Long-Term Unemployment Elimination Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2790 To establish jobs programs for long-term unemployed workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To establish jobs programs for long-term unemployed workers, 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 ‘‘Long-Term Unemploy- 4 ment Elimination Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to provide job opportuni- 7 ties for every long-term unemployed worker in the United 8 States. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2790 IH SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CAREER SERVICES.—The term ‘‘career serv- 3 ices’’ includes the services described in section 4 134(c)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 5 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)). 6 (2) COVERED AREA.—The term ‘‘covered area’’ 7 means the local area in which a local board is car- 8 rying out a jobs program, or (in the circumstances 9 described in section 4(d)) the local area in which a 10 community-based organization is carrying out a jobs 11 program, under this Act. 12 (3) ELIGIBLE WORKER.—The term ‘‘eligible 13 worker’’ means an individual who— 14 (A) is not less than 18 years old; 15 (B) is authorized to be employed in the 16 United States for purposes of section 274A of 17 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 18 1324a); 19 (C) has not been employed or a full-time 20 student for a period of not less than 27 weeks 21 (except as modified under section 5(e)); and 22 (D) is currently seeking employment and 23 has been seeking employment for a period of 24 not less than 4 weeks (except as modified under 25 section 5(e)). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2790 IH (4) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 1 MENT.—The term ‘‘individual with a barrier to em- 2 ployment’’ has the meaning given in section 3(24) of 3 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 4 U.S.C. 3102(24)), except that such term shall not 5 include individuals who meet the terms of the defini- 6 tion in that section solely on the basis of their status 7 as long-term unemployed individuals. 8 (5) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.—The term ‘‘on-the- 9 job training’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 10 tion 3(44) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 11 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(44)), except that sub- 12 paragraph (B) of that section shall not apply. 13 (6) PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER.—The term 14 ‘‘participating employer’’ means an employer— 15 (A) that is— 16 (i) a government agency; 17 (ii) a nonprofit organization; 18 (iii) operating as an employment so- 19 cial enterprise; or 20 (iv) a business; and 21 (B) includes— 22 (i) an employer at the site of employ- 23 ment for an eligible worker in a program 24 position; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2790 IH (ii) a community-based organization 1 that acts as an employer of record by— 2 (I) assuming the roles and re- 3 sponsibilities assigned to employers 4 described in clause (i) under this Act; 5 (II) entering into an agreement 6 with an employer described in clause 7 (i) to set forth the terms and condi- 8 tions for employment of an eligible 9 worker in a program position in a jobs 10 program in accordance with the provi- 11 sions of this Act; and 12 (III) acting as an intermediary 13 between eligible workers and employ- 14 ers described in clause (i) to facilitate 15 participation in the jobs program in- 16 volved. 17 (7) PAYROLL TAXES.—The term ‘‘payroll 18 taxes’’ means taxes under section 3111, 3221, 3301, 19 or 3321 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 20 any similar State or local tax imposed on employers. 21 (8) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘pre-ap- 22 prenticeship’’, used with respect to a program, 23 means a program that is designed to prepare indi- 24 viduals to enter and succeed in a registered appren- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2790 IH ticeship program and is carried out by an entity that 1 has a documented partnership with at least one 2 sponsor of a registered apprenticeship program. 3 (9) PROGRAM POSITION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘program po- 5 sition’’, used with respect to a jobs program— 6 (i) means a position— 7 (I) in a temporary job that is de- 8 signed to lead to long-term employ- 9 ment; and 10 (II) that is provided along with, 11 as necessary, career services, sup- 12 portive services, and training services 13 to enable an individual to succeed in 14 the job and obtain and retain long- 15 term employment; and 16 (ii) includes— 17 (I) a position in a transitional 18 job; 19 (II) a position in a registered ap- 20 prenticeship program; and 21 (III) an approved national service 22 position made available under section 23 129 of the National and Community 24 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2790 IH 12581), including a position spon- 1 sored under subsection (i) of that sec- 2 tion, subject to subparagraph (B). 3 (B) RULE.— 4 (i) EMPLOYERS WITH CERTAIN PRO- 5 GRAM POSITIONS.—A participating em- 6 ployer for an eligible worker (or an em- 7 ployer at the site of employment for an eli- 8 gible worker) in a program position de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii)(III) shall 10 be considered to be a service sponsor, as 11 defined in section 101 of the National and 12 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 13 U.S.C. 12511). 14 (ii) ELIGIBLE WORKERS IN CERTAIN 15 PROGRAM POSITIONS.—In parity with sec- 16 tion 101(30) of the National and Commu- 17 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 18 12511(30)), an eligible worker in such a 19 program position shall not be considered to 20 be an employee of the participating em- 21 ployer (or of an employer at the site of em- 22 ployment for the eligible worker). 23 (10) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 24 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2790 IH tial’’ means such a credential as defined in section 1 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 2 (29 U.S.C. 3102), if the provider of the program 3 leading to the credential is identified under section 4 122(h) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(h)). 5 (11) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 6 GRAM.—The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship pro- 7 gram’’ means a program registered under the Act of 8 August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the ‘‘National 9 Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 10 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 11 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 12 means the Secretary of Labor. 13 (13) TRANSITIONAL JOB.