Advanced Manufacturing Jobs in America Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 121 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish dem- onstration and pilot projects to facilitate education and training programs in the field of advanced manufacturing. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish demonstration and pilot projects to facilitate education and training programs in the field of advanced manufacturing. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Manufac- 4 turing Jobs in America Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 121 IS SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION AND PILOT PROJECTS TO SUP- 1 PORT ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WORK- 2 FORCE DEVELOPMENT. 3 Section 169 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 4 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3224) is amended— 5 (1) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE DE- 7 VELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under a plan published 9 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall, through 10 grants or contracts, carry out demonstration and 11 pilot projects for the purpose of facilitating edu- 12 cation and training programs in the field of ad- 13 vanced manufacturing, which projects shall— 14 ‘‘(A) target skills and competency develop- 15 ment in communities with expected growth in 16 advanced manufacturing; 17 ‘‘(B) provide education and training, for 18 available jobs or job openings that are antici- 19 pated in advanced manufacturing, which result 20 in a covered skill set and corresponding covered 21 credential; 22 ‘‘(C) educate individuals about opportuni- 23 ties for career advancement within advanced 24 manufacturing; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 121 IS ‘‘(D) be carried out in a way that gives 1 priority to incumbent workers, dislocated work- 2 ers, unemployed individuals, workers from rural 3 areas, and underrepresented individuals (such 4 as underrepresented racial and ethnic minori- 5 ties). 6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re- 8 ceive a grant or contract under this subsection 9 for a project under paragraph (1), an entity 10 shall be one of the following entities in any of 11 the several States or territories, in partnership 12 with a manufacturer who employs individuals 13 with advanced manufacturing skills (or a con- 14 sortium of such partnerships): 15 ‘‘(i) A technical college that offers a 16 2-year degree or program of study or an 17 individual community college, such as a 18 public or nonprofit community college, or a 19 community college that is a tribally con- 20 trolled college or university (as defined in 21 section 2(a) of the Tribally Controlled Col- 22 leges and Universities Assistance Act of 23 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801(a))). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 121 IS ‘‘(ii) A community college district sys- 1 tem. 2 ‘‘(iii) A State community college sys- 3 tem. 4 ‘‘(iv) A local board, in partnership 5 with one or more one-stop centers, that 6 specifies one or more community colleges 7 where education and training activities will 8 occur. 9 ‘‘(v) A manufacturing extension cen- 10 ter established under section 25(b) of the 11 National Institute of Standards and Tech- 12 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k). 13 ‘‘(vi) A local educational agency. 14 ‘‘(vii) Another entity, such as a pub- 15 lic-private partnership, or the collection of 16 entities and individuals carrying out an ad- 17 vanced manufacturing forum, that would 18 serve educationally underrepresented indi- 19 viduals (such as underrepresented racial 20 and ethnic minorities). 21 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give 22 priority to any consortium of the partnerships 23 described in subparagraph (A) that leverages 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 121 IS substantial non-Federal funding for the project 1 involved. 2 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 3 grant or contract under this subsection, an entity 4 shall submit an application at such time and in such 5 form and manner as the Secretary shall determine, 6 including the following: 7 ‘‘(A) A description of the eligible entity, 8 evidence of the eligible entity’s capacity to carry 9 out activities in support of the strategic objec- 10 tives described in the subparagraphs of para- 11 graph (1), and a description of the expected 12 participation and responsibilities of the eligible 13 entity, or each partnership in the eligible entity 14 in the case of a consortium. 15 ‘‘(B) A description of education and train- 16 ing activities to be provided that will— 17 ‘‘(i) develop skills and competencies 18 demanded by advanced manufacturing 19 businesses; 20 ‘‘(ii) lead to a covered skill set and a 21 corresponding covered credential; and 22 ‘‘(iii) educate individuals about oppor- 23 tunities for career advancement and wage 24 growth within advanced manufacturing. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 121 IS ‘‘(C) A description of how the economy 1 where the entity is located would benefit, in- 2 cluding— 3 ‘‘(i) evidence of the growth of ad- 4 vanced manufacturing in the State or lo- 5 cality involved; 6 ‘‘(ii) information on the potential for 7 additional job growth with investments in 8 advanced manufacturing; and 9 ‘‘(iii) information on how the activities 10 will expose incumbent or dislocated work- 11 ers, or unemployed individuals, to new ad- 12 vanced manufacturing technology skill sets. 13 ‘‘(D) A description of how the eligible enti- 14 ty will employ evidence-based training models 15 that integrate academic instruction with train- 16 ing, including on-the-job training in advanced 17 manufacturing, to meet performance goals de- 18 scribed in paragraph (5). 