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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025
Validate Prior Learning to Accelerate Employment Act
This bill incorporates assessments that measure an individual's prior knowledge, skills, competencies, and experiences into specified state and local employment training activities under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
An assessment may be used, for example, to award a recognized postsecondary credential that employers use for recruitment, hiring, retention, or advancement purposes.
People & committees
Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12] · R–GA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 4, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would expand workforce programs’ use of assessments that measure what adults and dislocated workers already know and can do. Those assessments could support credentials, credit toward credentials, employment plans, and descriptions of skills for employers. The bill would also allow state and local support for employers evaluating applicants’ demonstrated skills as an alternative to college-degree requirements.
competency-based assessments that are a valid and reliable method of measuring and collecting information on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individuals who are adults or dislocated workers
(I) awarding, based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of such an individual— (aa) a recognized postsecondary credential that is used by employers in the State for recruitment, hiring, retention, or advancement purposes; or (bb) credit toward a recognized postsecondary credential aligned with an in-demand industry sector or occupation in the State;
(II) developing individual employment plans under subsection (c)(2)(A)(xii)(II)
(III) helping such an individual communicate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the individual to prospective employers through skills-based resumes, profiles, or portfolios;
supporting employers in the State seeking to implement skills-based hiring practices to evaluate individuals based on the demonstrated knowledge, skills, and abilities of such individuals, as an alternative to relying on postsecondary degree requirements in the hiring process
technical assistance or other support to employers seeking to implement skills-based hiring practices
Section 1 would name the bill the Validate Prior Learning to Accelerate Employment Act.
This Act may be cited as the Validate Prior Learning to Accelerate Employment Act.
Section 2(a) would add statewide coordination with industry groups, employers—including small and mid-sized employers—training providers, local workforce boards, and higher education institutions. They would identify or develop valid, reliable assessments of adults’ and dislocated workers’ knowledge and skills.
(a) Statewide employment and training activities Section 134(a)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(2)(B)) is amended—
(vii) coordinating with industry organizations, employers (including small and mid-sized employers), training providers, local boards, and institutions of higher education to identify or develop competency-based assessments that are a valid and reliable method of measuring and collecting information on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individuals who are adults or dislocated workers
The assessments could support awarding a recognized postsecondary credential—an education or training qualification beyond high school—that employers in the state use for employment decisions. Alternatively, they could support credit toward such a credential aligned with a high-demand industry or occupation in the state. These are stated purposes, not a guarantee that every person assessed would receive a credential or credit.
for the purpose of— (I) awarding, based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of such an individual— (aa) a recognized postsecondary credential that is used by employers in the State for recruitment, hiring, retention, or advancement purposes; or (bb) credit toward a recognized postsecondary credential aligned with an in-demand industry sector or occupation in the State;
Other assessment purposes would include developing employment plans that match a person’s existing skills to high-demand work and identify any additional skills needed. Assessments could also help people explain their skills to prospective employers through resumes, profiles, or portfolios.
(II) developing individual employment plans under subsection (c)(2)(A)(xii)(II) that identify— (aa) in-demand industry sectors or occupations that require knowledge, skills, and abilities that are similar to the knowledge, skills, and abilities of such an individual to secure employment in such sectors or occupations; and (bb) any upskilling needed to secure such employment; or (III) helping such an individual communicate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the individual to prospective employers through skills-based resumes, profiles, or portfolios;
Section 2(a) would also add distribution of assessment information to local areas and employers. This would cover credentials or credit awarded, organizations that recognize the assessed skills, and how people could access assessments through the workforce program’s one-stop service system. A further employment-plan information requirement contains an unclear cross-reference.
(viii) disseminating to local areas and employers information relating to the assessments described in clause (vii), including— (I) any credential or credit awarded pursuant to items (aa) and (bb) of clause (vii)(I); (II) the industry organizations, employers, training providers, and institutions of higher education located within the State that recognize the knowledge, skills, and abilities of such an individual that are validated by such assessments; (III) how such assessments may be provided to, and accessed by, such an individual through the one-stop delivery system; and (IV) information on how the development of the individual employment plans under subsection (c)(2)(A)(xii)(II) can include an identification of the information described in items (aa) and (bb) of clause (vii)(III).
(III) helping such an individual communicate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the individual to prospective employers through skills-based resumes, profiles, or portfolios;
Section 2(b) would allow statewide support for employers using demonstrated skills instead of postsecondary degree requirements to evaluate applicants. Support could include technical help with using and validating employment assessments and creating job descriptions organized around skills.
(b) Allowable Statewide employment and training activities
(xv) supporting employers in the State seeking to implement skills-based hiring practices to evaluate individuals based on the demonstrated knowledge, skills, and abilities of such individuals, as an alternative to relying on postsecondary degree requirements in the hiring process, which may include— (I) technical assistance on the use and validation of employment assessments, such as the competency-based assessments identified or developed by the State pursuant to paragraph (2)(B)(vii); and (II) support in the creation of skills-based job descriptions.
Section 2(c) would add a local determination of whether a person would benefit from a state-identified or state-developed skills assessment. That determination must consider factors including work experience, military service, education, and locally high-demand work. The stated aim is faster access to employment supporting economic self-sufficiency or career advancement; the text does not establish that this result would occur.
(c) Authorized local employment and training activities Section 134(c)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— (1) in clause (iii), by inserting before the semicolon the following: , including a determination (which shall consider factors including prior work experience, military service, education, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the local area) of whether such an individual would benefit from a competency-based assessment identified or developed by the State pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(vii) to accelerate the time to obtaining employment that leads to economic self-sufficiency or career advancement;
Section 2(c) would also expressly include a state-identified or state-developed skills assessment in another existing local-service provision. Section 2(d) would permit local assessments at the initial skill assessment or after training services or other learning experiences, and would permit local technical assistance or other support for employers adopting skills-based hiring.
(2) in clause (xii)(I)(aa), by inserting before the semicolon the following: , including a competency-based assessment identified or developed pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(vii).
(d) Permissible local employment and training activities
(ee) technical assistance or other support to employers seeking to implement skills-based hiring practices, which may include technical assistance on the use and validation of employment assessments, including competency-based assessments developed or identified by the State pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(vii), and support in the creation of skills-based job descriptions.
(xiii) competency-based assessments for individuals upon the initial assessment of skill levels pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(A)(iii), or upon completion of training services or other learning experiences.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated March 4, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on February 21, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-04T16:50:49Z. 2025-02-21: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2025-02-21: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not extend to other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This text-only conclusion does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Ordinary program coverage and employer assistance do not alone establish such a benefit. This conclusion is limited to this version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 4, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI