Recently, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, along with a bipartisan group of congressional colleagues, introduced the bipartisan Creating Opportunities for New Skills Training at Rural and Underserved Colleges and Trade Schools (CONSTRUCTS) Act.
She was joined in introducing the bill by U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, Don Davis, D-North Carolina, and Ryan Zinke, R-Montana.
If passed by Congress and signed into law, the bill would expand training in the construction trades in order to increase the supply of housing units and lower costs, according to a news release from the office of Gluesenkamp Perez.
The CONSTRUCTS Act would create a grant program to fund and develop residential construction education and certification programs at community colleges, junior colleges, trade schools and opportunity youth programs.
It would aim to expand access to jobs for students, address the shortage of skilled construction workers and allow developers to build more homes, lowering housing costs, according to the news release.
“Many communities are facing acute labor shortages in construction trades, but in order to bring down the cost of housing, we need to build more housing,” Gluesenkamp Perez stated in the release. “By investing in fulfilling career pathways for our young people in the trades, we will be able to pick up the pace of residential construction and help hardworking families breathe easier. It’s how we invest in our next generation, bring back prestige for the skilled trades and support our rural timber economies.”
“By investing in construction education and related skills training programs, Congress can create a robust talent pipeline,” Davis stated in the release. “We must leave no stone unturned as we develop the workforce of tomorrow.”
Read the full bill at https://tinyurl.com/38d2xyzu.
The lawmakers previously introduced the legislation in the 118th Congress.
