Rep. Omar Introduces the Supportive Services Enhancement Act  

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) today introduced the Supportive Services Enhancement Act to improve the delivery of wraparound services, like housing and transportation, for workers participating in workforce development programs. Specifically, the bill would expand the definition of supportive services to include mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, and internet access. It would also make providing such services a local required activity for adult participants.

The legislation was included in H.R. 7309, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022 and passed out of the Education and Labor committee today.

"In Minnesota and across the country, this pandemic has exposed the historic levels of inequality workers face—where CEOs get million dollar pay packages while workers struggle to afford basics like food, healthcare and childcare. As we improve our job and workforce training, we must make sure people are also having their basic needs met. Housing, childcare, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment and internet access are all part of workforce development, and it's time we treated them as such," Rep. Omar said.

You can read the full bill text