House Funding Proposal Hits Workforce Programs

By Mitch Coppes, Federal Government Affairs Manager, Goodwill Industries International

This week, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. The measure would provide $9.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Labor in FY27, a 27 percent cut from the enacted FY26 level, and would determine funding levels for federal workforce development programs that support the training and employment services offered by local Goodwill® organizations, including:

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Programs: The bill provides $1.8 billion for WIOA Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker Employment and Training programs, $2 billion less than FY26. It would eliminate funding for WIOA Youth Activities and rescind $712 million in FY26 WIOA Adult Employment and Training funding.
• Senior Community Service Employment Program: The bill eliminates all funding for the program, a $395 million cut from FY26.
• Reentry Employment Opportunities Grant: The bill also eliminates funding for this program, reducing it by $110 million from the current level.
• Registered Apprenticeships: The bill provides $290 million, $5 million more than FY26.
• YouthBuild: The program would receive $107.5 million, an increase of $2.5 million over the current level.
• Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program: Funding would remain at $65 million, the same as FY26.

House Democrats strongly oppose the bill and its proposed cuts. “As inflation outpaces wage growth, and new technology upends the workforce, we ought to be investing in programs that support workers, not cutting funding and leaving them out to dry,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Attention now turns to the Senate, where the Appropriations Committee is expected to release its FY27 bill in the coming weeks. Although senators are still negotiating overall FY27 spending levels, the chamber rejected similarly steep cuts proposed by the House and Trump Administration in FY26, helping protect funding for key workforce and education programs.