The bill is designed to build pathways out of poverty and solve our long-term labor shortage.
Congressman Dwight Evans (center), with Evelyn Sample-Oates, Senior Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Policy, and Louis J. King II, President and CEO, OIC of America
Big news.
This week, Congressman Dwight Evans (D-PA-3rd) and Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11th) introduced the bipartisan Leveraging Educational Opportunity Networks (LEON) Act to build pathways out of poverty and solve our structural, long-term labor shortage. Under the bill, the U.S. Department of Labor would provide competitive grants to organizations that partner with local employers to provide no-cost professional certification training to workers for living-wage jobs in construction, disaster recovery, manufacturing and more.
This bill transcends barriers and levels the playing field.
“Too many families — in Pennsylvania’s 3rd District and across the country — have been shut out from employment opportunities that offer them a pathway to the middle class,” said Congressman Dwight Evans. “The LEON Act would help build a national career technical education system that would break down barriers and prepare low-income people with the skills that employers need.”
“Western North Carolina is still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene last fall, and recovery is going to take years. This is in part because we have a shortage of qualified construction workers to help us rebuild,” said Congressman Chuck Edwards. “The LEON Act would enable us to quickly train the workers we need to help us build stronger, more resilient communities and economies.”
Employers need millions of skilled people. As of April 2023, there were more than 10 million job openings and only 5.7 million people looking for work. At the same time, changes in economic mobility have made it considerably harder for many Americans to get ahead.
The bill — which would authorize $150 million in grants to accredited, not-for-profit, post-secondary educational institutions providing training at no out-of-pocket cost to students — is named for civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan, who in 1964 founded the worldwide network of skills-training organizations Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC).
“The LEON Act is an opportunity to future-proof tomorrow’s workforce by preparing adults for jobs that provide a pathway to the middle class,” said Louis J. King II, OIC of America’s president and CEO. “With no-cost training, we can transform lives, stabilize and strengthen communities, and address our national labor shortage. In doing so, we create a stronger America.”
What can you do?
Contact your representative and tell them you read about the LEON Act, you like it, and you’d like them to co-sponsor it.
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