[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7748 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7748
To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to award grants
to States to develop, convene, or expand industry or sector
partnerships, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 12, 2022
Mrs. Lee of Nevada (for herself and Ms. Bonamici) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to award grants
to States to develop, convene, or expand industry or sector
partnerships, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Community-Based Workforce
Development Act''.
SEC. 2. SECTORAL EMPLOYMENT THROUGH CAREER TRAINING FOR OCCUPATIONAL
READINESS (SECTOR) PROGRAM.
Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 173. SECTORAL EMPLOYMENT THROUGH CAREER TRAINING FOR
OCCUPATIONAL READINESS (SECTOR) PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--From amounts appropriated under subsection
(e)(1), and not reserved under subsection (e)(2), the Secretary shall--
``(1) use not less than 80 percent of such amounts to award
grants under subsection (b) to each State to develop, convene,
or expand industry or sector partnerships; and
``(2) use not less than 20 percent of such amounts to award
grants under subsection (c), on a competitive basis, to
eligible industry or sector partnerships for the purposes of
expanding workforce development and employment opportunities
for high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or
occupations, as determined by the Secretary.
``(b) Formula Grants.--
``(1) Distribution of funds.--
``(A) State allotment.--From the amount determined
by the Secretary under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary
shall allot funds to each State on the basis of the
relative allotment the State received under section
132(b) for such fiscal year, compared to the total
amount allotted to all States under section 132(b) for
such fiscal year.
``(B) Local area allocations.--The Secretary shall
use the amounts allotted under subparagraph (A) to
distribute funds in the State to carry out the
activities described in paragraph (2) by--
``(i) allocating funds to each local area
of the State on the basis of the relative
allocation the local area received under
section 133(b) for such fiscal year, compared
to the total amount allocated to all local
areas in the State under section 133(b) for
such fiscal year; or
``(ii) allocating funds to local areas of
the State that have the highest rates of
unemployment or poverty, or the highest numbers
of individuals with barriers to employment in
the State.
``(C) Transfer authority.--A local board may
transfer, if such a transfer is approved by the
Governor, up to and including 100 percent of the funds
allocated to the local area under section 133(b), and
up to and including 100 percent of the funds allocated
to the local area under this subsection for a fiscal
year between--
``(i) adult employment and training
activities; and
``(ii) activities under this section.
``(2) Use of funds.--The funds awarded under paragraph (1)
may be used to--
``(A) regularly convene stakeholders in a
collaborative structure to identify, develop, improve,
or expand training, employment, and growth
opportunities for high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand
industry sectors or occupations;
``(B) form, expand, and improve training programs,
to be managed by eligible industry and sector
partnerships that include attainment of industry-
recognized credentials, the integration of work-based
learning activities with training curricula and
occupational certification programs, and that address
specific workforce issues and needs of groups of
workers, with a priority on individuals with a barrier
to employment, within regional labor markets in the
State;
``(C) strengthen the coordination of eligible
industry and sector partnerships and programs with the
programs administered under subtitle B of this title
and with the one-stop partners described in section
121; and
``(D) to directly provide, or arrange for the
provision of, services to help individuals with
barriers to employment and other participants complete
and successfully transition out of training described
in subparagraph (B), which services shall include
career services, supportive services, or the provision
of needs-related payments.
``(c) Competitive Grants.--
``(1) Grants authorized.--From the amount determined by the
Secretary under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall award
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible industry or sector
partnerships for the purposes described in subsection (a)(2).
``(2) Application.--
``(A) Form and procedure.--To receive a grant under
this subsection, the lead applicant on behalf of an
eligible industry or sector partnership shall submit to
the Secretary an application at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as specified by
the Secretary.
``(B) Contents.--An application submitted under
paragraph (1) shall contain at a minimum the following:
``(i) Identification of the high-skill,
high-wage, or in-demand industry sector or
occupation on which such partnership is
focused.
``(ii) A description of the activities to
be carried out under the grant.
``(iii) A description of the workers that
will be targeted for recruitment as program
participants, how a priority of service under
the grant will be provided to individuals with
barriers to employment, and how the activities
will be designed to maximize access and
eliminate barriers to entry to training and
other activities for such individuals.
``(iv) A description of other Federal or
non-Federal resources that will be leveraged in
support of the eligible industry or sector
partnership (including cash or in-kind
contributions from private-sector partners).
