BUILDS Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1078 To require the Secretary of Labor to award grants for promoting industry or sector partnerships to encourage industry growth and competitiveness and to improve worker training, retention, and advancement as part of an infrastructure investment. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 13, 2021 Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to award grants for pro- moting industry or sector partnerships to encourage in- dustry growth and competitiveness and to improve work- er training, retention, and advancement as part of an infrastructure investment. 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 ‘‘Building U.S. Infra- 4 structure by Leveraging Demands for Skills’’ or the 5 ‘‘BUILDS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1078 IS SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to promote industry or 2 sector partnerships that engage in collaborative planning, 3 resource alignment, and training efforts across multiple 4 businesses, for a range of workers employed or potentially 5 employed by infrastructure industries, in order to encour- 6 age industry growth and competitiveness and to improve 7 worker training, retention, and advancement. 8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION; CA- 11 REER GUIDANCE AND ACADEMIC COUNSELING.—The 12 terms ‘‘career and technical education’’ and ‘‘career 13 guidance and academic counseling’’ have the mean- 14 ings given such terms in section 3 of the Carl D. 15 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 16 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 17 (2) CAREER PATHWAY; ECONOMIC DEVELOP- 18 MENT AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘career pathway’’ and 19 ‘‘economic development agency’’ have the meanings 20 given such terms in section 3 of the Workforce Inno- 21 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 22 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 23 ble partnership’’ means a partnership that is an in- 24 dustry or sector partnership, or, with respect to an 25 implementation grant, a partnership that is in the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1078 IS process of establishing an industry or sector partner- 1 ship. 2 (4) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—The term ‘‘im- 3 plementation grant’’, with respect to a grant under 4 this Act, means a grant described in section 5 4(b)(1)(A). 6 (5) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 7 MENT; INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP; LOCAL 8 BOARD; RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 9 TIAL.—The terms ‘‘individual with a barrier to em- 10 ployment’’, ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’, ‘‘local 11 board’’, and ‘‘recognized postsecondary credential’’ 12 have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of 13 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 14 (6) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 15 The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship program’’ has 16 the meaning given such term in section 171 of such 17 Act (29 U.S.C. 3226). 18 (7) RENEWAL GRANT.—The term ‘‘renewal 19 grant’’, with respect to a grant under this Act, 20 means a grant described in section 4(b)(1)(B). 21 (8) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec- 22 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 23 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 24 tunity Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1078 IS (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Labor. 2 (10) STATE; STATE BOARD.—The terms 3 ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘State board’’ have the meanings given 4 such terms in section 3 of such Act. 5 (11) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUS- 6 TRY.—The term ‘‘targeted infrastructure industry’’ 7 means an industry, including transportation (includ- 8 ing surface, transit, maritime, aviation, or railway 9 transportation), construction, energy, information 10 technology, or utilities industries, that the eligible 11 partnership identifies in accordance with section 5(c) 12 to be served by a grant under this Act. 13 (12) WORK-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work-based 15 learning program’’ means a program (which 16 may be a registered apprenticeship program) 17 that provides workers with paid work experience 18 and corresponding approved classroom instruc- 19 tion, delivered in an employment relationship 20 that both the employer and worker intend to 21 lead to continuing employment after the pro- 22 gram ends. 23 (B) PAID WORK EXPERIENCE.—In sub- 24 paragraph (A), the term ‘‘paid work experi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1078 IS ence’’ includes training by an employer that is 1 provided to a paid employee while engaged in 2 productive work in a job that provides knowl- 3 edge or skills essential to the full and adequate 4 performance of the job. 5 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 7 with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of En- 8 ergy, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Edu- 9 cation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 10 Agency, and the Chief of Engineers and Commanding 11 General of the Army Corps of Engineers, shall award, on 12 a competitive basis, grants to eligible partnerships to plan 13 and implement activities described in section 6 to achieve 14 the strategic objectives described in section 5(d) with re- 15 spect to a targeted infrastructure industry. 16 (b) GRANTS.— 17 (1) TYPES OF GRANTS.—A grant awarded 18 under this Act may be in the form of— 19 (A) an implementation grant, for eligible 20 partnerships seeking an initial grant under this 21 Act; or 22 (B) a renewal grant for eligible partner- 23 ships that have already received an implementa- 24 tion grant under this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1078 IS (2) DURATION.—Each grant awarded under 1 this Act shall be for a period not to exceed 3 years. 2 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant awarded 3 under this Act may not exceed— 4 (A) for an implementation grant, 5 $2,500,000; and 6 (B) for a renewal grant, $1,500,000. 7 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 8 (1) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—The Secretary 9 shall award grants under this Act in a manner that 10 ensures geographic diversity in the areas in which 11 activities will be carried out under the grants. 12 (2) PRIORITY FOR RENEWAL GRANTS.—In 13 awarding renewal grants under this Act, the Sec- 14 retary shall give priority to eligible partnerships 15 that— 16 (A) demonstrate long-term sustainability of 17 an industry or sector partnership; 18 (B) demonstrate success in improving ac- 19 cess to and retention in work-based learning 20 programs for individuals with barriers to em- 21 ployment and those underrepresented in the in- 22 frastructure industry; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1078 IS (C) agree to provide a non-Federal share 1 of the cost of the activities that will be carried 2 out under the grant. 