Transportation Workforce Centers of Excellence Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2696 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to designate certain consortia as Community and Technical College Centers of Excellence in Transpor- tation Workforce Training, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to designate cer- tain consortia as Community and Technical College Cen- ters of Excellence in Transportation Workforce Training, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Transportation Work- 4 force Centers of Excellence Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2696 IH SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN TRANSPORTATION 1 WORKFORCE TRAINING. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 4 portation, in consultation with the Secretary of Education 5 and the Secretary of Labor, shall designate in accordance 6 with subsection (b) certain consortia of 2-year institutions 7 of higher education as Community and Technical College 8 Centers of Excellence in Transportation Workforce Train- 9 ing (in this section referred to as ‘‘Centers of Excel- 10 lence’’). 11 (b) CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of 12 Transportation shall designate as a Center of Excellence 13 under subsection (a) a consortium the Secretary deter- 14 mines has a demonstrated ability to— 15 (1) address education and training related to 16 careers in transportation sectors; and 17 (2) carry out the following activities: 18 (A) Developing and implementing career 19 pathways and programs of study that lead to 20 recognized postsecondary credentials in trans- 21 portation sectors. 22 (B) Providing on-the-job training or work- 23 based learning opportunities in transportation 24 sectors. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2696 IH (C) Developing dual or concurrent enroll- 1 ment programs to provide education and train- 2 ing opportunities to secondary school students. 3 (D) Providing education and training re- 4 lated to emerging technologies in transportation 5 sectors. 6 (E) Partnering with employers, labor orga- 7 nizations, local workforce development boards, 8 State workforce development boards, State edu- 9 cational agencies, and eligible agencies to ad- 10 dress education and training related to careers 11 in transportation sectors. 12 (F) Providing outreach and career coun- 13 seling to increase participation in transpor- 14 tation sectors. 15 (c) COLLABORATION.—To address education and 16 training related to careers in transportation sectors, Cen- 17 ters of Excellence may seek to collaborate with institutions 18 receiving grants under section 5505 of title 49, United 19 States Code. 20 (d) GRANTS TO CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 22 a program (in this subsection referred to as the 23 ‘‘Program’’) to award grants on a competitive basis, 24 as determined by the Secretary, to Centers of Excel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2696 IH lence to address education and training related to 1 careers in transportation sectors. 2 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Grant funds award- 3 ed under the Program may only be used for a 4 project that facilitates an activity specified in sub- 5 section (b). 6 (3) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 7 under the Program, a Center of Excellence des- 8 ignated under subsection (a) shall submit to the Sec- 9 retary an application in such form, at such time, 10 and containing such information as the Secretary 11 determines appropriate. 12 (4) LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS.— 13 (A) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The 14 amount of a grant under the Program may not 15 exceed $2,000,000. 16 (B) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL SHARE.— 17 The Federal share of the cost of a project car- 18 ried out by a grant under the Program may not 19 exceed 50 percent. 20 (5) REPORT.—Each recipient of a grant under 21 the Program shall submit to the Secretary a report 22 in such form, at such time, and containing such in- 23 formation as the Secretary determines appropriate 24 to evaluate the grant, including the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2696 IH (A) Information relating to the use of 1 grant funds awarded to the recipient under the 2 Program. 3 (B) An evaluation of each project carried 4 out with such grant funds, including the fol- 5 lowing: 6 (i) The percentage, and median earn- 7 ings, of individuals participating in or ben- 8 efitting from the project (in this section re- 9 ferred to as ‘‘participants’’) who are in un- 10 subsidized employment 90 days after exit 11 from the project. 12 (ii) The percentage of participants 13 who are in unsubsidized employment 180 14 days after exit from the project. 15 (iii) The percentage of participants 16 who obtain a recognized postsecondary cre- 17 dential, or a secondary school diploma or 18 recognized equivalent, during the project or 19 within 1 year after exit from the project. 20 (iv) The percentage of participants 21 who, during the project— 22 (I) enrolled in an education or 23 training program that leads to a rec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2696 IH ognized postsecondary credential or 1 employment; or 2 (II) developed skills necessary to 3 receive such credential or employment. 4 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 6 this subsection $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 7 2022 through 2026. 8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) CAREER PATHWAY.—The term ‘‘career 10 pathway’’ has the meaning given the term in section 11 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 12 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 13 (2) DUAL OR CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT PRO- 14 GRAM.—The term ‘‘dual or concurrent enrollment 15 program’’ has the meaning given the term in section 16 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 18 (3) ELIGIBLE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘eligible 19 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 20 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu- 21 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 22 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 23 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2696 IH meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 2 (5) LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 3 BOARD.—The term ‘‘local workforce development 4 board’’ means a local workforce development board 5 established under section 107 of the Workforce In- 6 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3122). 7 (6) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.—The term ‘‘on-the- 8 job training’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 9 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 10 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 11 (7) PROGRAM OF STUDY.—The term ‘‘program 12 of study’’ has the meaning given the term in section 13 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu- 14 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 15 (8) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 16 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden- 17 tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 18 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 19 U.S.C. 3102). 20 (9) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 21 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 22 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 23 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2696 IH (10) STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 1 BOARD.—The term ‘‘State workforce development 2 board’’ means a State workforce development board 3 established under section 101 of the Workforce In- 4 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111). 5 (11) TRANSPORTATION SECTOR.—The term 6 ‘‘transportation sector’’ means an industry sector 7 that is involved in the manufacturing, operation, in- 8 spection, logistics, design, or engineering of equip- 9 ment, materials, technologies, or infrastructure re- 10 lated to transportation (including surface, transit, 11 railway, aviation, and maritime transportation). 12 (12) WORK-BASED LEARNING.—The term 13 ‘‘work-based learning’’ has the meaning given the 14 term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 15 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2696.IH H2696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS