Federal jobs program for long-term out-of-work people with training
S. 5570 — Ready to Work Act of 2026 · Filed by Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 28, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal jobs program run by the Department of Labor. It helps people who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. They get temporary jobs paired with training. The program pays for help like childcare and transportation. Employers get partial federal money to pay wages.
Who it affects
People out of work for 27 weeks or more gain access to jobs and training. Employers who join get federal wage money. Local workforce boards get funding to run the program.
One thing to notice
The bill limits program jobs to 10% of an employer's workforce in most cases. This may slow how many people the program can help. The bill also requires workers to report on past use of AI.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.
- Sep 28, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 28, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- workforce boards — Local groups that match workers with jobs and training.
- federal money — Cash from the U.S. government to pay for programs.
- AI — Artificial intelligence; computer systems that learn and make decisions.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (49,151 characters) on Oct 6, 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 long-term out-of-work people with training” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5570/simple Report an error
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