Sponsors (3)
Official title: Require the Secretary of Labor to establish a pilot program to provide grants for job guarantee programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress February 12, 2026
The bill offers guaranteed, well-paid jobs with benefits and supports for residents of high-unemployment areas, at the expense of substantial and open-ended federal spending, higher program costs that may deter small partners, and a pilot scale that may be insufficient to prove national scalability.
Residents in high-unemployment areas (age 18+) who apply can receive guaranteed paid employment for up to 3 years, increasing incomes and direct access to work.
Program jobs must pay at least the prevailing wage or applicable minimum/collective-bargaining wage, protecting worker pay standards and reducing risk of low-paid placements.
Participants receive health insurance comparable to FEHB and paid family and sick leave, improving health coverage and financial security for low-income workers.
Taxpayers bear open-ended federal spending to fund the pilot and benefits ('such sums as may be necessary'), increasing fiscal pressure and budgetary risk.
Requiring FEHB-comparable insurance and paid leave raises program costs and may limit participation by smaller local employers or strain grantee budgets.
Strict nondisplacement, hiring protections, and wage floors could discourage private-sector employers from creating slots or partnering with programs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a Labor Department competitive pilot grant program to fund local job guarantee programs in high-unemployment areas with wage, benefit, training, nondisplacement, and reporting requirements.
Creates a Labor Department competitive pilot grant program that funds local “job guarantee” programs in areas with high unemployment. Grants go to eligible State or Tribal governments (or contiguous combos) to run up to three-year programs that hire area residents aged 18+, set wages and benefits floor, require training and nondisplacement protections, and impose reporting and administrative conditions.