Tell Congress To Support Crucial Job Training Programs

Industrial metals service centers and mills continue to struggle to find talent, but U.S. lawmakers are working to expand access to programs that prepare Americans for careers in the metals industry.

Specifically, U.S. House and Senate appropriators are working on fiscal year (FY) 2027 spending legislation that could expand funding for career and technical education (CTE). The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations recently approved its version of the FY 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which includes a $10 million increase for the CTE Basic State Grant under the Perkins Act and a $5 million boost for registered apprenticeships. (The bill would eliminate funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, WIOA, Adult Job Training and WIOA Youth Job Training grants.)

The Senate has yet to approve its version of this bill and leaders on the two appropriations panels remain far apart on topline spending numbers. Federal lawmakers need to hear from our industry with the message that shows how investing in the metals and wider manufacturing workforce boosts productivity, increases tax revenues, and provides Americans with family-sustaining careers.

Click this link to contact your members of Congress and ask them to approve a FY 2027 spending bill that provides the resources industrial metals companies need to foster a sustainable pipeline of workers.