Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1212 To address the needs of workers in industries likely to be impacted by rapidly evolving technologies. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To address the needs of workers in industries likely to be impacted by rapidly evolving technologies. 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 ‘‘Investing in Tomor- 4 row’s Workforce Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) In 2014, the United States spent just 0.1 8 percent of the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product on 9 labor market policies, less than half of what the 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1212 IS United States spent on labor market policies 30 1 years ago. 2 (2) The number of workers receiving federally 3 supported training has declined in the past 3 dec- 4 ades as advances in technology have simultaneously 5 shifted labor market demand over time. 6 (3) Job losses from automation are more likely 7 to impact women, people of color, and workers mak- 8 ing less than $40,000 annually. 9 (4) The COVID–19 pandemic has accelerated 10 trends in automation, with 43 percent of businesses 11 in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs sur- 12 vey indicating they plan to reduce their workforce as 13 a result of technology integration. 14 (5) Strong Federal investment in expanding 15 training services for workers whose jobs may be lost 16 due to automation could prepare the United States 17 workforce to better adapt to changes in the labor 18 market and enter into skilled positions in techno- 19 logically oriented occupations and industries. 20 (6) A focus on preparing the workforce of the 21 United States for jobs that utilize advanced tech- 22 nologies could grow wages, increase economic pro- 23 ductivity, and boost the competitiveness of the 24 United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1212 IS SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) AUTOMATION.—The term ‘‘automation’’ 3 means a device, process, or system that functions 4 without continuous input from an operator, includ- 5 ing— 6 (A) advanced technologies, such as— 7 (i) data collection, classification proc- 8 essing, and analytics; and 9 (ii) 3–D printing, digital design and 10 simulation, and digital manufacturing; 11 (B) robotics, including collaborative robot- 12 ics, and worker augmentation technology; 13 (C) autonomous vehicle technology; or 14 (D) autonomous machinery technology. 15 (2) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘‘dis- 16 located worker’’ has the meaning given the term in 17 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 18 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 19 (3) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTOR OR OCCUPA- 20 TION.—The term ‘‘in-demand industry sector or oc- 21 cupation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 22 3 of that Act. 23 (4) INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAINING.— 24 The term ‘‘integrated education and training’’ has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1212 IS the meaning given the term in section 203 of that 1 Act (29 U.S.C. 3272). 2 (5) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 3 ble partnership’’ means an industry or sector part- 4 nership, as defined in section 3 of that Act, except 5 that— 6 (A) for purposes of applying paragraph 7 (26)(A)(iii) of that section, the term ‘‘institu- 8 tion of higher education’’ has the meaning given 9 the term in section 101 of the Higher Edu- 10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 11 (B) the partnership shall include, in addi- 12 tion to the representatives described in clauses 13 (i) through (iii) of paragraph (26)(A) of that 14 section, representatives of— 15 (i) a State workforce development 16 board or a local workforce development 17 board; and 18 (ii) an economic development organi- 19 zation. 20 (6) GAO STUDY ON AUTOMATION.—The term 21 ‘‘GAO study on automation’’ means the study on au- 22 tomation conducted by the Comptroller General of 23 the United States, as directed in House Report 116– 24 450 (incorporated in the explanatory statement re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1212 IS garding the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 1 (Public Law 116–260) in accordance with section 4 2 of such Act). 3 (7) LOCAL AND STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOP- 4 MENT BOARDS.—The terms ‘‘local workforce devel- 5 opment board’’ and ‘‘State workforce development 6 board’’ have the meanings given the terms ‘‘local 7 board’’ and ‘‘State board’’, respectively, in section 3 8 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 9 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 10 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Labor. 12 (9) TRAINING SERVICES.—The term ‘‘training 13 services’’ means training services described in sec- 14 tion 134(c)(3)(D) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 15 3174(c)(3)(D)). 16 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO IMPROVE TRAINING FOR WORKERS IM- 17 PACTED BY AUTOMATION. 18 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro- 20 priated under subsection (g) and beginning after the 21 earlier of the date of submission of the GAO study 22 on automation or October 1, 2022, the Secretary of 23 Labor shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 24 eligible partnerships to support demonstration and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1212 IS pilot projects relating to the training needs of work- 1 ers who are, or are likely to become, dislocated work- 2 ers as a result of automation. 3 (2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 4 section shall be for a period not to exceed 4 years. 5 (3) USE OF REPORT.—The Secretary shall use 6 the GAO study on automation to inform the grant 7 program carried out under this section. 8 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 10 grant under this section, an eligible partnership shall 11 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 12 in such manner, and containing such information as 13 the Secretary shall reasonably require. 14 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 15 under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 16 the demonstration or pilot project to be completed 17 with the grant funds, which description shall in- 18 clude— 19 (A) a description of the members of the el- 20 igible partnership who will be involved in the 21 demonstration or pilot program and the services 22 each member will provide; 23 (B) a description of the training services 24 that will be available to individuals participating 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1212 IS in the demonstration or pilot project, which 1 may include— 2 (i) a plan to train dislocated workers 3 from industries likely to be impacted by 4 automation and transition the workers into 5 regionally in-demand industry sectors or 6 occupations; and 7 (ii) a plan to partner with local busi- 8 nesses to retrain, upskill, and re-deploy 9 workers within an industry as an alter- 10 native to layoffs; 11 (C) a plan to provide workers with tech- 12 nology-based skills training, which may include 13 training to provide skills related to coding, sys- 14 tems engineering, or information technology se- 15 curity, in addition to other skills; and 16 (D) a description of the goals that the eli- 17 gible partnership intends to achieve to upskill 18 workers and prepare them for in-demand indus- 19 try sectors or occupations. 