Sponsors (5)
The bill expands federal support for digital skills training and targets underserved jobseekers to improve employability and system resilience, but it requires new spending, creates administrative burdens, and risks leaving rural areas and small community providers behind or diverting resources from non‑digital workforce needs.
Workers and jobseekers — including unemployed people and those with employment barriers — gain expanded access to federally supported digital skills training tied to in‑demand industries, improving employability and earnings prospects.
States, postsecondary institutions, and adult education providers receive priority support and competitive grants to develop and deliver digital training (including adding digital and information literacy to allowable WIOA services), strengthening workforce pipelines into good jobs.
The bill directs services toward historically underserved populations (low education, low earnings, limited English proficiency), increasing training access for those least likely to have digital skills and improving labor‑market access.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending and potential budget pressures because the bill authorizes open‑ended funding ('such sums as may be necessary') and may generate additional implementation costs.
Rural and low‑income learners may be left behind because reliable broadband and local connectivity are needed to access digital training but are not fully resolved by the bill.
State and local agencies and grantees will face new administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens to apply for grants and meet performance/data requirements, raising workload and costs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds a WIOA "Digital skills at work" grant program, adds digital literacy to allowable WIOA training, and authorizes funding for FY2026–FY2030.
Official title: To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a digital skills at work grant program.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress December 3, 2025
Creates a new "Digital skills at work" grant program under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to help states, postsecondary institutions, adult education programs, and workforce systems expand digital and information literacy training for jobseekers and people with barriers to employment. Adds digital and information literacy to WIOA-allowed training services, sets formula and competitive grant streams, requires state subgrants and performance reporting, reserves small shares for administration and evaluation, and authorizes funding for FY2026–FY2030 as "such sums as may be necessary."