On July 31, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved, 18-3, the Workforce Investment Act (S. 1356).
Sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the measure would, among other objectives, reauthorize job training and workforce development programs that increase “access to, and opportunities for, employment, education, training, and support services” individuals need to “succeed in the labor market.”
The legislation would allocate funds to states for statewide employment and training activities. The bill would require that such activities include the development of strategies to ensure that women and men are placed in jobs that lead to comparable pay for women. The strategies should include ways to increase women’s participation in high-wage, high-demand occupations in which they are underrepresented.
The measure would reauthorize the Job Corps program and would require the secretary of the Department of Labor to ensure that women and men have equal opportunity to participate in the program.
The Youth Build program also would be reauthorized to “enable disadvantaged young adults to obtain the education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency in occupations in demand and postsecondary education and training opportunities,” among other goals. Entities that apply for Youth Build grants must include in their application a description of “special outreach efforts undertaken to recruit eligible young women, including young women with dependent children.”
Additional details about the legislation will become available once the committee releases its report.
