U.S. Chamber Letter of Support for H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act

Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader McConnell, and Minority Leader Jeffries,

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the bipartisan, bicameral substitute of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act, which would bolster America’s workforce development system.

Employers nationwide continue to struggle to find workers with the requisite skills necessary to fill the nation’s available jobs. The bipartisan legislation will help to close the skills gap by strengthening workers’ skills development and enhancing employer and industry participation in training programs. Specifically, the bill will make measurable improvements to our current system by:  

• Requiring that a majority of authorized funds are directed to workforce development through individual training accounts (ITAs) as well as on-the-job and other employer-based workforce training. 
• Promoting the high need skills development programs by allowing states to create a “critical industry skills fund” which would provide reimbursements to training providers who upskill workers in priority industries.
• Investing in the existing workforce by increasing the “incumbent worker training” cap to better provide skills development to employed workers.
• Streamlining workforce development in the smallest states by allowing governors of states with fewer than 5.1 million residents to designate the state as a single state local area.
• Prioritizing earning and employment outcomes of training programs and promoting high-performing providers through the new “Workforce Innovation Leader” marker.
• Maintaining business representation on workforce boards, supporting program innovation, improving labor market data collection, and holding states, local boards, and providers accountable for results.

We applaud the work of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the House Education and the Workforce Committee to develop this bipartisan legislation and we urge you to enact this legislation prior to the end of this Congress in order to help the workforce development system more effectively serve both workers and employers.

Sincerely

Neil L. Bradley

Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer,

and Head of Strategic Advocacy

U.S. Chamber of Commerce 

CC: Members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives