On Tuesday, President Obama signed into law legislation that revamps federal training programs to help workers develop the skills they need to compete in the global economy.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act, which will eliminate duplicate programs and address the “skills gap,” received overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House, with a 415-6 vote, and the Senate, with a 95-3 vote.

While the U.S. faces a 6.1 percent unemployment rate, 4.6 million job openings are not being filled because businesses cannot find qualified applicants, particularly in skills-based jobs.

The act addresses this gap by including the following provisions:

  • Streamlines job training by eliminating 15 duplicate or infeffective programs
  • Applies unifor performance indicators for all federal workforce programs
  • Maintains state-level funding and eliminates the “sequence of services” to allow flexibility in addressing local needs
  • Focus programs to address skills needed for industries with high worker demand