Federal jobs program for climate work, $20 per hour, union rights.
S. 5567 — Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act · Filed by Ed Markey (D-MA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a Civilian Climate Corps. It would hire people ages 17 and up for climate and environmental work. Jobs last 9 to 12 months. Workers earn at least $20 per hour. They get health insurance, child care help, and education money. Each worker can get up to $25,000 for education per term. The program splits money two ways: 66% for direct federal jobs and 34% for grants. Grants go to states, nonprofits, tribes, and labor groups. At least half of workers must come from low-income people and communities of color. At least half of money must go there too.
Who it affects
People ages 17 and up seeking climate and environmental jobs. States, nonprofits, tribes, and labor organizations that get grants. Climate and renewable energy companies that do the work.
One thing to notice
Corps workers would have union rights and the right to strike. Most federal workers do not have these rights. All contractors must pay prevailing wages, which may raise project costs.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Civilian Climate Corps — A federal jobs program that hires people to do climate and environmental work.
- prevailing wages — The standard pay rate for a type of work in a region, set by the government.
- union rights — The legal power of workers to form a group, bargain together, and strike.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Oct 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 2026-10-20.
“Federal jobs program for climate work, $20 per hour, union rights.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5567/simple Report an error
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