Congress has passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), on Pres Obama desk to be signed

Congress passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on July 9, voting to build upon the successes and important work the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) has funded since 1998.

The House of Representatives passed the bill with a vote of 415-6. The Senate passed the Act with a 95-3 vote on June 25. WIOA now heads to the President to be signed into law. When final, it will reauthorize WIA for six years (2015-2020).

Last year, WIA funding helped more than 12 million people nationally to enter or re-enter the U.S. labor force by providing career counseling, skills assessments, financial assistance for occupational skills training, and job matching.

WIOA does not make drastic structural changes to the system, but it does include provisions that will streamline programs, strengthen the emphasis on serving local employers, and increase the transparency of training providers.

Changes within WIOA:

• Create a single set of common measures across adult and youth programs
• Require co-location of America’s Job Centers with employment service offices and staff
• Merge levels of employment and training services to allow more flexibility locally to meet participants’ needs
• Increase emphasis on incumbent worker training, on-the-job training, and customized training
• Increase accountability of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding the accessibility of programs and facilities with disabilities
• Eliminates programs, most of which have not been funded in recent years

The Rehabilitation Act is contained in WIOA.

Click here for more information about the major provisions in H.R. 803.