—The term ‘‘transi- 14 tional job’’ means a job described in section 15 134(d)(5) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 16 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(5)), without regard 17 to the limitation described in that section on funding 18 for such jobs. 19 (14) WIOA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘adult edu- 20 cation and literacy activities’’, ‘‘career pathway’’, 21 ‘‘community-based organization’’, ‘‘customized train- 22 ing’’, ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’, ‘‘in-demand 23 industry sector or occupation’’, ‘‘integrated edu- 24 cation and training’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local board’’, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2790 IH ‘‘one-stop operator’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘State area’’, 1 ‘‘State board’’, ‘‘supportive services’’, ‘‘training serv- 2 ices’’, and ‘‘veteran’’ have the meanings given the 3 terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 4 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 5 (15) WORKER-OWNED ENTERPRISE.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘worker- 7 owned enterprise’’ means— 8 (i) an eligible worker-owned coopera- 9 tive, as defined in section 1042(c)(2) of the 10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or 11 (ii) an enterprise for which the major- 12 ity of the voting stock is owned by workers 13 employed by such enterprise. 14 (B) VOTING STOCK.—For purposes of sub- 15 paragraph (A)(ii), the share of the voting stock 16 owned by workers shall include stock held by an 17 employee stock ownership plan, as defined in 18 section 4975(e)(7) of such Code. 19 SEC. 4. JOBS PROGRAMS FOR LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED 20 WORKERS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 23 tablish and administer a jobs initiative for eligible 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2790 IH workers, consisting of jobs programs carried out 1 through local boards. 2 (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—A local board may enter 3 into a partnership with one or more community- 4 based organizations to submit an application and 5 carry out a jobs program. 6 (3) AGREEMENTS.—In administering the initia- 7 tive, the Secretary shall enter into 4-year agree- 8 ments with local boards, under which the Secretary 9 shall provide payments to local boards. Such an 10 agreement shall specify which functions described in 11 this Act will be carried out by the local board, by the 12 community-based organization, and by the partner- 13 ship. 14 (4) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall make 15 such a payment in an amount that equals the eligi- 16 ble costs incurred by the local board— 17 (A) to provide wages and compensation for 18 program positions for eligible workers under 19 this section, minus any employer share of the 20 eligible costs of providing the wages and com- 21 pensation; 22 (B) to provide career services, supportive 23 services, and training services to eligible work- 24 ers under this section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2790 IH (C) to administer the jobs program under 1 this section. 2 (b) LOCAL BOARD APPLICATION.—To be eligible to 3 enter into an agreement under subsection (a), a local 4 board shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 5 time, in such manner, and containing a 4-year plan that 6 includes such information as the Secretary may require, 7 including— 8 (1) the number of eligible workers that the local 9 board proposes to serve under the jobs program in- 10 volved and the estimated cost of serving that number 11 of workers; 12 (2) a plan for one-stop operators to identify the 13 issues preventing each eligible worker served by the 14 jobs program from securing employment, and to re- 15 duce the impact of those issues with career services, 16 supportive services, and training services; 17 (3) a description of how the local board will en- 18 gage labor organizations, joint labor-management or- 19 ganizations, community-based organizations, commu- 20 nity colleges, economic development agencies, and 21 career and technical education programs as partners 22 to provide training services to eligible workers, in- 23 cluding any— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2790 IH (A) adult education and literacy activities, 1 including activities of English language acquisi- 2 tion, and integrated education and training pro- 3 grams; 4 (B) pre-apprenticeship and registered ap- 5 prenticeship programs; and 6 (C) career pathways; 7 (4) a description of how the local board will 8 support the creation and expansion of industry or 9 sector partnerships and alignment of the jobs pro- 10 gram with career pathways to improve outcomes for 11 eligible workers in program positions; 12 (5) proposed levels for the performance ac- 13 countability measures described in subsection (c); 14 (6) a description of the controls established by 15 the local board to assure that the local board— 16 (A) disburses funding to each participating 17 employer for all eligible costs described in sub- 18 section (h) incurred under the jobs program, 19 minus the employer share described in sub- 20 section (i); 21 (B) oversees participating employers to en- 22 sure compliance with program rules and collec- 23 tion of accurate data for performance account- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2790 IH ability measures described in subsection (c); 1 and 2 (C) requests accurate advance payment or 3 reimbursement for the eligible costs described 4 in subsection (h), minus any employer share de- 5 scribed in subsection (i) of the eligible costs; 6 (7) a description of how the local board will col- 7 laborate with the corresponding State board to im- 8 plement the jobs program and align such program 9 with the plan submitted by the corresponding State 10 board under subtitle A of title I of the Workforce In- 11 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et 12 seq.); 13 (8) a description of how the local board will 14 align the activities carried out under the grant with 15 the activities carried out under— 16 (A) the plans submitted by the local board 17 under subtitle A of title I of the Workforce In- 18 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 19 et seq.); 20 (B) the employment and training program 21 established by the corresponding State under 22 the supplemental nutrition assistance program 23 established under the Food and Nutrition Act 24 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2790.IH H2790 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2790 IH (C) the corresponding State program for 1 temporary assistance for needy families estab- 2 lished under part A of title IV of the Social Se- 3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 4 (D) the national service plan submitted by 5 the corresponding State Commission on Na- 6 tional and Community Service under sectio [Text truncated for display. 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