Sponsors (4)
The bill creates a new federal Bureau, funded research, and grant programs to better identify and address employment and poverty challenges among older adults—potentially improving jobs and benefits access for many seniors—but it does so at modest recurring federal cost, with added bureaucracy, risk of duplication, and uncertain immediate impact for some populations.
Older workers (age 55+) gain dedicated research, grants, and programs designed to improve job prospects, training, reemployment, retention, and retirement readiness.
Creates a named Bureau, Director role, and statutory definition for 'older workers,' clarifying administrative responsibility and improving federal coordination and accountability for older-worker policy.
Provides predictable annual funding ($10 million/year starting after FY2027) to support the research, grants, and programs authorized by the bill, enabling program planning and implementation.
Taxpayers bear new and ongoing federal costs (administration, Executive Schedule position, staffing, and $10M/year grants), increasing the fiscal burden.
Mandated programs, grants, and recurring funding could divert limited federal dollars from other workforce or social programs and crowd out competing priorities.
Creating a new Bureau risks duplicating existing federal and state programs serving older adults, producing inefficient overlap and added bureaucracy.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates an Older Workers’ Bureau at DOL to conduct research, coordinate policy, and run two competitive grant programs to improve employment for people aged 55+, with $10M/year authorized after FY2027.
Official title: To establish in the Department of Labor an Older Workers' Bureau, to establish a data hub and a technical assistance center at the Department of Labor related to employment of older workers and the effect of older employment on retirement security, to establish grant programs related to the employment of older workers, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Donald Sternoff Beyer · Last progress February 12, 2026
Creates an Older Workers’ Bureau inside the Department of Labor to study, coordinate, and promote policies that improve employment, retention, and reemployment outcomes for people age 55 and older. The Bureau will run two competitive grant programs (one for research and one for programs/partnerships), produce an annual report cataloging federal programs and recommendations, consult with related federal agencies, and be staffed by a Director appointed by the President. The bill authorizes $10 million per year (beginning after FY2027) to carry out the grant programs; the Bureau must be operational within one year of enactment and grant competitions must begin within 180 days after the Bureau is operational.