Murkowski Lauds Passage of Key Jobs Training Bill for “Tomorrow’s Workforce”
Senator Co-Sponsors Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
Senator Lisa Murkowski today voted for the bipartisan H.R. 803 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, a pro-growth jobs training bill that reauthorizes the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 while making key reforms to promote greater efficiency in administering employment training programs nationwide.
WIOA will fund and streamline critical workforce development program like Job Corps, vocational rehabilitation and adult education and adds new considerations for potential employees who are disabled as well as precautionary programs for workers in danger of being laid off. Senator Murkowski was also able to secure funding in the bill to address rural Alaska’s unique job training challenges.
“Alaska’s unemployment rate is slightly higher than the national average, but we have an eager and energetic aspiring workforce; there isn’t a jobs gap, there is a skills gap – and we need to address that,” said Murkowski. “I’m pleased to have co-sponsored and supported this important legislation that will provide job training and opportunities for tomorrow’s workforce; by consolidating 30 different programs to make our offerings more efficient, it will also cut the layers of redundancies and bureaucracy between Alaskans and their hard-earned paycheck.”
The Senate passed HR 803 today 95-3. It now goes to the House and once approved, to the President to be signed into law.