20 (c) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this sec- 21 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 22 (1) eligible partnerships that are located in an 23 area with a high concentration of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1212 IS (A) industries with a higher likelihood of 1 being impacted by automation; or 2 (B) industries included in in-demand in- 3 dustry sectors, as determined under subpara- 4 graphs (A)(i) and (B) of section 3(23) of the 5 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 6 U.S.C. 3102(23)); 7 (2) eligible partnerships— 8 (A) with a plan to provide incumbent 9 worker training— 10 (i) to assist workers in obtaining the 11 skills necessary to retain employment or 12 avert layoffs; or 13 (ii) that allows a worker working for 14 an employer to acquire new skills that 15 allow the worker to obtain a higher-skilled 16 or higher-paid position with such employer; 17 and 18 (B) that partner with local employers that 19 intend to backfill the pre-training positions of 20 the incumbent workers by hiring new workers 21 to fill those positions; 22 (3) eligible partnerships that will provide work- 23 ers with a transportation stipend, paid sick leave, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1212 IS paid family and medical leave, access to child care 1 services, or other employment benefits; or 2 (4) eligible partnerships with a plan to develop 3 a shared training curriculum that can be used across 4 local and regional networks of employers and train- 5 ing providers. 6 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership that re- 7 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 8 for 1 or more of the following: 9 (1) Providing training services under the dem- 10 onstration or pilot project, which may include train- 11 ing services that prepare workers for in-demand in- 12 dustry sectors or occupations. 13 (2) Providing assistance for employers in devel- 14 oping a staff position for an individual who will be 15 responsible for supporting training services provided 16 under the grant. 17 (3) Purchasing equipment or technology nec- 18 essary for training services provided under para- 19 graph (1). 20 (4) Providing job search and other transitional 21 assistance to workers in industries with high rates of 22 job loss. 23 (5) Providing a training stipend to workers for 24 training services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1212 IS (6) Providing integrated education and train- 1 ing. 2 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after an eligible 3 partnership’s completion of a demonstration or pilot 4 project supported under this section, the eligible partner- 5 ship shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a report 6 regarding— 7 (1) the number of workers who received train- 8 ing services through the demonstration or pilot 9 project, disaggregated by type of training service 10 and the age, gender, and race of the workers; 11 (2) the number of such workers who success- 12 fully transitioned into a new position following com- 13 pletion of the training services; 14 (3) the number of individuals who successfully 15 transitioned into an in-demand industry sector or oc- 16 cupation following completion of the training serv- 17 ices; 18 (4) annual earnings data for individuals who 19 have completed training services through the dem- 20 onstration or pilot project; 21 (5) the percentage of individuals described in 22 paragraph (4) who are in education or training ac- 23 tivities, or in employment, during the second quarter 24 after exit from the training services; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1212 IS (6) the percentage of individuals described in 1 paragraph (4) who are in education or training ac- 2 tivities, or in employment, during the fourth quarter 3 after exit from the training services; and 4 (7) any practices used by the partnership that 5 should be considered best practices with respect to 6 training workers in industries that have, or are ex- 7 pected to have, high rates of job loss as a result of 8 automation. 9 (f) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible partner- 10 ship that receives a grant under this section shall use the 11 grant funds in a manner that is consistent with the labor 12 standards and protections described in section 181 of the 13 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 14 3241) and nondiscrimination provisions described in sec- 15 tion 188 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3248). 16 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 18 such sums as may be necessary for the first 5 full fiscal 19 years beginning after the earlier of the date of submission 20 of the GAO study on automation or October 1, 2022. 21 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF WORKER TRAINING SERVICES. 22 (a) ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER EMPLOY- 23 MENT AND TRAINING.—Section 134(d)(1)(A) of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1212.IS S1212 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1212 IS Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 1 3174(d)(1)(A)) is amended— 2 (1) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 3 (2) in clause (xii), by striking the period and in- 4 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(xiii) training programs for individ- 7 uals who are, or are likely to become, dis- 8 located workers as a result of automation, 9 including activities that prepare the indi- 10 viduals for occupations in the technology 11 sector.’’. 12 (b) NATIONAL DISLOCATED WORKER GRANTS.—Sec- 13 tion 170 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 14 (29 U.S.C. 3225) is amended— 15 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘ad- 16 vances in automation technology,’’ before ‘‘plant clo- 17 sures,’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In ad- 20 dition to any funds reserved under section 132(a)(2)(A) 21 to carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro- 22 priated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of 23 fiscal year [Text truncated for display. 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