Sponsors (4)
The bill expands federal support for digital skills training and creates grants and program priorities to boost access—especially for underserved jobseekers—but does so with new federal spending, added administrative burdens, and risks widening the divide for communities without broadband or for non‑digital workforce areas.
Workers (jobseekers, current employees, and incoming workers) will gain expanded access to federally prioritized digital skills training tied to in-demand industries, improving employability and job prospects.
Postsecondary institutions, adult education providers, and eligible state entities receive policy priority and grant funding to develop and deliver digital training, strengthening workforce pipelines into better jobs.
Individuals with employment barriers (low education, low earnings, limited English) will be prioritized for digital workplace skills programs, increasing targeted access for populations least likely to have digital skills.
Taxpayers and federal budgets may face increased costs because the bill creates new, potentially open‑ended federal spending to implement digital training and grant programs.
Rural and low‑income communities without reliable broadband risk being left behind, limiting access to the new digital training unless connectivity is addressed in parallel.
State and local agencies, grantees, and small providers will face new administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens to apply for and manage grants, which may strain capacity and increase overhead.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds digital skills and equity goals to WIOA and creates formula and competitive grant programs to expand workplace digital skills, with authorization for FY2026–FY2030.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress December 3, 2025
Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to prioritize digital equity and workforce readiness by adding digital skills and system resilience to WIOA’s purposes and creating a new federal grant program to expand workplace digital skills. The Department of Labor, with input from Education and Commerce, would provide formula grants to states, competitive grants to eligible entities, require state subgrants and reporting, add digital literacy to allowable training services, and authorize funding for FY2026–FY2030.