Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, on the floor of the House, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) requested unanimous consent to become the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act. The JOBS Act would expand eligibility for federal Pell Grant programs to individuals interested in pursuing short-term, high-quality education and training programs to address the worker shortage by closing the skills gap. Blunt Rochester is now the official lead sponsor of the bill and will be responsible for garnering additional support from her colleagues to get the bill to the House floor for a vote. 

Former Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) led the JOBS Act until he resigned from office, which became effective on January 21, 2024. Blunt Rochester was a co-lead on the bill with Johnson and other colleagues when they introduced it in February of 2023. The JOBS Act is one of the bills included in Blunt Rochester’s Jobs Agenda, a comprehensive set of bills that includes policies from creating available and affordable housing, to giving justice-involved individuals a second chance and a clean slate, to creating the workforce training programs of today and tomorrow and making our supply chains more resilient. 

“I was proud to introduce the bipartisan JOBS Act last year with former Representative Johnson to increase access to Pell Grants for students across the country to grow their skills and secure good-paying jobs all while reducing workforce shortages and strengthening our economy,” said Blunt Rochester, founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Future of Work Caucus. “Today, I am equally as proud to have stood before my colleagues to take leadership of the bill, and I will continue to work across the aisle to garner support for this critical legislation so that young people across the country are prepared to do the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow.”

The full video can be viewed here. 

###