Urban League Twin Cities requests $400,000-a-year workforce funds to expand training tracks

Representative Abbaje introduced House File 498 to the House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee on March 4, 2025, requesting workforce-appropriation support for Urban League Twin Cities to expand industry-specific training tracks in information technology, healthcare, construction and renewable energy.

Why it matters: witnesses said the Urban League has a long local history and that targeted industry training can help family stabilization and connect residents to living-wage careers.

Joy Jones, workforce director at Urban League Twin Cities, described a request for $400,000 each year over the next two years to support focused industry tracks and to scale existing job‑skills services. She said the Urban League serves all clients and aims to create career pathways that can support family stability and community well‑being.

Client witness Willie Williams described how Urban League training opened doors to masonry and other construction work, walking the committee through a short training sequence and the on‑the‑job expectations that prepared him for employment. Representative Lee Pinto and other committee members praised the organization’s work and urged sponsors to consider how programs will fare in the broader shift toward competitive grants during budget negotiations; Pinto advised early conversations to ensure that community‑based organizations are not disadvantaged by grant processes.

Action taken: the committee laid House File 498 over for possible inclusion in the omnibus budget; no final appropriation was adopted during this hearing.

Next steps: sponsors and committee members indicated they would continue discussions about funding administration and the budget process to preserve support for community organizations.