NAHB Plays Major Role in Saving Job Corps Program
After Congress threatened to entirely eliminate the Job Corps program, lawmakers — thanks largely to the efforts of NAHB — have approved Job Corps funding for $1.76 billion, which maintains its fiscal 2023 funding level.
Also of note, the appropriations bill averts a lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and ensures that authorization for the NFIP is extended through Sept. 30, 2024. The legislation also prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves.
NAHB has worked long and hard to secure proper Jobs Corps funding and this legislation represents a major win for our industry. Last summer, House appropriators proposed to abolish the Department of Labor’s Job Corps program as part of a 30% reduction to the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget.
From that point on, NAHB’s advocacy team and grassroots mobilized to not only save this critical program that is a vital source of skilled labor for the residential construction sector, but to also keep it fully funded.
In a letter to House Republican and Democratic appropriations leaders, NAHB stressed that “for nearly 50 years, Job Corps has been the nation’s most successful career preparation program for our most disadvantaged youth. Job Corps offers real-life, hands-on training to help young people acquire three vital pieces of the employment puzzle: trades training, basic academics and employability skills.”