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Texas Workforce Commission adopts PY2025/FY2026 allocations; overall state WIOA allotment down about 10%
Summary
The commission approved program-year 2025/fiscal‑year 2026 allocations and distributions for WIOA adult, youth and dislocated worker programs, adult education and literacy (AEL) and rapid response funds after receiving official federal allotments. Staff recommended partial federal AEL funding be held pending Department of Education allotment.
The Texas Workforce Commission on May 20 approved program‑year 2025/fiscal‑year 2026 allocations and distributions for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) adult, youth and dislocated worker programs, adult education and literacy (AEL) and rapid response grants, adopting staff recommendations after the agency received official federal allotments from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Commission Chief Financial Officer Chris Nelson told commissioners the recalculation used official allotments and TWC rules to meet an 85% allocation requirement for adult and youth funds. "Overall, this is about a 10% reduction for the state's allotment from 2025," Nelson said during the briefing.
Why it matters: the allocations determine how federal and state funds flow to the 28 local workforce development boards, affecting service capacity for job training, adult education and rapid response to layoffs. Nelson said the final state allotments differ from the prior planning estimates because Texas's relative share in the federal allocation factors changed.
Key details from staff presentations and commission discussion: - The WIOA adult allocation increased by $4,169 relative to the packet previously distributed; the WIOA youth allocation decreased by $554,442, according to Nelson's briefing. - Nelson said staff did not recalculate the dislocated worker allocation because the change was minimal and TWC already allocates more than the required 60% to local boards. - For adult education and literacy (AEL), staff included 100% of $9,500,000 in state general revenue and 100% of $5,800,000 in appropriated funds in the packet, but recommended allocating only 50% of the federal PY24/FY25 AEL funds until the U.S. Department of Education issues an official allotment. Nelson said staff will recalculate and return to the commission after receipt of the federal allotment. - Rapid response distributions will be funded out of dislocated worker funds and grant agreements are set to take effect July 1, 2025. - Nelson explained the allocation factors used by the Department of Labor (disadvantaged adults/youth, areas of excess unemployment and substantial unemployment) and described the hold‑harmless/stop‑gain mechanics that aim to ensure boards receive at least a specified share of prior funding. "Every board should get at least 80% of what they got before," Nelson said, describing the hold‑harmless adjustment process.
A motion to adopt the staff recommendations and the allocations passed on a voice vote. Commissioners did not provide a roll‑call tally in the public transcript.
The commission packet indicates staff will recalculate allocations for any remaining federal funds once official assignations arrive and will return items to the commission for approval as needed.
What's next: the approved allocations and the rapid response grant agreements are scheduled to take effect July 1, 2025; staff will return to the commission to finalize AEL federal allocations after the Department of Education issues allotments.
