National Workforce Transition Fund Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill creates a temporary five-year National Workforce Transition Fund inside the Department of Labor to help workers whose jobs are disrupted by AI and emerging technology find new stable jobs.
• Instead of taxing AI use directly, the fund is paid for by removing the bonus depreciation tax break companies get for building AI data centers, with the extra tax revenue transferred into the fund each year for five years.
• Workers do not have to prove AI was the sole cause of their job loss to qualify for help; eligibility is instead based on broader labor market data like unemployment claims and wage trends.
• Money from the fund can pay for tuition and training accounts, and also for support services like housing, child care, transportation, and health benefits while someone is retraining.
• Employers can get grants to retrain or redeploy workers instead of laying them off, but only if they sign a workforce transition compact with reporting requirements and provisions to recover misused funds.
• A new National Workforce Transition Board made up of business, labor, and government representatives will track which jobs and regions are most affected by AI and recommend how the fund's money should be spent each year.