Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3974 To extend the trade adjustment assistance program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. KIND, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. BEYER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. CHU, Mr. EVANS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, and Mr. THOMP- SON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To extend the trade adjustment assistance program, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act of 5 2021’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3974 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Application of provisions relating to trade adjustment assistance. TITLE I—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR WORKERS Sec. 101. Filing petitions. Sec. 102. Group eligibility requirements. Sec. 103. Application of determinations of eligibility to workers employed by successors-in-interest. Sec. 104. Provision of benefit information to workers. Sec. 105. Qualifying requirements for workers. Sec. 106. Modification to trade readjustment allowances. Sec. 107. Automatic extension of trade readjustment allowances. Sec. 108. Employment and case management services. Sec. 109. Training. Sec. 110. Job search, relocation, and child care allowances. Sec. 111. Agreements with States. Sec. 112. Reemployment trade adjustment assistance program. Sec. 113. Extension of trade adjustment assistance to public agency workers. Sec. 114. Definitions. Sec. 115. Subpoena power. Sec. 116. Data collection with respect to training. Sec. 117. Sense of Congress. TITLE II—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS Sec. 201. Petitions and determinations. Sec. 202. Approval of adjustment proposals. Sec. 203. Technical assistance. Sec. 204. Annual report on trade adjustment assistance for firms. Sec. 205. Definitions. Sec. 206. Plan for outreach to potentially eligible firms. TITLE III—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITIES Sec. 301. Trade adjustment assistance for communities. Sec. 302. Community College and Career Training Grant Program. TITLE IV—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS Sec. 401. Definitions. Sec. 402. Group eligibility requirements. Sec. 403. Annual report. Sec. 404. Benefit information to agricultural commodity producers. Sec. 405. Qualifying requirements and benefits for agricultural commodity pro- ducers. TITLE V—OTHER MATTERS Sec. 501. Extension of trade adjustment assistance program. Sec. 502. Applicability of trade adjustment assistance provisions. TITLE VI—HEALTH CARE TAX CREDIT Sec. 601. Permanent credit for health insurance costs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3974 IH SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO TRADE 1 ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE. 2 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—Except as 3 otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of chapters 4 2 through 6 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974, as in 5 effect on June 30, 2021, and as amended by this Act, 6 shall— 7 (1) take effect on the date of the enactment of 8 this Act; and 9 (2) apply with respect to petitions for certifi- 10 cation filed under chapter 2, 3, 4, or 6 of title II of 11 the Trade Act of 1974 on or after such date of en- 12 actment. 13 (b) REFERENCE.—Except as otherwise provided in 14 this Act, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 15 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 16 a provision of chapters 2 through 6 of title II of the Trade 17 Act of 1974, the reference shall be considered to be made 18 to a provision of any such chapter, as in effect on June 19 30, 2021. 20 (c) REPEAL OF SNAPBACK.—Section 406 of the 21 Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 22 2015 (Public Law 114–27; 129 Stat. 379) is repealed. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3974 IH TITLE I—TRADE ADJUSTMENT 1 ASSISTANCE FOR WORKERS 2 SEC. 101. FILING PETITIONS. 3 Section 221(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 4 U.S.C. 2271(a)(1)) is amended— 5 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 6 follows: 7 ‘‘(A) One or more workers in the group of 8 workers.’’; and 9 (2) in subparagraph (C)— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘or a State dislocated 11 worker unit’’ and inserting ‘‘a State dislocated 12 worker unit’’; and 13 (B) by adding at the end before the period 14 the following: ‘‘, or workforce intermediaries, in- 15 cluding labor-management organizations that 16 carry out re-employment and training services’’. 17 SEC. 102. GROUP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 222(a)(2) of the Trade 19 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2272(a)(2)) is amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 21 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or failed to 22 increase’’ after ‘‘absolutely’’; and 23 (B) in clause (iii)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3974 IH (i) by striking ‘‘to the decline’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘to any decline or absence of in- 2 crease’’; and 3 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 4 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking the pe- 5 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(C)(i) the sales or production, or both, of such 8 firm have decreased; 9 ‘‘(ii)(I) exports of articles produced or services 10 supplied by such workers’ firm have decreased; or 11 ‘‘(II) imports of articles or services necessary 12 for the production of articles or services supplied by 13 such firm have decreased; and 14 ‘‘(iii) the decrease in exports or imports de- 15 scribed in clause (ii) contributed to such workers’ 16 separation or threat of separation and to the decline 17 in the sales or production of such firm.’’. 18 (b) REPEAL.—Section 222 of the Trade Act of 1974 19 (19 U.S.C. 2272) is amended— 20 (1) in subsections (a) and (b), by striking ‘‘im- 21 portantly’’ each place it appears; and 22 (2) in subsection (c)— 23 (A) by striking paragraph (1); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3974 IH (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 1 through (4) as paragraphs (1) through (3), re- 2 spectively. 3 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF STAFFED WORKERS AND TELE- 4 WORKERS.—Section 222 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 5 U.S.C. 2272), as amended by subsection (b), is further 6 amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF STAFFED WORKERS AND TELE- 8 WORKERS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 10 (a), workers in a firm include staffed workers and 11 teleworkers. 12 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 13 ‘‘(A) STAFFED WORKER.—The term 14 ‘staffed worker’ means a worker who performs 15 work under the operational control of a firm 16 that is the subject of a petition filed under sec- 17 tion 221, even if the worker is directly em- 18 ployed by another firm. 19 ‘‘(B) TELEWORKER.