Residential Construction Workforce Grants

Summary#

The CONSTRUCTS Act of 2025 would add a new grant program to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The program would fund junior/community colleges, area career and technical schools, and certain training providers to expand education, training, and outreach for careers in residential construction. The bill aims to build workforce skills—especially in rural and underserved areas—and to link training to increasing the supply of affordable housing.

• Main change: Creates a new competitive grant program administered by the Department of Labor, in consultation with the Department of Education, to expand residential construction training programs.
• Who can get grants: Junior or community colleges, area career and technical education schools, and eligible training providers.
• Priority: Grants must prioritize applicants serving rural areas or underserved populations.
• Uses of funds: Required uses include new or expanded evidence-based training in specific construction trades, incumbent worker upskilling, local partnerships with builders/developers, and outreach to K–12 students (including dual enrollment). Permissive uses include hiring instructors, operating training clinics in underserved areas, marketing, and scholarships.
• Accountability: Recipients must report on WIOA’s primary performance indicators and attest to compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws. The Secretary of Labor must report results to relevant congressional committees.
• Funding authorized: $20 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
• What is unclear: The bill does not specify exact metrics for measuring increases in affordable housing supply, and it does not include a detailed fiscal estimate for administrative costs.

What it means for you#

• Junior and community colleges / area career & technical schools

  • Can apply for competitive grants to create or expand programs teaching trades such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, masonry, construction management, and related skills.
  • May fund outreach, dual enrollment with high schools, and scholarships or flexible schedules to attract more students.
  • Must report outcomes and attest to compliance with labor laws.

• Training providers

  • Eligible providers may receive grants to expand residential construction training and to partner with schools and local businesses.

• Students and jobseekers

  • Could see more local training programs, night or part-time classes, online options, and supportive services for job search and placement.
  • Programs aim to serve incumbent workers, opportunity youth, in-school youth, rural residents, veterans, low-income people, and those with employment barriers.

• Local construction businesses and developers

  • Encouraged to partner with grantees to help shape training and provide hiring pathways. Partnerships must ensure partners offer fair wages and benefits commensurate with local pay.

• Rural and underserved communities

  • The bill gives these areas priority for grants and allows funds to be used to open training clinics where no programs currently exist.

• Federal agencies

  • The Department of Labor will run the competitive grants and must produce a report to Congress summarizing grantee outcomes.

Expenses#

Estimated public cost: The bill authorizes $20,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026–2030.

• Authorized funding: $20 million annually (FY2026–2030). Authorization means Congress permits this spending level; actual spending requires appropriation.
• Administrative costs: The Department of Labor would administer competitive grants and reporting. The bill does not provide a cost estimate for administration.
• Local or recipient costs: The bill allows scholarships and other supportive services but does not require matching funds. Any costs for colleges to sustain programs after grant end must be addressed in applicants’ sustainability plans.
• No fiscal note provided: No additional public cost estimates or budget scoring are included in the bill text or supplied materials.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to address worker shortages in residential construction by expanding local training capacity.
• It focuses on rural and underserved areas, which may have fewer training options.
• The grant program links training to recognized postsecondary credentials and to measures of program performance, which could improve accountability.
• It supports multiple pathways into construction (incumbent upskilling, youth outreach, dual enrollment), which could broaden the labor pipeline.
• Encouraging partnerships with local employers may increase job placement and align training with local labor demand.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is that $20 million per year may be small relative to national needs for construction workers and affordable housing, which could limit the program’s reach.
• The bill does not spell out how to measure or verify the claimed increase in affordable housing supply, making that goal hard to track.
• Competitive grants could leave some communities without support if they do not win awards.
• Requiring attestations about labor-law compliance and no pending labor actions may limit eligible partners or slow partnerships, but also aims to ensure legal compliance.
• The bill leaves administrative costs and long-term sustainability to grantees’ plans; it is unclear how many programs could continue after grants end.