STEM RESTART Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 662 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a new national program to support mid-career workers, including workers from underrepresented populations, in reentering the STEM workforce, by providing funding to small- and medium-sized STEM businesses so the businesses can offer paid internships or other returnships that lead to positions above entry level. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 6, 2023 Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a new national program to support mid-career workers, including workers from underrepresented popu- lations, in reentering the STEM workforce, by providing funding to small- and medium-sized STEM businesses so the businesses can offer paid internships or other returnships that lead to positions above entry level. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 662 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEM Restoring Em- 2 ployment Skills through Targeted Assistance, Re-entry, 3 and Training Act’’ or the ‘‘STEM RESTART Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. RETURNING SKILLED WORKERS TO THE STEM 5 WORKFORCE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title I of the Work- 7 force Innovation and Opportunity Act is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating section 172 (29 U.S.C. 9 3227) as section 173; and 10 (2) by inserting after section 171 the following: 11 ‘‘SEC. 172. GRANTS TO SUPPORT SKILLED WORKERS IN RE- 12 TURNING OR TRANSITIONING TO THE STEM 13 WORKFORCE. 14 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 15 ‘‘(1) The Brookings Institution expects the 16 coronavirus pandemic will have lasting effects on the 17 labor market and could change the composition of 18 available jobs indefinitely, with the ensuing economic 19 decline ushering in a new era of automation. Em- 20 ployers will likely shed less skilled workers and re- 21 place them with higher-skilled technology workers, 22 which increases labor productivity as a recession 23 tapers off. 24 ‘‘(2) The current pipeline of engineering talent 25 does not include many college graduates from large 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 662 IS cohorts of the population. Women represent over 57 1 percent of college graduates but only 22 percent of 2 the engineers entering the workforce. Within the 3 workforce, only 14 percent of engineers are women. 4 Women also leave the engineering profession in 5 greater numbers than men do. 6 ‘‘(3) A 2018 Pew Research Center study 7 showed there are wide racial gaps among current 8 STEM workers regarding reasons why so few Black 9 and Hispanic people work in STEM. For example, 10 over 70 percent of Black STEM workers view lack 11 of access to education and discriminatory hiring and 12 promotion practices as reasons there are so few 13 Black men and women in the STEM fields. By com- 14 parison, less than 30 percent of White and Asian 15 STEM workers view that lack of access and those 16 practices as barriers to Black people entering the 17 fields. Additionally, 62 percent of Black STEM 18 workers say they have faced discrimination in their 19 jobs compared to just 13 percent of White STEM 20 workers. 21 ‘‘(4) Among the 25,300,000 United States 22 women ages 25 through 54 with a bachelor’s degree 23 or higher degree in 2017, 4,200,000 were out of the 24 labor force. While some of those women were dis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 662 IS abled or retired, the remaining 3,600,000 women 1 may be candidates to return to work. 2 ‘‘(5) The Center for Talent Innovation’s re- 3 search shows that while 93 percent of women who 4 left the workforce want to resume their careers, only 5 74 percent manage to get any kind of job at all and 6 just 40 percent successfully return to work full-time. 7 ‘‘(6) Mid-career internship and other returnship 8 programs are an effective way to address the dif- 9 ficulties of former STEM employees seeking to re- 10 turn to work, as the programs provide a proba- 11 tionary period and also an opportunity to obtain 12 mentorship, professional development, and support 13 as the participants transition back to work. Even 14 more important, returnship programs allow an em- 15 ployer to base a hiring decision on an actual work 16 sample instead of a series of interviews. At the same 17 time, the programs give participants an opportunity 18 to return to work together, in a cohort of similarly 19 situated returners. 20 ‘‘(7) Fortune 500 companies like Apple, Honey- 21 well, Northrop Grumman, Ingersoll Rand, and The 22 Procter & Gamble Company have taken the initiative 23 to try to close the gender gap among STEM profes- 24 sionals by providing mid-career internships for re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 662 IS turning technical professionals. However, a 2008 1 study by Anthony Breitzman and Diana Hicks for 2 the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Admin- 3 istration, entitled ‘An Analysis of Small Business 4 Patents by Industry and Firm Size’, found that 5 ‘Small firms are much more likely to develop emerg- 6 ing technologies than are large firms. This is per- 7 haps intuitively reasonable given theories on small 8 firms effecting technological change, but the quan- 9 titative data here support this assertion. Specifically, 10 although small firms account for only 8 percent of 11 patents granted, they account for 24 percent of the 12 patents in the top 100 emerging clusters.’. 