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With jobs across the country going unfilled due, in part, to a lack of skilled workers, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, introduced legislation this week to help low-income parents overcome employment barriers and train for in-demand jobs.

The bill, which Neal, the top Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, filed in the House on Monday, calls for $1 billion in investments to help train parents, who receive cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, seek better employment opportunities. 

Known as the "Improving Access to Good Jobs for Parents Act," the Springfield Democrat's proposal looks to invest $900 million in federal formula grants to support collaborations among TANF, workforce development agencies and local partners, like community colleges, that agree to work together in providing job training to low-income parents.

According to Ways and Means staff, partnerships would have to demonstrate how the grant would be used to increase the number of TANF recipients who receive training, enter or advance within in-demand industries or occupations, get support from career counselors and "get a good job," among other things.

Funding allocations would take into account state poverty rates, the number of TANF recipients in need of "good jobs," like high-tech manufacturing positions, officials noted.

About 53,000 Massachusetts residents received TANF benefits in 2017, about 17,000 of whom were adults, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

States, meanwhile, would be required under the legislation to provide sufficient research to demonstrate how their plans would achieve results, as well as to measure and report on their effectiveness, according to Neal's office.

In addition to the $900 million in formula grants, the congressman's bill further calls for $100 million in innovation grants to be awarded competitively to public and non-profit organizations to test and evaluate innovative, collaborative workforce development strategies.

Stressing that Americans are eager to learn new skills, Neal cast his proposed legislation as a "win" for workers and employers, alike. 

"This legislation makes targeted investments to provide parents with opportunities to receive training that matches local workforce needs. Injecting more highly-trained workers into the economy would help bridge the skills gap and strengthen families," he said in a statement. "This bill is a win for employers who are looking for qualified workers, and a win for parents and their kids' futures."

The congressman's office noted that the bill has garnered support from various organizations, including: The National Skills Coalition, Jobs for the Future, American Association of Community Colleges, Association for Career and Technical Education and the Center for Law and Social Policy.

Several Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee have also come out in support of Neal's bill, which will be offered as an amendment in the panel's Wednesday markup on TANF.

The congressman previously highlighted the number of precision manufacturing job opportunities impacted by the "skills gap" in Western Massachusetts during an August 2017 stop at Lee-based Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing Inc.

He offered that six million technology-related jobs across the country go unanswered, including between 17,000 and 20,000 precision manufacturing jobs in New England alone -- something the Democrat argued the government should help address.