Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act

The $74 billion WIOA bill, which was crafted by Democrats and the White House to address lagging workforce development has widespread Republican opposition due to the price tag. Rep. Foxx (R-NC) said that should the Republicans take over the House in January, they plan to take up an alternative WIOA that would allow employers “to be more involved with what’s happening in preparing their employees for these jobs,” including tweaking state and local workforce boards to give the private sector more involvement.  Currently, Democrats are pushing to include workforce development provisions in the final version of a multibillion-dollar package, known in the House as the COMPETES Act, intended to improve the U.S.’ ability to compete with China on tech manufacturing.”