Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
This bill (BUILDS Act) directs the Secretary of Labor to award competitive grants to industry or sector partnerships to plan and implement workforce development and training aligned with targeted infrastructure industries (e.g., energy, construction, IT, utilities, transportation). Grants may be implementation grants (up to $2.5 million) or renewal grants (up to $1.5 million), last up to 3 years, and must be distributed to ensure geographic diversity; grantees may use up to 5 percent of funds for administration.
Size and permanence of federal spending: liberals and centrists view funding as a justified investment; conservatives see it as federal overreach and unacceptable recurring cost.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a well-defined substantive grant program to support industry or sector partnerships, with clear purposes, defined grant mechanics, integration with existing workforce statutes, and explicit annual funding authorizations.
This bill (BUILDS Act) directs the Secretary of Labor to award competitive grants to industry or sector partnerships to plan and implement workforce development and training aligned with targeted infrastructure industries (e.g., energy, construction, IT, utilities, transportation).
Grants may be implementation grants (up to $2.5 million) or renewal grants (up to $1.5 million), last up to 3 years, and must be distributed to ensure geographic diversity; grantees may use up to 5 percent of funds for administration.
Grant activities include establishing partnerships, business engagement (including help with registered apprenticeships and curriculum alignment), work-based learning and registered apprenticeship support, wrap-around services (child care, transportation), transitional wage support (employer-of-record for up to 6 months), and annual reporting with demographic disaggregation.
On substance the bill is a modest-to-moderate federal workforce program that aligns with common infrastructure and labor-market goals and contains many standard grant program safeguards (competitive awards, caps, reporting). Those features make it plausible to attract bipartisan support. However, it authorizes multi-year discretionary spending at a meaningful level, may overlap with existing federal workforce programs, and would still require separate appropriations and inter-chamber negotiation — factors that temper its immediate prospects.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a well-defined substantive grant program to support industry or sector partnerships, with clear purposes, defined grant mechanics, integration with existing workforce statutes, and explicit annual funding authorizations. It supplies a practical implementation path including application requirements, allowable activities, reporting, and administrative limits.
Size and permanence of federal spending: liberals and centrists view funding as a justified investment; conservatives see it as federal overreach and unacceptable recurring cost.
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Size and permanence of federal spending: liberals and centrists view funding as a justified investment; conservatives see it as federal overreach and unacceptable recurring cost.
A mainstream progressive would generally view this bill favorably because it invests federal resources to create industry partnerships, expands apprenticeships and work-based learning, and explicitly targets people with barriers to employment while requiring demographic reporting.
They would appreciate the inclusion of wrap-around supports and alignment with recognized credentials and career pathways, which can advance equity and long-term job quality.
Their concerns would center on ensuring strong worker protections (wages, benefits, collective bargaining access), preventing exploitation by low-quality training providers or employers, and making sure funding levels and implementation prioritize high-road employers and living wages.
A pragmatic moderate is likely to view this bill as a constructive, targeted federal investment to connect infrastructure spending to workforce development, with useful guardrails like competitive awards, performance measures, and limits on administrative costs.
They would generally support aligning training to employer needs and appreciate the emphasis on measurable credentials and coordination with existing programs, while wanting assurances on fiscal responsibility and non-duplication.
Their primary reservations would be the overall cost (authorized $500 million annually) and potential overlap with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs; they would seek clear CBO scoring, measurable ROI, and strong evaluation metrics.
A mainstream conservative would be skeptical of creating a new, ongoing federal grant program that directs $500 million per year toward industry partnerships and workforce training, preferring that workforce development be led by states, private employers, and market incentives.
They would raise concerns about federal overreach, added bureaucracy, recurring appropriations, and the risk of subsidizing employer labor costs or directing funds to favored industries (e.g., renewable energy).
While supportive in principle of job-training that meets employer needs, they would want significantly smaller or differently structured interventions (e.g., block grants to states, tax incentives, or private-sector-led apprenticeships).
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
On substance the bill is a modest-to-moderate federal workforce program that aligns with common infrastructure and labor-market goals and contains many standard grant program safeguards (competitive awards, caps, reporting). Those features make it plausible to attract bipartisan support. However, it authorizes multi-year discretionary spending at a meaningful level, may overlap with existing federal workforce programs, and would still require separate appropriations and inter-chamber negotiation — factors that temper its immediate prospects.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Size and permanence of federal spending: liberals and centrists view funding as a justified investment; conservatives see it as federal ove…
On substance the bill is a modest-to-moderate federal workforce program that aligns with common infrastructure and labor-market goals and c…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a well-defined substantive grant program to support industry or sector partnerships, with clear purposes, defined grant mechanics, integration with existi…
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