Senators Propose Alternatives to Expiring $3 Billion Career Training Program

Bryant Batres (L) and Adam Friday (R) continue learning how to service air conditioners at the Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Pipefitting Education Center in Opa Locka, Fla., on Jan. 5. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was created in 2014 to help disenfranchised youth find jobs. A decade later, lawmakers suggested amending the federal program to focus more on practical solutions that address today’s realities.

While WIOA served more than 2.3 million people in 2022, it doesn’t address the 8 million-plus job openings in the United States right now or the reality that up to 39 million workers in this country could be displaced by automation or artificial intelligence by 2030, federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle indicated during a Senate committee meeting earlier this month.