19 ‘‘(E) A description of how the eligible enti- 20 ty will coordinate activities with State boards or 21 local boards, and State or local economic devel- 22 opment officials. 23 ‘‘(F) In the case of education and training 24 activities that lead to a covered credential, a de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 121 IS scription of those activities leading to that cre- 1 dential. 2 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES.—Activities to be carried out 3 under a project funded under paragraph (1) may in- 4 clude— 5 ‘‘(A) classroom and onsite experiential 6 learning; 7 ‘‘(B) on-the-job training; 8 ‘‘(C) training which fits into an industry- 9 recognized competency model for advanced 10 manufacturing; 11 ‘‘(D) development and implementation of 12 registered apprenticeship and pre-apprentice- 13 ship programs; 14 ‘‘(E) coordination with local boards in 15 order to implement and utilize existing (as of 16 the first date of such coordination) articulation 17 agreements with universities and other edu- 18 cational partners; 19 ‘‘(F) distance learning; and 20 ‘‘(G) any other activity the Secretary con- 21 siders appropriate for providing education or 22 training in advanced manufacturing. 23 ‘‘(5) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND MEASURES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 121 IS ‘‘(A) GOALS.—The performance goals for 1 the activities provided through a project under 2 this subsection shall be to— 3 ‘‘(i) enhance the skill sets of incum- 4 bent and dislocated workers, and unem- 5 ployed individuals, who live in communities 6 with expected growth in advanced manu- 7 facturing and enable such workers to ob- 8 tain a covered skill set and a corresponding 9 covered credential; 10 ‘‘(ii) develop competencies of individ- 11 uals with limited experience in advanced 12 manufacturing; 13 ‘‘(iii) strengthen community college 14 partnerships with manufacturing extension 15 centers described in paragraph (2)(A)(v) 16 and advanced manufacturing businesses in 17 an effort to meet the needs of the busi- 18 nesses for adaptability in training of in- 19 cumbent and dislocated workers, and un- 20 employed individuals; 21 ‘‘(iv) more fully utilize the capabilities 22 of such manufacturing extension centers 23 within the State involved; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 121 IS ‘‘(v) strengthen partnerships of ad- 1 vanced manufacturing businesses with local 2 boards and, if applicable, local educational 3 agencies; and 4 ‘‘(vi) help incumbent and dislocated 5 workers, and unemployed individuals, de- 6 velop skills which lead to greater earnings. 7 ‘‘(B) MEASURES.—The Secretary shall ne- 8 gotiate and reach agreement with each eligible 9 entity that receives a grant or contract under 10 this subsection, on performance measures that 11 will be used to evaluate the performance of the 12 eligible entity in carrying out the activities pro- 13 vided through a project under this subsection. 14 Each performance measure shall be designed to 15 enable the eligible entity to meet the perform- 16 ance goals described in subparagraph (A) and 17 shall include an indicator of performance, which 18 may include— 19 ‘‘(i) the number of incumbent and dis- 20 located workers, and unemployed individ- 21 uals, receiving a covered credential for ad- 22 vanced manufacturing; 23 ‘‘(ii) the number of incumbent and 24 dislocated workers, and unemployed indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 121 IS viduals, attaining basic skills, as described 1 in a covered skill set for advanced manu- 2 facturing; 3 ‘‘(iii) the number of incumbent work- 4 ers whose education and training, provided 5 through a project, enables them to meet 6 the needs of their employers for skilled 7 workers to enhance operations; 8 ‘‘(iv) the earnings growth of a manu- 9 facturer as a result of education and train- 10 ing provided through a project; and 11 ‘‘(v) another indicator the Secretary 12 determines to be necessary to meet per- 13 formance goals described in subparagraph 14 (A). 15 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.—Beginning not later than 1 16 year after the date of the first disbursement of 17 funds under this subsection, the Secretary shall pro- 18 vide for the continuing evaluation of the projects de- 19 scribed in this subsection and funded under section 20 172, and shall transmit a report of the evaluation to 21 Congress not later than 2 years after such date. 22 ‘‘(7) DEFINITION.—In this subsection: 23 ‘‘(A) COVERED CREDENTIAL.—The term 24 ‘covered credential’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 121 IS ‘‘(i) an industry-recognized and na- 1 tionally portable credential, such as an 2 educational certificate or degree, an occu- 3 pational license, an industry-sponsored cer- 4 tificate or certification, and a registered 5 apprenticeship certificate or degree; or 6 ‘‘(ii) an employer-recognized creden- 7 tial. 8 ‘‘(B) COVERED SKILL SET.—The term 9 ‘covered skill set’ means an industry-recognized 10 or employer-recognized skill set.’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting after the 12 first sentence the following: ‘‘The plan shall describe 13 the projects described in subsection (d), to be car- 14 ried out in accordance with that subsection.’’. 15 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 16 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 17 as if enacted as part of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 18 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS