Rep. Scholten Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Recognize Skilled Workers

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, U.S. Congresswoman Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03), alongside U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), announced introduction of the bipartisan Honoring Vocational Education Act to ensure workers who pursue job training programs, trade schools, union apprenticeships, and other technical pathways are fully recognized in federal workforce data.

"In West Michigan, we know that hard work and education take many forms," said Rep. Scholten."Too often, workers with vocational training, technical certifications, or apprenticeships are left out of how the federal government measures workforce needs. The Honoring Vocational Education Act works to change that and will make sure our skilled workers are recognized, valued, and counted."

"Our PA-1 community is home to some of the strongest career and technical schools, union apprenticeship programs, and workforce pipelines in the country-producing the welders, electricians, machinists, and advanced technicians who keep our economy running and our national supply chains secure. But when workforce data leaves these workers out, investment and planning fall behind. This bill closes that gap by permanently measuring the skilled technical workforce, ensuring communities like ours have the data-driven tools to compete, build, and lead," said Rep. Fitzpatrick.

When Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, it included a requirement to better understand the skilled technical workforce. That effort led to the creation of the National Training, Education, and Workforce Survey (NTEWS), a new federal survey that tracks education and training for skilled workers, including vocational certificates, licenses, and other work-related credentials. NTEWS is currently in a pilot phase and released its first report in 2025.

The Honoring Vocational Education Actwould make NTEWS permanent by requiring the survey to be conducted and publicly released every two years. By locking in this data collection, the bill ensures skilled tradespeople and technical workers continue to be counted in labor market research and that this information can inform other federal surveys, including those used by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This legislation builds on Rep. Scholten's earlier bill from the 118th Congress, which focused on adding vocational training questions directly to the decennial Census. The updated version takes a more practical approach by strengthening and reauthorizing an existing survey already collecting this data, creating a reliable pipeline of information that can be shared across federal agencies.

Current cosponsors of this legislation include: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL-23).