The One Door to Work Act would amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to create a State Innovation Demonstration Authority. Under the bill, a state could apply to run a 5-year demonstration project—either for the entire state, or for a local area or a consortium of local areas—to receive a consolidated grant that covers youth and adult/dislocated worker employment and training activities. The goal is to pursue innovative reforms intended to yield better outcomes for jobseekers, employers, and taxpayers. The act would require rigorous, third-party evaluations of each demonstration project and would allow substantial waivers of many existing WIOA requirements to test new approaches. If the demonstration shows promise, it could be renewed for another 5 years, subject to performance. The bill also imposes certain oversight, funding, and accountability rules, including a strong emphasis on evaluating results and reporting to Congress. Key features include broad waivers of core WIOA requirements for the demonstration, a 5-year consolidated funding mechanism, mandatory independent evaluation, performance-based renewal, and a limited number of demonstrations per state (the bill caps approved demonstrations at no more than one per state). Funds would be distributed either to the state as a whole or to the local area/consortium serving as the fiscal agent or as a designated fiscal agent for the project. The act also requires priority of service for veterans, public assistance recipients, low-income individuals, and those lacking basic skills, and it imposes an admin cost cap and annual performance reporting.
Key Points
- 1State Innovation Demonstration Authority: States may apply to carry out a 5-year demonstration project (statewide, local area, or consortium) to receive a consolidated grant for youth and adult/dislocated worker activities, with the aim of pursuing innovative reforms and better outcomes.
- 2Broad waivers and consolidated funding: For the demonstration, the Secretary would waive most statutory and regulatory requirements of WIOA for the designated state, local area, or consortium, and provide a consolidated grant from existing WIOA funding to be used for the project. This can be distributed to the state or to a local board/consortium as appropriate, or routed through a fiscal agent.
- 3Third-party evaluation: A private, independent evaluator must assess each demonstration project within 180 days of approval and conduct a 5-year evaluation comparing participants to non-participants and to participants in traditional WIOA programs, plus a qualitative analysis of promising practices. A final evaluation report must be delivered to Congress after the fifth year.
- 4Renewal based on performance: Demonstrations last 5 years and may be renewed for another 5 years if the state/local area/consortium meets performance targets and achieves a defined level of improvement (at least a 5% average improvement across performance indicators in the final year, relative to a baseline).
- 5Cap on demonstrations per state: The bill places a cap of no more than one demonstration project approved under this section per state, with related limitations on the total number of demonstrations (the text outlines several numeric caps, but the final limitation effectively restricts a state to a single demonstration project).
- 6Accountability and outcomes: States, local areas, or consortia must meet specified performance accountability requirements, including annual reporting on participant outcomes and alignment with established performance indicators. The bill also provides sanctions mechanisms tied to performance outcomes, with adjustments for participant characteristics and economic conditions.
- 7Priority of service and administrative controls: Demonstration projects must give priority of services to veterans and their spouses, recipients of public assistance, low-income individuals, and those with basic skills deficiencies. Administrative costs are capped at 10% of demonstration funds, and projects must integrate with other workforce, education, and social programs where appropriate.