NAHB Plays Major Role in Saving Job Corps Program; NFIP Extended Through Sept. 30
After Congress threatened to entirely eliminate the Job Corps program, lawmakers — thanks largely to the efforts of NAHB — have approved Job Corps funding for $1.76 billion, which maintains its fiscal 2023 funding level.
Also of note, the appropriations bill averts a lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and ensures that authorization for the NFIP is extended through Sept. 30, 2024. The legislation also prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves.
NAHB has worked long and hard to secure proper Jobs Corps funding and this legislation represents a major win for our industry. Last summer, House appropriators proposed to abolish the Department of Labor’s Job Corps program as part of a 30% reduction to the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget.
From that point on, NAHB’s advocacy team and grassroots mobilized to not only save this critical program that is a vital source of skilled labor for the residential construction sector, but to also keep it fully funded.
In a letter to House Republican and Democratic appropriations leaders, NAHB stressed that “for nearly 50 years, Job Corps has been the nation’s most successful career preparation program for our most disadvantaged youth. Job Corps offers real-life, hands-on training to help young people acquire three vital pieces of the employment puzzle: trades training, basic academics and employability skills.”
In partnership with NAHB, the Home Building Institute (HBI) is a national leader for career training and job placement in the building industry. For more than 45 years, HBI has been a trusted and valued national training program contracted by the Department of Labor when outsourcing their Job Corps construction training contracts.
But due to tight budgetary constraints, many House lawmakers remained opposed to funding the Job Corps program. From last July through this week, NAHB lobbyists and members from across the nation have been meeting with lawmakers, inviting them to HBI training sites and working with others in the industry to hammer home the importance of Job Corps to the housing community.
A severe shortage of labor in the construction industry is worsening the housing affordability crisis through higher home building costs and construction delays. In any given month, there is a shortage of between 325,000 and 400,000 construction workers, and home builders will need to add 2.2 million new workers over the next three years just to keep up with demand.
Through the determined efforts of NAHB, House lawmakers ultimately agreed with Senate appropriators to maintain Jobs Corps funding at its $1.76 billion level through the end of fiscal year 2024, which runs through Sept. 30, 2024.
At the same time as it approved the Labor HHS spending bill, Congress also enacted five other remaining spending bills -- Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations.
After moving earlier this month to approve fiscal year 2024 spending bills for several other government agencies, including Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice and Science, Energy and Water Development, HUD, Interior, and Military Construction-VA, this means that Congress has passed all its spending bills for fiscal year 2024.
Looking forward, NAHB will be urging Congress to maintain its support for Job Corps and encourage funding that reflects the program’s needs for fiscal year 2025
Latest from NAHBNow
Sep 17, 2025
Housing Starts Remain Soft Ahead of Fed MeetingOverall housing starts decreased 8.5% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.31 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sep 16, 2025
Tradeswomen Paving Their Own WayNAHB spoke with Professional Women in Building (PWB) members Elyse Adams and Brittney Quinn about their career paths in the trades and how PWB has positively influenced their journeys.
Latest Economic News
Sep 17, 2025
The Fed Cuts and Projects More Easing to ComeAfter a monetary policy pause that began at the start of 2025, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee (FOMC) voted to reduce the short-term federal funds rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its September meeting. This move decreased the target federal funds rate to an upper rate of 4.25%.
Sep 17, 2025
Housing Starts Remain Soft Ahead of Fed MeetingChallenging affordability conditions continue to act as headwinds for the housing industry, but the sector could see lower interest rates in the near future with the Federal Reserve expected to cut short-term interest rates this afternoon.
Sep 16, 2025
Builder Confidence Steady but Future Sales Expectations Hit Six-Month HighBuilder sentiment levels remained unchanged in September but lower mortgage rates and expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon cut the federal funds rate led to higher future sale expectations in the coming months.