Sponsors (3)
The bill offers guaranteed, well-paid jobs with health coverage and support services for unemployed residents in high-unemployment areas—boosting incomes and reducing barriers to work—but does so at potentially substantial federal cost, with a small, short pilot scope and program design features that could limit private-sector participation and impose administrative burdens.
Unemployed adults (18+) in high-unemployment areas gain guaranteed paid work placements for up to 3 years, increasing incomes and local employment.
Program participants receive health insurance comparable to the Federal Employees Health Benefits program plus paid family and sick leave, improving health coverage and financial security for low-income workers.
Grant funds can pay for supportive services (transportation, childcare, housing) and training, reducing barriers to employment and aiding people with disabilities and justice-involved individuals to enter or re-enter work.
Taxpayers bear the cost: the pilot relies on open-ended federal appropriations ('such sums as may be necessary'), increasing federal spending pressure and fiscal exposure.
The pilot is tightly limited (up to 15 awardees and 3-year grants), which may be too small and short to generate durable, scalable employment impacts nationwide.
Requiring FEHB-comparable insurance and paid leave raises program costs and could limit participation by smaller employers or strain grantee budgets, reducing available placement slots.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a DOL competitive pilot grant program funding local job-guarantee programs in high-unemployment areas with wage, benefit, training, and nondisplacement standards.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress February 12, 2026
Creates a Department of Labor competitive pilot grant program to fund local "job guarantee" programs in areas with high unemployment. Eligible state or tribal political subdivisions (or contiguous combinations) with unemployment at least 150% of the national rate can receive up to three years of grant funding to run publicly administered jobs that must meet wage, benefits, training, nondisplacement, and reporting requirements. Grants must support jobs open to local residents aged 18+, pay a floor wage based on the greatest of several standards (including state/local minimums and prevailing wage rules), provide health insurance comparable to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and include paid family and sick leave; programs must follow collective-bargaining protections and other program design, eligibility, and reporting rules specified in the text.