Congress funds childcare and groceries for job trainees—if it appropriates the money.
H.R. 5807 — Empowering Individuals to Succeed Through Education and Workforce Training Act · Filed by Adam Smith (D-WA) · Introduced Oct 21, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a new competitive grant fund that awards money to local workforce boards and state agencies to provide support services—such as groceries, childcare, and other living expenses—to people enrolled in federally funded job training programs. The goal is to remove financial barriers that prevent low-income workers from completing training.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is establishing a competitive grant fund to provide living-expense support (groceries, childcare) to job trainees. It is a straightforward appropriations authorization for a public workforce-development purpose.
What the text implies
- Grant amounts capped at $2,000,000 per year per grantee; actual per-trainee support levels depend on appropriations and number of eligible participants—bill does not guarantee funding reaches individual trainees.
- Grantees must partner with TANF and SNAP agencies; coordination requirements may create administrative burden or delay service delivery in under-resourced areas.
- Bill authorizes but does not appropriate funds; actual benefit depends on Congress passing separate appropriations—no mandatory spending.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill directly funds removal of financial barriers (food, childcare costs) that prevent low-income workers from completing job training. Eligible participants are individuals in federally funded training programs, and the support services are designed to help them succeed. No restrictions on citizens' rights or protections are imposed.
Who stands to gain
- local workforce boards
- state workforce agencies
- low-income job trainees (indirect: support services, not cash)
Named in the bill
Department of Labor (Secretary), Local Workforce Boards, State Boards, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Where it stands
- Oct 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,441 characters) on Oct 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-31.
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