(The Center Square) – Wisconsin employers could soon get a boost if a plan to use taxpayer money to develop workforce and literacy skills moves forward.
Senate Bill 240 and Assembly Bill 235 would require the Department of Workforce Development to establish grants for eligible nonprofit organizations to use to teach workforce readiness, basic literacy skills and digital literacy.
Groups could also use the money toward preparation and testing for the GED and HSED, literacy programs related to the workforce and other professional services and supplies to directly support adult literacy services.
“Wisconsin has thousands of jobs to fill and a number of willing workers who need basic literacy skills to unlock their future careers,” Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said in a statement. “This bill tackles one of the biggest employment barriers head-on by investing in teaching reading and other foundational skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce.”
To be eligible for the grant, an organization must be a nonprofit in Wisconsin and provide adult literacy services or at least support community-based literacy programs in more than half of the state’s 72 counties.
The bills were referred to the Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.
