Earlier this week, America Forward and our partners at Credential Engine, Data Quality Campaign, and Results for America wrote to the leaders of the Senate HELP Committee urging them to prioritize bipartisan deliberation and passage of comprehensive Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reauthorization legislation this Congress. Last Congress, each of our organizations formally supported the bipartisan, bicameral A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), the WIOA reauthorization bill that promised to incorporate long-needed, foundational improvements to our nation’s workforce system.
Recently, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed a new version of ASWA. Each of our organizations joined an array of stakeholders in supporting the data and evidence provisions in that bill, which mirrored provisions of the bipartisan ASWA legislation. Moving forward, we recognize that a bipartisan approach, reflecting the strong consensus demonstrated last Congress, is necessary to achieve progress.
We also encouraged HELP leaders to incorporate important technical improvements as they consider reauthorization, including a revised definition of “evidence-based” strategies; enhanced language governing pay-for-performance contracting authorities; an authority for a Workforce Development Innovation Fund to accelerate responsive, effective workforce approaches; further refined accountability measures; and expanded support for structured, open and interoperable data.
America Forward deeply appreciates congressional members’ and staff’s extensive engagement with stakeholders in the last Congress to develop and refine ASWA, and we and our partners welcome the opportunity to continue to support bipartisan, bicameral efforts to reauthorize WIOA. See our full letter here.
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