Employee ownership just earned a major win in Washington. President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 into law, including $2 million in funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Ownership Initiative (EOI) grant program. This major priority for The ESOP Association is an important step toward sustained federal support for state-level employee ownership promotion and expansion.
What Passed
The bipartisan Worker Ownership, Readiness and Knowledge (WORK) Act, enacted as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act, created the EOI in 2022. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) originally championed the WORK Act. The bipartisan efforts of Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the DOL, were instrumental in securing funding during the appropriations process.
The new appropriations law includes a joint explanatory statement, often called a committee report, that directs DOL to fund EOI grants to employee ownership programs at the state level. While the statement does not carry the force of law, it represents the House and Senate’s bipartisan agreement that the DOL should fund and administer the EOI grant program. Federal agencies routinely follow these statements to implement similar programs.
The statement also specifically directs the Employment and Training Administration at DOL to administer the grant program, while directing the Employee Benefits Security Administration to focus on developing educational materials to promote best practices.
Why It Matters and Next Steps
EOI marks DOL’s first program created specifically to promote employee ownership. It creates a federal platform to expand education, outreach, and technical support for businesses looking to transition to employee ownership. These grants could be major catalysts for the expansion of employee ownership throughout the country.
DOL will need to issue guidance on the grantmaking process before awarding the grants. The funds will first become available during the coming year. The ESOP Association’s government relations team will continue working to keep EOI funded in upcoming years.
