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The White House said Wednesday that Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, plans to meet with Senate lawmakers this week to push for a reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.
The House passed a Perkins reauthorization bill last year, but negotiations over Senate legislation have been stalled for months over philosophical differences between Republican and Democratic negotiators.
The Trump administration has identified work-force training as a major priority, and Ivanka Trump will press senators on the urgency of reauthorizing the Perkins law, said Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley in a statement.
“The important legislation benefits more than 11 million Americans across the country and is integral to the administration’s working families and work-force development agenda," Gidley said. "Thanks to the robust economic environment and historically low unemployment rates, there is a record number of unfilled jobs and we are committed to ensuring current and future American workers have access to the high-quality vocational education needed to secure family-sustaining careers and thrive in the modern economy.”
Senator Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate education committee, plans to hold a committee vote on Perkins reauthorization on June 20 -- whether or not there is a bipartisan agreement in place.
In a statement, Senator Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said there is broad bipartisan support to get a deal done.
"I am ready to get this done, and I know there are a whole lot of Democrats, Republicans and business groups who join me in hoping that we can do this in a bipartisan way," Murray said.
