Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 State Workforce Agency Unemployment Insurance (UI) Resource Planning Targets and Guidelines | ETA UIPL 15 25 BASE

Opportunity Information: Apply for ETA UIPL 15 25 BASE

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 State Workforce Agency Unemployment Insurance (UI) Resource Planning Targets and Guidelines opportunity is a federal grant-related announcement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA). Issued as an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL), it provides states and certain territories with preliminary base resource planning targets for administering their UI programs in FY 2026, along with general planning guidelines. In practical terms, this is meant to help workforce agencies estimate and plan the staffing, workload, and funding levels needed to run core UI operations for the upcoming fiscal year, using ETA-issued targets as the starting point for state budgeting and operational planning.

The opportunity is identified as ETA UIPL 15-25 BASE, and it falls under the broad category of employment, labor, and training. The instrument type is listed as a grant, and the associated Assistance Listing (CFDA) number is 17.225, which aligns with unemployment insurance-related administration and operations. While UIPLs are often policy and guidance communications rather than competitive notices, this listing signals that ETA is formally communicating planning targets that underpin how UI state administration resources are determined and managed for FY 2026.

Eligibility is geared toward state-level UI administering entities, specifically the states (including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The listing shows an expected 53 awards, which generally corresponds to the number of state and territorial UI jurisdictions that receive UI administrative funding or allocations. The award ceiling is shown as $384,557,556, indicating the maximum amount referenced in the listing for this opportunity, though actual funding amounts typically vary widely by jurisdiction and are shaped by workload factors and federal formulas tied to UI administration.

The key purpose of the announcement is resource planning rather than launching a traditional open competition. “Base resource planning targets” commonly refer to preliminary workload and funding benchmarks for standard UI administrative functions, such as processing initial claims, adjudication activities, continued claims processing, appeals support, call center and customer service operations, integrity and improper payment prevention activities, and related benefit payment control work. The “guidelines for resource planning” portion suggests ETA is also providing instructions on how to interpret and apply the targets when building state UI operating plans and budgets for FY 2026, including how to think about baseline assumptions and the relationship between operational workloads and staffing or other administrative costs.

Administrative details included in the listing show an original closing date of September 22, 2025, and a creation date of August 21, 2025. Questions about the UIPL are directed to Rahel Bizuayene at Bizuayene.Rahel@dol.gov, which is the designated federal point of contact for clarification on the planning targets, underlying assumptions, or how states should use the information in their FY 2026 UI administrative planning.

Overall, the opportunity functions as an ETA guidance and planning framework that helps UI agencies prepare for FY 2026 operations using federally provided preliminary targets. It is mainly relevant to state and territorial UI administrators responsible for building budgets, forecasting workloads, and aligning staffing and operational capacity with expected demand and federal administrative funding parameters.

• The Employment and Training Administration in the employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 State Workforce Agency Unemployment Insurance (UI) Resource Planning Targets and Guidelines" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.225.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $384,557,556.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 53 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ETA UIPL 15 25 BASE

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