3 SEC. 5. APPLICATION PROCESS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership desiring a 5 grant under this Act shall submit an application to the 6 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 7 such information as the Secretary may require, including 8 the contents described in subsection (b). 9 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under this 10 Act shall contain, at a minimum— 11 (1) a description of the eligible partnership, evi- 12 dence of the eligible partnership’s capacity to carry 13 out activities to achieve the strategic objectives de- 14 scribed in subsection (d), and the expected participa- 15 tion and responsibilities of each of the partners in- 16 cluded in the eligible partnership; 17 (2) a description of the targeted infrastructure 18 industry served by the grant and a description of 19 how such industry was identified in accordance with 20 subsection (c); 21 (3) a description of the workers that will be tar- 22 geted or recruited by the eligible partnership, includ- 23 ing an analysis of the existing labor market, a de- 24 scription of potential barriers to employment for tar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1078 IS geted workers, and a description of strategies that 1 will be employed to help workers overcome such bar- 2 riers; 3 (4) a description of the federally, State, or lo- 4 cally funded infrastructure projects on which the eli- 5 gible partnership anticipates engaging partners; 6 (5) a description of the strategic objectives de- 7 scribed in subsection (d) that the eligible partnership 8 intends to achieve concerning the targeted infra- 9 structure industry; 10 (6) a description of the credentials that the eli- 11 gible partnership proposes to use or develop as a 12 performance measure to assess the degree to which 13 the eligible partnership has achieved such strategic 14 objectives, which such credentials— 15 (A) shall be nationally portable; 16 (B) shall be recognized postsecondary cre- 17 dentials or, if not available for the industry, 18 other credentials determined by the Secretary 19 to be appropriate; 20 (C) shall be related to the targeted infra- 21 structure industry that the eligible partnership 22 proposes to support; and 23 (D) may be credentials for a registered ap- 24 prenticeship program; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1078 IS (7) a description of the manner in which the eli- 1 gible partnership intends to make sustainable 2 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 3 (8) performance measures for measuring 4 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 5 (9) a description of the Federal and non-Fed- 6 eral resources, available under provisions of law 7 other than this Act, that will be leveraged in support 8 of the partnerships and activities under this Act; 9 and 10 (10) a timeline for progress towards achieving 11 such strategic objectives. 12 (c) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY.—Each 13 grant under this Act shall serve a targeted infrastructure 14 industry that is identified by the eligible partnership 15 through working with businesses, industry associations 16 and organizations, labor organizations, State boards, local 17 boards, economic development agencies, and other organi- 18 zations that the eligible partnership determines necessary. 19 (d) STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES.—The activities to be 20 carried out under each grant awarded under this Act shall 21 be designed to achieve strategic objectives that include the 22 following: 23 (1) Recruiting key stakeholders in the targeted 24 infrastructure industry, such as multiple businesses, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1078 IS labor organizations, local boards, and education and 1 training providers (including providers of career and 2 technical education) and regularly convening the 3 stakeholders in a collaborative structure that sup- 4 ports the sharing of information, ideas, and chal- 5 lenges common to the targeted infrastructure indus- 6 try. 7 (2) Supporting the training needs of multiple 8 businesses in the targeted infrastructure industry, 9 including needs— 10 (A) for skills critical to competitiveness 11 and innovation in the industry; 12 (B) of the registered apprenticeship pro- 13 grams or other work-based learning programs 14 supported by the grant; and 15 (C) related to integrating career pathways. 16 (3) Facilitating actions that lead to economies 17 of scale by aggregating training and education needs 18 of multiple businesses. 19 (4) Helping postsecondary educational institu- 20 tions, training institutions, sponsors of registered 21 apprenticeship programs, and all other providers of 22 career and technical education and training pro- 23 grams receiving assistance under this Act, align cur- 24 ricula, entrance requirements, and programs to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1078 IS targeted infrastructure industry needs and the cre- 1 dentials described in subsection (b)(6), particularly 2 for higher skill, high-priority occupations related to 3 the targeted infrastructure industry. 4 (5) Providing information on the grant activi- 5 ties to the State agency carrying out the State pro- 6 gram under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 7 et seq.), including staff of the agency that provide 8 services under such Act, to enable the agency to in- 9 form recipients of unemployment compensation of 10 the employment and training opportunities that may 11 be offered through the grant activities. 12 (6) Helping partner businesses in industry or 13 sector partnerships to attract and retain workers 14 from a diverse jobseeker base, including individuals 15 with barriers to employment and those underrep- 16 resented in the industry or sector, by identifying any 17 such barriers through analysis of the labor market 18 and implementing strategies to help such workers 19 overcome such barriers. 20 (7) Expanding the number of individuals with 21 a barrier to employment who have access to training 22 and education opportunities that are aligned with 23 business needs and providing those individuals with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1078.IS S1078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1078 IS supports necessary to address the barrier to their 1 employment. 2 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership receiving 4 a grant under this Act shall— 5 (1) designate an entity in the eligible partner- 6 ship as the fiscal agent for the grant funds; and 7 (2) carry out activities described in subsections 8 (b) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]