What TEA-21 Provides

According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the primary objective of the On-the-Job Training/Supportive Services program is "to increase the overall effectiveness of the State highway agencies' approved training programs by encouraging completion of training programs and seeking other ways to increase the training opportunities for minorities and women."

The section of the Act that contains the provision for OJT/SS ½ of 1% funds can be found at 23 U.S.C. 140(b) (Nondiscrimination) which includes the Surface Transportation Program (STP) for highway repair and upgrading, among other things, and the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (HBRRP). Together, these two programs authorize billions of dollars over six years, most of it for construction. It is ½ of 1% of these funds that is available for OJT/SS programs. These ½ of 1% funds can be used in support of training programs approved under 23 CFR 230A (Equal Employment Opportunity of Federal and Federal-Aid Construction Contracts (Including Supportive Services)).

These are not Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program dollars. For more information about the difference between DBE program supportive services funds and OJT supportive services funds, click here.

It is important to note that these funds have already been allocated to each state highway agency's budget for highway and bridge construction. This is not "new" money. It is money that is already there. The only question is whether it will be drawn down and used for supportive services to increase opportunities for women and minorities or whether it will instead be used to build bridges and re-pave roads. To receive these federal funds, the state must provide a 10% or a 20% match in state funds (for every dollar received from the federal government, the state must put up ten or twenty cents of its own as a "match.") For more information about matching funds, click here.