—The term ‘tele- 20 worker’ means a worker who works remotely 21 but who reports to the location listed for a firm 22 in a petition filed under section 221.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3974 IH SEC. 103. APPLICATION OF DETERMINATIONS OF ELIGI- 1 BILITY TO WORKERS EMPLOYED BY SUCCES- 2 SORS-IN-INTEREST. 3 Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 4 2273) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF WORKERS OF SUCCESSORS-IN- 6 INTEREST.—If the Secretary certifies a group of workers 7 of a firm as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance 8 under this chapter, a worker of a successor-in-interest to 9 that firm shall be covered by the certification to the same 10 extent as a worker of that firm.’’. 11 SEC. 104. PROVISION OF BENEFIT INFORMATION TO WORK- 12 ERS. 13 Section 225 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 14 2275) is amended— 15 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the sec- 16 ond sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘The Sec- 17 retary shall make every effort to provide such infor- 18 mation and assistance to workers in their native lan- 19 guage.’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (b)— 21 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 22 paragraph (3); 23 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3974 IH ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall provide a second notice to 1 a worker described in paragraph (1) before the worker has 2 exhausted all rights to any unemployment insurance to 3 which the worker is entitled (other than additional com- 4 pensation described in section 231(a)(3)(B) funded by a 5 State and not reimbursed from Federal funds).’’; 6 (C) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by 7 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘print or digital’’ 8 before ‘‘newspapers’’; and 9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(4) For purposes of providing outreach regarding 11 the benefits available under this chapter to workers cov- 12 ered by a certification made under this subchapter, the 13 Secretary may take any necessary actions, including the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(A) Collecting the email addresses and tele- 16 phone numbers of such workers from the employers 17 of such workers to provide outreach to such workers. 18 ‘‘(B) Partnering with the certified or recognized 19 union, a community-based worker organization, or 20 other duly authorized representatives of such work- 21 ers. 22 ‘‘(C) Hiring peer support workers to perform 23 outreach to other workers covered by that certifi- 24 cation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3974 IH ‘‘(D) Using advertising methods and public in- 1 formation campaigns, including social media, in ad- 2 dition to notice published in print or digital news- 3 papers under paragraph (3).’’. 4 SEC. 105. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR WORKERS. 5 (a) MODIFICATION OF CONDITIONS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a) of the Trade 7 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2291(a)) is amended— 8 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 9 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 10 and (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respec- 11 tively; and 12 (C) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated), by 13 striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2)’’ each place it 14 appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) Section 16 232 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2292) is 17 amended by striking ‘‘section 231(a)(3)(B)’’ each 18 place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 19 231(a)(2)(B)’’. 20 (B) Section 233(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 21 (19 U.S.C. 2293(a)) is amended— 22 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 23 231(a)(3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 24 231(a)(2)(A)’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3974 IH (ii) in paragraph (2)— 1 (I) by striking ‘‘adversely affected em- 2 ployment’’ and all that follows through 3 ‘‘(A) within’’ and inserting ‘‘adversely af- 4 fected employment within’’; 5 (II) by striking ‘‘, and’’ and inserting 6 a period; and 7 (III) by striking subparagraph (B). 8 (b) WAIVERS OF TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—Sec- 9 tion 231(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 10 2291(c)(1)) is amended— 11 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), 12 and (C) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), respec- 13 tively; and 14 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (D) (as 15 redesignated) the following: 16 ‘‘(A) RECALL.—The worker has been noti- 17 fied that the worker will be recalled by the firm 18 from which the separation occurred. 19 ‘‘(B) MARKETABLE SKILLS.—The worker 20 possesses marketable skills for suitable employ- 21 ment (as determined pursuant to an assessment 22 of the worker, which may include the profiling 23 system under section 303(j) of the Social Secu- 24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 503(j)), carried out in ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3974 IH cordance with guidelines issued by the Sec- 1 retary) and there is a reasonable expectation of 2 employment at equivalent wages in the foresee- 3 able future. 4 ‘‘(C) RETIREMENT.—The worker is within 5 2 years of meeting all requirements for entitle- 6 ment to either— 7 ‘‘(i) old-age insurance benefits under 8 title II of the Social Security Act (42 9 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) (except for application 10 therefor); or 11 ‘‘(ii) a private pension sponsored by 12 an employer or labor organization.’’. 13 SEC. 106. MODIFICATION TO TRADE READJUSTMENT AL- 14 LOWANCES. 15 (a) PAYMENT TO COMPLETE TRAINING.—Section 16 233 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2293) is amend- 17 ed— 18 (1) in subsection (a)— 19 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 20 ‘‘104-week period’’ the following: ‘‘(or, in the 21 case of an adversely affected worker who re- 22 quires a program of prerequisite education or 23 remedial education (as described in section 24 236(a)(5)(D)) in order to complete training ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:23 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3974.IH H3974 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3974 IH proved for the worker under section 236, the 1 130-week period)’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘65 addi- 3 tional weeks in the 78-week period’’ and insert- 4 ing ‘‘78 additional weeks in the 91-week pe- 5 riod’’; and 6 (C) in the flush text, by striking ‘‘78-week 7 period’’ and inserting ‘‘91-week period’’; and 8 (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol- 9 lows: 10 ‘‘(f) PAYMENT OF TRADE READJUSTMENT ALLOW- 11 ANCES TO COMPLETE TRAINING.—Notwithstanding [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]