One Door to Work Act

Bill Number

H.R. 2651

Origin Chamber

House

Congress

119th Congress, Session 1

Policy Area

Labor and Employment

Status

Introduced

Latest Action

2025-04-03: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Last Updated

2026-06-11T23:26:42Z

AI-Generated Summary

Purpose

The "One Door to Work Act" (H.R. 2651) aims to encourage innovation in U.S. workforce development programs by allowing states, local areas, or groups of local areas to test new approaches. It does this through temporary waivers of certain rules and combined funding grants, with the goal of improving job placement, earnings, and efficiency for jobseekers, employers, and taxpayers. It also requires strict evaluations to check if these innovations work better than current methods.

Key Provisions

• Demonstration Projects: States can apply to run 5-year projects (renewable for another 5 years) that consolidate federal funding for youth, adult, and dislocated worker training programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Projects can cover the whole state, a single local area, or a group of local areas.
• Waivers and Funding: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary must waive most rules in WIOA's adult, youth, and related sections (subtitles A and B) for approved projects. Funding is provided as a single grant instead of separate allotments, but limits administrative costs to 10% of the funds.
• Exceptions to Waivers: Projects must still follow rules on measuring performance (like tracking job placement rates), local or state board structures (if kept), and giving priority to groups like veterans, low-income individuals, public assistance recipients, and those with basic skills gaps.
• Applications and Approval: States submit detailed plans, including project activities, expected outcomes, consultations with employers and boards, and how services will reach jobseekers and employers. The Secretary has 60 days to approve or explain denial; if no response, it's automatically approved (unless limits are hit).
• Participant Requirements: Projects must serve more participants than before or a mutually agreed number, focusing on at-risk groups.
• Reporting and Evaluation: Annual reports on outcomes are required. DOL must hire an independent evaluator within 180 days of the first approval to study projects over 5 years, comparing results (e.g., employment rates) to non-participants and past programs. Results go to Congress after 7 years total.
• Performance Standards: Projects set yearly goals higher than past baselines, with at least a 5% average improvement by year 5 for renewal. Failure triggers sanctions (like reduced funding) starting in year 3, and blocks renewal.
• Limits: No more than 8 statewide projects and 8 local/group projects nationwide; only one project per state (local ones count toward the state's limit).

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Replaces Section 190 of WIOA entirely with this new framework, expanding from limited waivers to broad, multi-year demonstrations with consolidated funding.
• Introduces default approval for applications and mandatory third-party evaluations, which weren't required before.
• Adds renewal criteria based on performance gains and caps the number of projects to prevent overuse.
• Excludes demonstration areas from statewide performance calculations, allowing focused testing without penalizing the whole state.
• Ties funding more flexibly to innovations while enforcing stricter outcome tracking and participant minimums.

Potential Impacts

• Government Agencies: DOL gains oversight through evaluations and approvals but must process applications quickly; states and local boards get flexibility to streamline services, potentially reducing bureaucracy but increasing reporting burdens.
• Citizens: Jobseekers (especially youth aged 16-24, adults 25+, low-income, and veterans) could access more tailored training and job services, leading to better employment and earnings if innovations succeed. Taxpayers might see cost savings from efficient programs.
• International Relations: No direct impact, as this focuses on domestic workforce policy.
• Overall, successful projects could scale innovations nationally, improving workforce outcomes; failures might highlight ineffective reforms without broad harm due to limits and evaluations.

Main Stakeholders Affected

• States and Local Workforce Boards: Primary applicants and implementers, gaining waiver authority but facing performance pressures.
• Jobseekers and Workers: Especially underserved groups (e.g., dislocated workers, low-income individuals, youth), who benefit from potential service improvements.
• Employers: Consulted in planning and served through better-trained workers; could influence project designs for local needs.
• U.S. Department of Labor and Congress: DOL handles approvals and evaluations; Congress receives reports to inform future policy.
• Taxpayers and Broader Public: Indirectly affected through funding efficiency and program outcomes.

Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications

• Legal: Strengthens evidence-based policymaking by mandating rigorous, comparative evaluations, which could set precedents for future waiver programs in federal laws. Ensures compliance with core WIOA protections (e.g., priority groups) to avoid legal challenges on equity.
• Constitutional: No apparent issues; aligns with federal spending power and states' rights by allowing voluntary state-led experiments without overriding core civil rights or due process.
• Political: Promotes bipartisan goals of workforce flexibility and innovation but could spark debate over reduced federal oversight versus state autonomy. Limits on projects prevent widespread deregulation, balancing innovation with accountability; evaluations may influence reauthorizations of WIOA.

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.

Sponsor

Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4]

Cosponsors (1)

Rep. Biggs, Sheri [R-SC-3]

Recent Actions

• 2025-04-03: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
• 2025-04-03: Introduced in House
• 2025-04-03: Introduced in House

Bill Versions

• One Door to Work Act — issued 2025-04-03 — PDF (23 pages)