WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s bipartisan IMPACT Act as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Sinema’s legislation—introduced with Republican Senator Roger Wicker (Miss.)—creates the Telecommunications Workforce Training Grant Program, allowing Tribal Colleges and Universities to partner with industry stakeholders and apply for grants to educate and train students to participate in good-paying telecommunications jobs of the future.
“We’re expanding opportunities for students in tribal communities to succeed in the jobs of the future while helping bridge the digital divide across Arizona,” said Sinema, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Sinema’s bipartisan IMPACT Act creates the Telecommunications Workforce Training Grant Program at the Department of Commerce. Tribal Colleges and Universities, historically black colleges and universities, and other minority serving institutions can partner with industry, labor, or nonprofit stakeholders and apply for grants to educate and train students to participate in the telecommunications workforce. 30 percent of the grants would go to Tribal Colleges and Universities. The grants would last for five years and the recipients would have to provide a report on their programs. Sinema helped advance the IMPACT Act through the Senate Commerce Committee.