``(3) Uses of funds.--An eligible industry or sector
partnership awarded a grant under this subsection shall use
such grant funds--
``(A) to engage and regularly convene stakeholders
in a collaborative structure to identify, develop,
improve, or expand training, employment, and growth
opportunities for the high-skill, high-wage, or in-
demand industry sector or occupation on which such
partnership is focused;
``(B) to directly provide, or arrange for the
provision of, high-quality, evidence-based training for
high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or
occupations on which such partnership is focused, which
shall include training that leads to the attainment of
nationally or regionally portable and stackable
recognized postsecondary credentials for the industry
sector or occupations described in paragraph (A),
including--
``(i) training provided through
apprenticeship programs, or pre-apprenticeship
programs that articulate to apprenticeship
programs, labor organizations, or joint labor-
management partnerships;
``(ii) on-the-job training, customized
training, and paid internships and work
experience;
``(iii) incumbent worker training to
support lower wage workers in upgrading skills
and advancing along a career pathway; and
``(iv) training services, in addition to
those described in clauses (i) through (iii),
that are authorized under section 134(c)(3)(D),
including occupational skills training; and
``(C) to directly provide, or arrange for the
provision of, services to help individuals with
barriers to employment and other participants complete
and successfully transition out of training described
in subparagraph (B), which services shall include
career services, supportive services, or the provision
of needs-related payments authorized under subsections
(c)(2), (c)(4), and (d)(3) of section 134.
``(4) Priority in selection of grants.--The Secretary shall
give priority consideration in applications that demonstrate
the ability to serve eligible individuals in targeted economic
regions that are experiencing high poverty, have traditionally
been underserved by regional economic development and sector
partnership activities (including rural areas), or is facing or
at risk of facing significant worker dislocation due to a
disruption or change in the regional or State economy or labor
market.
``(d) Program Accountability and Evaluation.--
``(1) In general.--The grants awarded under this section
are subject to--
``(A) the primary indicators of performance under
section 116(b)(2)(A) and expected levels of performance
relating to such indicators; and
``(B) such additional measures as the Secretary
deems appropriate, which may include skills attainment,
wage or career progression, training-related
employment, and additional job quality measures.
``(2) Evaluation.--Not later than 5 years after the first
award of funds under this section is made the Secretary (acting
through the chief evaluation officer) shall design and conduct
an evaluation to evaluate the effectiveness of the program
carried out this section.
``(3) Publication.--The Secretary shall publish the
outcomes of grantees under the indicators and measures
described in paragraph (1) and the evaluation described in
paragraph (2) on a publicly accessible website, and submit the
evaluation findings to the Committee on Education and Labor of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations; Reservations.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section--
``(A) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2023;
``(B) $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;
``(C) $1,210,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;
``(D) $1,331,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
``(E) $1,464,100,000 for fiscal year 2027; and
``(F) $1,610,510,000 for fiscal year 2028.
``(2) Reservation of funds.--Of the funds appropriated
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary may
reserve not more than 5 percent which--
``(A) may be used for administration of the program
described in this section, in addition to any other
funds available for these activities, including
providing comprehensive technical assistance, targeted
outreach to eligible partnerships serving local areas
with high unemployment rates or high percentages of
low-income individuals or individuals with barriers to
employment; and oversight to support eligible
partnerships; and
``(B) shall be used to conduct an evaluation of the
activities carried out under this section and for
reporting on the performance and impact of programs
funded under this section.
``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Eligible industry or sector partnership.--The term
`eligible industry or sector partnership' means--
``(A) an industry or sector partnership, which
shall include multiple representatives described in
each of clauses (i) through (iii) of paragraph (26)(A)
of section 3; or
``(B) a partnership of multiple entities described
in section 3(26) and a State board or local board, that
is in the process of establishing an industry or sector
partnership.
``(2) Lead applicant.--The term `lead applicant' means an
applicant for a grant under this section that is a State board,
local board, institution of higher education, labor-management
partnership, labor organization, industry association, or other
State and regional nonprofit organizations with experience in
designing, convening, and expanding industry or sector
partnerships.''.
SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 172, the following:
``Sec. 173. Sectoral employment through career training for
occupational readiness (sector) program.''.
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