Sponsors (4)
Allows one-stop workforce centers to be physical or virtual and shared across local areas, permits campus locations, and mandates colocation of state employment offices with physical centers.
Official title: Amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to expand the types of one-stop centers used to provide services.
Introduced February 10, 2026 by Theodore Paul Budd · Last progress February 10, 2026
The bill aims to improve access and coordination of workforce services—especially by colocating employment offices and enabling virtual one‑stop options—but does so in ways that shift costs to states/localities, risk widening access gaps (digital and geographic), and reduce some flexibility for local service models.
Jobseekers and employers in States with physical one‑stop centers will get employment service offices colocated with one‑stop centers, making it easier to access coordinated job and training services in a single place.
Jobseekers who cannot reach physical centers (including low‑income and mobility‑limited individuals) can access one‑stop services virtually, expanding remote access to job search and training supports.
States and localities can share or colocate centers (including colocating employment service staff), reducing duplication and lowering some operating costs while improving coordination among workforce partners.
Rural and underfunded communities lacking broadband or equipment may be unable to use virtual centers, leaving many remote and low‑income jobseekers without the intended access benefits.
States and localities may face new upfront costs (technology terminals, IT setup) and administrative expenses to relocate or restructure employment service offices to comply, imposing fiscal strain on state/local budgets and potentially on taxpayers.
Jobseekers in States without physical one‑stop centers are not required to get colocated employment services, creating uneven availability of improved services across States.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows America’s workforce one-stop centers to be either physical or virtual, and to be shared across adjacent local areas. Requires state employment service offices to be colocated with physical one-stop centers where those centers exist, and permits locating a one-stop at a public institution of higher education.