Highlights from the President's FY17 Department of Labor Budget Request

Enacted FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
The president’s FY17 budget proposal would provide $12.8 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Labor (DOL), a 4.9 percent increase from FY16. Priority items supported in the budget are apprenticeships, career navigation tools, and additional reforms recommended in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Under the proposed FY17 budget, WIOA Formula Grants to states and localities providing training and employment services would be funded at $2.8 billion (5 percent increase), the first time since the law’s enactment that these grants would be funded at their full authorized level.

The Employment Training Administration (ETA), which provides employment assistance, labor market information, job training, and income support through a variety of programs would receive $9.5 billion in discretionary funds, a 3.5 percent increase. Within this amount, the ETA would receive $3.5 billion (5.7 percent increase) in funding for training and employment services through a variety of programs, including:

• $90 million (no change from FY16 enacted) for Apprenticeship Grants, supporting innovative, job-driven approaches that result in the growth of Registered Apprenticeship programs that train workers with 21st century skills that meet employer and industry workforce needs;
• $84.5 million (no change from FY16 enacted) to support the YouthBuild Program, providing at-risk high school dropouts ages 16-24 with education and occupational skills training;
• $842.4 million (3.3 percent increase) for Adult Employment and Training Activities, helping to prepare lower-skilled adult workers for good jobs through formula grants to states;
• $902.1 million (3.3 percent increase) for Youth Activities, serving both in-school and out-of-school youth between the ages of 14 and 24 years, helping them to obtain skills and education needed to succeed in the knowledge-based economy;
• $40 million for the Workforce Data Quality Initiative, providing competitive grants to states to support the development and enhancement of longitudinal data systems that integrate education and workforce data in order to track the employment and educational outcomes of WIOA program participants; and,
• $1.3 billion (7.4 percent increase) for Dislocated Workers Employment and Training Activities, serving as a primary vehicle to help workers who have lost their jobs gain new skills and find work in growing sectors;

Under the proposed budget, the Job Corps program would receive $1.8 billion (3.9 percent increase) in FY17. The nation’s largest career technical training and education program for youth, this program helps prepare young people for jobs in high-demand occupations with good wage potential.

The budget includes $12.5 million in new funding for several mandatory Job-Driven Training Proposals, initiatives that combine strong employer engagement with high-quality training to create pathways for workers in high-growth occupations. These programs include:

• $2 billion for the Apprenticeship Training Fund, comprised of: $1.3 billion in flexible funding to states for strategies that increase employer participation in the apprenticeship model; $500 million for an innovation fund that rewards partnerships between states, cities, regions, nonprofits, employers, unions, intermediaries, and training providers to assist employers in expanding apprenticeship; and, $200 million to support the development and expansion of youth apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship programs;
• $3 billion over five years in mandatory funding for the American Talent Compact, for training efforts that feature strong industry partnerships and focus on in-demand sectors;
• $2 billion over five years for Career Navigators and the WIOA Workforce Data Science and Innovation Fund, which would provide: $1.5 billion over five years to launch a Career Navigators program that would proactively reach out to individuals who have exhausted unemployment insurance, dropped out of the labor force, and are only able to find part-time work; and, $500 million over five years for the Workforce Data Science and Innovation Fund that focuses on reducing the costs and increasing the quality of integrated state labor data systems, establishing a Center of Excellence for data science and development services; and,
• $5.5 billion over four years for the Opening Doors for Youth Program, committed to expanding skills for opportunity youth – those who are out-of-school and at-risk. Within this amount, $1.5 billion would support summer job opportunities linked to career information and training opportunities, and another $2 billion would go toward investing in first jobs for opportunity youth, providing up to a year of paid work. An additional $2 billion would be used to launch Connecting for Opportunities, a grant program that seeks to transform communities that have been particularly impacted with high rates of youth disengagement and unemployment.

Using National Reserve Funds, the DOL provides grants to states that have recently experienced a significant dislocation event such as a mass layoff or plant closing, supplementing job training formula grants to expand the capacity of states and local communities to provide reemployment services and job training. The FY17 budget request includes $230.9 million for the National Reserve Account, a 4.5 percent increase. As part of his plan to invest in coal communities, the president’s proposed FY17 budget would provide $20 million of the requested amount to specifically support workers dislocated from the coal economy.