SPONSOR: Casteel
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development by a vote of 10 to 0.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 2585.
This bill expands the role of and moves the Missouri Workforce Development Board from the Department of Economic Development to the Office of Workforce Development within the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development to reflect the current governance.
This bill requires the Governor, in consultation with the Missouri Workforce Development Board, to approve workforce training programs that are eligible for federal Workforce Pell Grants if they prepare students for a high-skill industry sector or occupation, a high-wage industry sector or occupation, or an in-demand industry sector or occupation, as such terms are defined in the bill.
The Board shall establish a process for institutions and programs to apply for approval and appeal denials of Workforce Pell Grants, shall coordinate approval of eligible workforce training programs with other state and federal workforce programs, and shall require eligible workforce training programs to provide verifiable data demonstrating program outcomes.
This bill is similar to SB 1196 (2026).
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this will help ensure compliance with the Federal government and align our workforce with state projects. There should be more students in high skill and high wage sectors and this language will provide transparency in reporting with a targeted data driven approach. The Missouri workforce is top of the mind for colleges and universities and this bill will allow access to additional Pell grant dollars for certificate programs. Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Casteel; Missouri Community College Association; FGA Action; and Missouri Chamber Of Commerce.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: