training and relevant opportunities with local businesses. In addition, funding for outreach to at-risk youth will help our children stay in school and prepare them to be part of a 21st century workforce.”
The bill passed by a vote of 415-6.
Below is a summary of the bill:
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) creates:
A streamlined workforce development system by:
* Eliminating 15 existing programs.
* Applying a single set of outcome metrics to every federal workforce program under the Act.
* Creating smaller, nimbler, and more strategic state and local workforce development boards.
* Integrating intake, case management and reporting systems while strengthening evaluations.
* Eliminating the “sequence of services” and allowing local areas to better meet the unique needs of individuals.
Greater value by:
* Maintaining the 15 percent funding reservation at the state level to allow states the flexibility to address specific needs.
* Empowering local boards to tailor services to their region’s employment and workforce needs.
* Supporting access to real-world education and workforce development opportunities through:
* On-the-job, incumbent worker, and customized training;
* Pay-for-performance contracts; and
* Sector and pathway strategies.
Better coordination by:
* Aligning workforce development programs with economic development and education initiatives.
* Enabling businesses to identify in-demand skills and connect workers with the opportunities to build those skills.
* Supporting strategic planning and streamlining current governance and administration by requiring core workforce programs to develop a single, comprehensive state plan to break down silos, reduce administrative costs, and streamline reporting requirements.
* Ensuring individuals with disabilities have the skills necessary to be successful in businesses that provide competitive, integrated employment.
Improved outreach to disconnected youth by:
* Focusing youth program services on out-of-school youth, high school dropout recovery efforts, and attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials.
* Providing youth with disabilities the services and support they need to be successful in competitive, integrated employment.
Read this original document at: http://horsford.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/horsford-votes-for-bipartisan-bill-to-improve-americas-workforce