State and Federal Update: June 2, 2025

State

Fiscal Cliff Task Force Bill Advances
As noted below, most of the focus around policy has been at the federal level. In one recent state item of interest to NYATEP members, a bill sponsored by Sen. Roxanne Persaud to establish a “fiscal cliff task force” to study issues related to benefits cutoffs in public assistance programs and make related recommendations, advanced to the Rules Committee on May 29. Last year, the same bill passed both houses of the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Hochul.

Federal

USDOL Moves to “Pause” Job Corps
On May 29, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a decision to “begin a phased pause” of the Job Corps program, to go into full effect by June 30. The program serves as many as 60,000 young adults each year at more than 120 centers across the U.S., and has trained more than three million young, low-income participants since Congress created the program in 1964. DOL justified the move by pointing to a number of incidents at Jobs Corps sites as well as “significant financial challenges under its current operating structure.” There are seven Job Corps centers in New York state, including two in New York City and one each in Cassadega, Callicoon, Glenmont, Medina, and Oneonta.

While the Trump administration has characterized this decision as a “pause,” Democrats charge that the move will effectively kill the program. In a statement, Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, noted that DOL is effectively voiding its contracts with 99 Job Corps centers. Without funds to continue operations, Scott added, centers will have to expel youth off their campuses, with many at risk of becoming homeless as a result. In the Senate, officials from both parties have criticized the administration’s decision.

Administration Proposes Severe Cuts and Consolidation for federal Workforce
ProgramsOn Friday, May 30, DOL posted additional detail on its budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026. Keeping in mind that by law, only Congress can pass a budget, the administration proposes to collapse the following DOL-funded programs into a block grant:

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult
• WIOA Dislocated Worker
• WIOA Youth
• Employment Service State Grants
• Dislocated Worker Grants
• Strengthening Community Colleges
• Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities
• Apprenticeship Grants
• YouthBuild
• National Farmworker Jobs Program
• Indian and Native American Programs
• Reentry Employment Opportunities
• Workforce Data Quality Initiative

The proposed budget for this new block grant, “Make America Skilled Again,” would be $2.966 billion, a decrease of $1.533 billion from the combined funding for the programs DOL wishes to consolidate. The block grant funds would be disbursed according to a formula defined by the Secretary of Labor. The administration claims that the block grant will “allow grant recipients to… focus on seeding effective approaches,” pointing to registered apprenticeship as an example. Grantees will be required to spend at least 10 percent of their funds on registered apprenticeship activities.  

While this is certainly not welcome news, it is important to remember two things. First, Congress has the final say here, and we are hearing that it is “definitely skeptical” of the administration’s proposed approach. Second and related, workforce development has strong bipartisan support, as seen by the overwhelming vote in the House last winter to pass the A Stronger Workforce for America Act, which would have reauthorized WIOA had it been included in the final Continuing Resolution of the last session of Congress. NYATEP remains in close contact with partners across the state and country as we work on a bipartisan basis toward greater support for workforce programs and funding. We urge members to collect and be ready to share stories of our programs’ positive impact, as we engage elected officials to advance New Yorkers’ training and employment needs.

NYATEP will continue to monitor events as they unfold and share details to our members as soon as possible. If you have an immediate questions or concerns, please contact David Fischer, Interim Executive Director, at [email protected].