Senate Committee Approves Workforce Funding Bill

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

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. The annual spending measure proposes funding levels for many of the federal workforce development programs that help support the training and employment services offered by local Goodwill® organizations. The bill would fund the U.S. Department of Labor at $13.5 billion in FY24, and from that amount would allocate funding to key workforce programs including:

  • $2.9 billion for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker formula grants.
  • $405 million for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).
  • $115 million for Ex-offender / Reentry Activities.
  • $290 million for Registered Apprenticeships, an increase of $5 million above the FY23 level.
  • $105 million for YouthBuild.
  • $65 million for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP).
  • $55 million for Strengthening Community College Training Grants.

The bill includes a $250 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to assist low-income students pursuing postsecondary education and training – for a total maximum award of $7,645 for the 2024-25 school year. It also provides $8.7 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to help families access affordable child care, and $4 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that provides assistance to low-income households to help heat and cool their homes.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), chair of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, noted the difficulty of writing the funding bill under the discretionary spending caps imposed by the recent debt limit agreement. “This bill makes the most out of the hand we were dealt in the bipartisan compromise to avoid defaulting on our nation’s debt,” said Baldwin. She also stressed the importance of maintaining investments in workforce, education, and health care going forward.

Setting up a likely showdown with the Senate and White House in the months ahead, the House of Representatives recently put forward its own version of the FY24 Labor-HHS-Education bill that proposes to reduce overall funding for the Department of Labor by more than $4 billion below the current level – with significant cuts to essential employment and training programs. Most concerningly, the House seeks to eliminate funding for WIOA Adult and Youth formula grants, Job Corps, and SCSEP. The House adjourned for its August recess before the bill could be taken up by the full Appropriations Committee. GII and other national workforce stakeholder organizations have joined together in opposition to the House bill, and we will continue to advocate for important investments in our nation’s workforce.