Goodwill Promotes Federal Funding Priorities with Lawmakers

by Mitch Coppes, Government Relations Senior Specialist, Goodwill Industries International

Recently, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education held a Public Witness Day hearing to hear testimony from representatives of stakeholder groups on federal funding to support education, health care, workforce development, and social services  in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bill. The hearing followed the release of the Biden Administration’s FY24 budget plan earlier this month, which proposes to increase funding to several federal programs of importance to Goodwill and the people we serve.

Goodwill Industries International submitted written testimony to the Subcommittee that urges robust federal investments in FY24 for programs that will help strengthen the workforce, provide career education opportunities to students, empower older workers, improve employment outcomes for veterans and military families, build career pathways for youth, and give people involved in the justice system a second chance for career and life success. Specifically, we encourage lawmakers to support Goodwill’s federal funding priorities:

• Fund Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act programs at levels proposed in the Administration’s FY24 budget to ensure that job seekers can access career counseling, job search assistance, supportive services, and skills training through the workforce system.
• Continue to invest in high-quality apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs and support funding for sector partnerships and strategies to build employment pipelines of qualified workers that can meet the skills demands of employers in growing sectors.
• Support the Administration’s proposal to increase the maximum Pell Grant award and invest in programs that build the capacity of community colleges to collaborate with employers and workforce partners.
• Increase funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program to the authorized level of $540.34 million in FY24 to grow the capacity of community-based organizations to provide training and employment opportunities for older workers.
• Invest in employment and transition services for veterans and military families, as well as programs that prepare youth and young adults to achieve their educational and career goals.
• Empower people involved in the justice system to find and retain high-quality jobs by supporting the Administration’s proposal to increase funding for the Reentry Employment Opportunities grant program.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee and Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, noted the importance of continued investments in programs that support community-based employment and training services. “In the 2023 Labor-HHS-Education bill that we passed and enacted in December, we made critical investments in programs and services that our communities rely on,” said DeLauro. “We created and we sustained better-paying American jobs by strengthening job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection.” However, she also expressed concerns about the House Republican majority’s plan to cap FY24 domestic spending at the FY22 level, which would likely result in significant cuts to many programs. As the FY24 budget and appropriations process unfolds, we will continue to engage Goodwill advocates to lend their voices in helping us protect funding for programs that support the work of local Goodwill organizations.