States gain optional tool to map career pathways for students
H.R. 7676 — Career-Connected Learning Pathways Act of 2026 · Filed by Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) · 14 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 25, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to allow states to create searchable online directories of career and technical education programs and career pathways. The directories would list programs by school district, industry cluster, and credential type, and include detailed information about courses, dual-enrollment options, work-based learning, and labor-market alignment. States may elect to participate; the bill does not mandate participation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is purely informational: it authorizes states to build searchable directories of CTE programs and requires participating states to share standardized data about those programs. No subsidies, no restrictions on private actors, no regulatory carve-outs—just infrastructure for transparency and labor-market alignment.
What the text implies
- Directory searchability by industry cluster and credential may create competitive pressure on CTE programs to demonstrate labor-market alignment, potentially disadvantaging programs serving niche or emerging industries not yet reflected in labor-market data.
- Standardized data formats and interoperability requirements may impose compliance costs on states and school districts, though the bill does not specify who bears those costs or whether federal funding is provided.
- The bill is permissive ('may develop'), not mandatory, so uptake and directory quality will vary by state; students in non-participating states gain no benefit.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Students and families gain transparent, searchable access to career and technical education options aligned with labor-market demand. The bill imposes no new costs on citizens and creates no restrictions on rights or remedies; it is purely additive infrastructure for information access and career planning.
Named in the bill
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, States (as implementing bodies), School districts, Workforce development boards, Industry and sector partnerships
Where it stands
14 cosponsors: 14 Democrats.
- Feb 25, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 25, 2026 — 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.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $50,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 14 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Jennifer McClellan, the sponsor, reported $727,956 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- People for the American Way — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,620 characters) on Nov 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,927 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-02.
“States gain optional tool to map career pathways for students” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7676 Report an error
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