Workforce Data Enhancement Act

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a grant program for a workforce data quality initiative. It requires the Secretary of Labor to use a portion of certain funds to award competitive grants to states or state consortia to build or improve statewide longitudinal data systems that integrate education, workforce, and labor market data. The goal is to strengthen program quality, support performance reporting, protect privacy, improve data standards, and help workers and employers identify skill needs.

Sec. 2, Amendments to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: This section adds a new subsection (d) to Section 169 of the Act, establishing the Workforce Data Quality Initiative. The Secretary must use between 5% and 10% of funds from a specific funding stream each program year to competitively award grants to eligible entities, state agencies or consortia that handle unemployment insurance wage records, labor market information, or administer a core workforce program. Applicants must describe proposed activities, expected outcomes, how they will support performance reporting, improve data standards, leverage partnerships, enhance data timeliness and accuracy, protect privacy, and sustain activities after the grant ends. Priority is given to multi-state consortia that can build cross-state data infrastructure or data exchanges, and to entities that expand use of linked skills and credential data, partner with private sector, improve real-time workforce data, use non-Federal contributions, or expand existing longitudinal data systems. Grant funds may be used for data linkages, replicating data standards, research and pilot projects, interoperable learning and employment records, privacy policies, increasing local board access, and building staff capacity. Grants last up to 3 years, must supplement not supplant other funds, and require a report within 180 days after the grant period ends. The term 'statewide longitudinal data systems' is defined by reference to the Education Sciences Reform Act. The bill also amends the funding source in Section 132(a)(2)(A) to include this new subsection (d) alongside existing provisions.