Money for Workforce Pell's big problem, rebooting grants after the shutdown, and $5.8 billion in grants listings.

Plus, the programs that may take a while to hit the street, the policy clues in an Ed funding opportunity, and a state playbook for good jobs.

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Toplines.

News you should know about money and things getting people to work.

So yeah, the shutdown is over.

We can move from worrying about this long national nightmare and move toward worrying about a more niche national nightmare of what is to become of federal workforce funding.

In terms of impacts, I already have seen or heard several federal staff who moved on during the shutdown or in the process of coming back to work. That’s not great for the speedy development of grants or financial assistance recipients that have been handed off from project officer to project officer all year long.

Behind the paywall, I break down the mechanics of why it might be a bit before we see a lot of money hit the street. This is good stuff to understand if you’re wondering where the money ends up and the environment you’re applying in—including a few programs that aren’t out of the woods just yet.

The money for that part of Workforce Pell where no one is eligible for Workforce Pell.

There’s a teensy issue with Workforce Pell: if it were started today, very few—if any—programs meet all the requirements shotgun-married to each other get a bill through Congress over the summer.

I’ll have more on the why on Tuesday, when I already had planned a breakdown based on a couple months of conversations. But on Monday, the Department of Education published a new $167 million postsecondary education grant opportunity—$50 million of which will go toward “support” of building “[h]igh-quality, short-term programs . . . that meet the eligibility requirements of the Workforce Pell” and “reforms” to existing programs to meet Workforce Pell requirements.

I do think this is a good idea by the Trump Administration to try to make sense of a mess. It’s never great that you have to invest financial assistance to help people get financial assistance because the requirements are too hard to parse, but it’s definitely not the first—and it certainly won’t be the last—“Oh crap!” grantmaking I have seen in this space. And the need very much is there for someone to seed money for colleges that don’t feel terribly liquid due to expected drops in enrollment and, you know, the Trump Administration threatening their other federal dollars.

Yet, this grant isn’t exactly great execution on the idea. This grant only has a three-week application period, with the deadline coming the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. That greatly shrinks the window in which these applications will get put together. Speaking from experience, this type of application window tends to produce thinner and lower-quality applications because applicants haven’t had time to think or line up partners. I already have heard of bow-outs from potential applicants with a stake in Workforce Pell because they can’t make the timing work.

Timing is an issue in another way, too. Ed is about to move into a critical phase in its negotiated rulemaking on enforcing Workforce Pell, which could materially change how things get funded. Plus, $50 million only goes so far given the number of institutions that could use this help. In contrast, the Administration is throwing $60 million at “civil discourse” on college campuses in the same funding opportunity as part of its ongoing effort to throw more steak at a base that evidently still needs feeding on this front.

Behind the paywall, I have a few ideas about the types of projects that I think could stand a good chance of getting this money—and a little bit more policymaking insight on the how’s, why’s, and huh’s of this funding opportunity.

How states can move good jobs forward—and why you should care if you’re looking for money in Trump II.

My friends at The Century Foundation have a new playbook this week that essentially pushes for states to take the reins of the good jobs work of the Biden Administration. You might not think it based on that description, but I would pay close attention to this report if I was trying to build projects for Trump II. To me, parts of this report fill gaps in the Trump workforce strategy can’t answer for organizations seeking funding.

Much of the playbook focuses on the worker protection piece of good jobs—like how it would be lovely if we had less child labor and wage theft and more worker safety. But it also runs through how workforce training programs and government spending can help improve the quality and availability of jobs. This discussion comes at an interesting moment as the skills gap theory of the case has retaken workforce development, but left unaddressed how you convince workers to take the jobs that need filled.

The Trump Administration has called for “reduc[ing] the risk” of reskilling, but that only gets to part of the need, since there needs to be a job workers actually want at the end of it. This is part of why some red states have held onto good jobs—quietly and not so quietly (hi Oklahoma!). Heck, the Trump Administration itself called for “great” jobs in a September funding opportunity, without much detail of what those jobs were and how it expected programs to get there.

Beyond helping workers, getting workers to good jobs through workforce development requires a degree of thoughtfulness about how to address the needs of workers, employers, and communities all at the same time. The more thoughtful and complete, the more efficient use of pubic resources—something Congress insists it wants in this space. The TCF report highlights the types of programs that fit this bill and the work that went into them, offering examples from Per Scholas and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership..

Accordingly, if I was angling for workforce money in Trump II, I would pay attention to this report. That doesn’t mean copy and paste everything you find into a grant application—as with anything grants related in Trump II, you have to watch your no-no words. Yet, at a time where the Administration has been vague on what it actually wants in workforce programs, this report offers a roadmap for building the things the Administration says it wants but can’t say how it wants to reach

This week’s grants listings number: $5.8 billion.

Some new money popping up at the state and federal level. Also, I hear there’s some Ed money out there to jumpstart Workforce Pell. Probably should take a look at it.

Behind the paywall.

• Taking a look at a few ideas on projects that fit the Workforce Pell jumpstart.

• Restarting funding after the shutdown is over.

• Which grant opportunities are likely to take some time to hit the street because of the shutdown and the appropriations battle?