Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, following the pandemic, the Nation's workforce needs have drastically changed, and we need a workforce development system that helps prepare American workers for the job opportunities of today and tomorrow, not those of the past.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is intended to help unemployed and underemployed workers get the necessary skills to succeed in America's modern economy.

Unfortunately, the majority's proposed reauthorization lacks the necessary reforms to help America's workers.

Our Republican proposal, on the other hand, would modernize the program to make sure it is employer-driven, which will help America's economy become stronger for decades to come.

Our plan puts taxpayer dollars to work where they need it most: helping jobseekers get the skills they need to close the skills gap and get back to work.

It does this by bringing more competition into the provider marketplace, which expands the pool of skills development providers that meet employers' needs and gives more choice to American workers, ensuring States and localities can use WIOA funds to survey employers to get a better understanding of the skills that are most in demand and respond accordingly.

Additionally, the Republican proposal adapts WIOA to the changing economic landscape. America has just come through a pandemic. During that time, businesses, employers, and workers shifted to remote work and changing circumstances. Our skills development and education programs should adapt to changing circumstances as well. Our plan encourages workforce boards to provide services virtually, which streamlines WIOA and eliminates administrative costs and overhead.

Republicans also ensure online skills development providers can be included in skills development services, expanding the number of providers who can address the needs that American workers face.

The Republican alternative also levels the playing field and encourages innovation by ensuring that WIOA does not favor registered apprenticeships over more innovative apprenticeship models that can address the needs of more employers. This will keep America's labor force at the cutting edge of global competition.

Competition drives better results. Through pay-for-performance funding, our substitute encourages programs with a proven track record of successfully helping American workers succeed. Our proposal measures programs based on real outcomes and gives States and localities more flexibility in how they can improve those outcomes.

We also increase transparency by making the process for creating job performance metrics available to the American public.

Finally, the Republican plan brings greater accountability to the Department of Labor's Job Corps program and its Reentry Employment Opportunities program.

Let's start with Job Corps. Job Corps is a popular program, and for many students, Job Corps is their last hope. There are important reforms we can enact to ensure that Job Corps is working better for students who need it most. Our bill would help Job Corps-eligible students get technical and career education from community colleges, which would give this program much-needed innovation and better outcomes.

The Job Corps program in Ottumwa, Iowa, in my district, is a wonderful example of how to do exactly this and is the right way to perform that program.

It would also do more to keep Job Corps participants safe. Centers would be required to report whenever any concerning incidents occur, ensuring proper oversight of this program.

We also bring greater accountability to the Reentry Employment Opportunities program so we can build on President Trump's historic criminal justice reform and use this program to help formerly incarcerated Americans establish firm economic foundations for their new lives.

These are commonsense reforms that will help American employers and jobseekers.

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, we have had an opportunity to work together on WIOA, but unfortunately, my colleagues in the majority are more concerned about maintaining the status quo and placating favored stakeholders.

What American workers and employers need is a workforce system that prioritizes them over special interests, and the Republican alternative would do that.

I urge my colleagues to help us pass an alternative proposal that works for America, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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