Sponsors (5)
The bill creates federally funded, well-paid public jobs with strong benefits and supports to help unemployed and disadvantaged people reenter the workforce, but does so at open‑ended federal cost, with limited geographic reach, administrative complexity, and potential short-term labor‑market distortions.
Unemployed residents in qualifying high-unemployment areas gain guaranteed access to public-purpose jobs for up to three years that pay at or above prevailing/local/collective-bargaining rates, providing steady wages and immediate income support.
Program participants receive comprehensive benefits (FEHB-comparable health insurance, paid family/sick leave) plus supportive services (transportation, child care, housing supports) and training/education, improving health, financial security, and removal of barriers to work and reentry.
Employers are incentivized to hire program graduates through a targeted Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which may improve private-sector transitions for participants after program completion.
Taxpayers face increased and open-ended federal spending to fund grants, generous benefits, and a Trust Fund (funding described as 'such sums as necessary'), raising fiscal cost concerns.
The program is limited to at most 15 grantees with only three years of federal funding, so many high-need areas may not receive support and participating programs risk abrupt funding termination after the grant period.
Complex application, reporting, audit, and evaluation requirements create administrative burdens that may disadvantage small jurisdictions and tribal entities trying to qualify for and manage grants.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DOL competitive pilot grant program funding local "job guarantee" public-purpose jobs in areas with very high unemployment, with wage, benefit, bargaining, and supportive-service requirements.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress February 12, 2026
Creates a Department of Labor competitive pilot grant program that funds local “job guarantee” public-purpose jobs in areas with unemployment at least 150% of the national rate. Eligible local jurisdictions, Tribal entities, or contiguous combinations can receive grants to hire any applicant in the service area into jobs that meet wage, benefit, and program standards; federal grant support for each award lasts up to three years or until eligibility is revoked. The program sets worker eligibility (age 18+ and resident of the service area when it became eligible), requires inclusion in collective bargaining where appropriate, establishes wage and benefit minimums (including a Davis-Bacon–type prevailing wage floor and FEHB-comparable health coverage), allows grant funds for supportive services, and uses WIOA and specified statutory terms for key definitions. The Secretary of Labor administers the grants and Tribal entities may supply their own employment data where federal data are unavailable.