In today’s highly partisan congressional environment, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are some issues on which Republicans and Democrats still manage to work together in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation. A good example is congressional support for federally funded worker training programs, such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in 2014.
Another job training-related issue that has enjoyed bipartisan support is the federal program that funds state and local career and technical education (CTE), formerly known as vocational education. On June 22, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed on a voice vote the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2353), a bill to reauthorize CTE programs as well as make some important changes to the program.
While it’s too early to predict whether the U.S. Senate will exhibit similar bipartisan cooperation in moving forward with its own CTE legislation, this relatively early action by the House makes it more likely the Senate will act in kind.
A copy of H.R. 2353, as passed by the House, is available here.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.