13 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 14 to— 15 ‘‘(1) prioritize expanding opportunities, through 16 high-quality internships or other returnships in 17 STEM fields for unemployed or underemployed 18 workers, particularly workers from underrepresented 19 populations and workers from rural areas, who are 20 mid-career skilled workers seeking to return or tran- 21 sition to in-demand industry sectors or occupations 22 within the STEM workforce, at positions and com- 23 pensation above entry level; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 662 IS ‘‘(2) establish grant funding and other incen- 1 tives for small-sized and medium-sized companies in 2 in-demand industry sectors or occupations to estab- 3 lish programs that provide on-the-job evaluation, 4 education, and training for mid-career skilled work- 5 ers described in paragraph (1). 6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 ‘‘(1) MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE.—The term 8 ‘medium-sized’, used with respect to an enterprise, 9 means an entity that employs more than 499 and 10 fewer than 10,000 employees. 11 ‘‘(2) RESTART GRANT.—The term ‘RE- 12 START grant’ means a grant made under sub- 13 section (d). 14 ‘‘(3) RETURNSHIP.—The term ‘returnship’ shall 15 mean any internship, apprenticeship, re-entry oppor- 16 tunity, direct hiring opportunity with support, or 17 other similar opportunity designed to provide work- 18 ers seeking to return or transition to the STEM 19 workforce with positions that— 20 ‘‘(A) are above entry level; 21 ‘‘(B) provide salaries, stipends, or other 22 payments, and benefits, that are above entry 23 level; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 662 IS ‘‘(C) provide training that leads workers 1 toward full-time careers and provides pathways 2 toward advancement and leadership. 3 ‘‘(4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 4 means an area that is not an urban area (within the 5 meaning of the notice of final program criteria enti- 6 tled ‘Urban Area Criteria for the 2010 Census’ (76 7 Fed. Reg. 53030 (August 24, 2011))). 8 ‘‘(5) SMALL-SIZED ENTERPRISE.—The term 9 ‘small-sized’, used with respect to an enterprise, 10 means an entity that employs more than 49 and 11 fewer than 500 individuals. 12 ‘‘(6) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ has the mean- 13 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM- 14 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 15 6621 note). 16 ‘‘(7) UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATION.—The 17 term ‘underrepresented population’ means a group 18 that is underrepresented in science and engineering, 19 as determined by the Secretary of Education under 20 section 637.4(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula- 21 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of the 22 STEM RESTART Act). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 662 IS ‘‘(8) UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED INDI- 1 VIDUAL.—The term ‘unemployed or underemployed 2 individual’ means— 3 ‘‘(A) an unemployed or underemployed in- 4 dividual as defined by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 5 tistics; and 6 ‘‘(B) a displaced or furloughed worker. 7 ‘‘(d) GRANT.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 9 available to carry out this section, the Secretary 10 shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 11 entities, to carry out returnship programs that pro- 12 vide opportunities above entry level in STEM fields 13 for mid-career skilled workers, and achieve the pur- 14 poses described in subsection (b). 15 ‘‘(2) PERIODS.—The Secretary shall award the 16 grants for an initial period of not less than 3 years 17 and not more than 5 years. 18 ‘‘(3) AMOUNTS.—In awarding grants under this 19 subsection, the Secretary shall award a grant— 20 ‘‘(A) for a small-sized enterprise, in an 21 amount so that each annual payment for the 22 grant is not less than $100,000 or more than 23 $1,000,000; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 662 IS ‘‘(B) for a medium-sized enterprise or con- 1 sortium, in an amount so that each annual pay- 2 ment for the grant is not less than $500,000 or 3 more than $5,000,000. 4 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.— 5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re- 6 ceive a RESTART grant under this section, an enti- 7 ty shall— 8 ‘‘(A)(i) be located in the United States and 9 have significant operations and employees with- 10 in the United States; 11 ‘‘(ii) not be a debtor in a bankruptcy pro- 12 ceeding, within the meaning of section 13 4003(c)(3)(D)(i)(V) of the CARES Act (15 14 U.S.C. 9042(c)(3)(D)(i)(V)) or under a State 15 bankruptcy law; and 16 ‘‘(iii) be within an in-demand industry sec- 17 tor or occupation in a STEM field; and 18 ‘‘(B) be— 19 ‘‘(i) a small-sized enterprise; 20 ‘‘(ii) a medium-sized enterprise; or 21 ‘‘(iii) a consortium of small-sized or 22 medium-sized enterprises. 23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 662 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 1 desires to partner with a provider in order to 2 carry out a returnship program under this sec- 3 tion shall enter into an arrangement with an el- 4 igible provider. 5 ‘‘(B) PROVIDER.—To be eligible to enter 6 into such an arrangement, a provider— 7 ‘‘(i) may or may not directly employ 8 skilled workers in STEM fields but— 9 ‘‘(I) shall have expertise in 10 human resources-related activities, 11 such as identifying or carrying out 12 staffing with skilled workers or under- 13 represented populations; and 14 ‘‘(II) shall be capable of pro- 15 viding high-quality education and 16 training services; and 17 ‘‘(ii) may be— 18 ‘‘(I)(aa) an institution of higher 19 education (as defined in section 101 20 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 21 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); or 22 ‘‘(bb) a non-degree-granting in- 23 stitution that is governed by the same 24 body that governs an institutions of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 662 IS higher education described in item 1 (aa); 2 ‘‘(II) a public, private for-profit, 3 or private nonprofit service provider, 4 approved by the local board; 5 ‘‘(III) a joint labor-management 6 organization; 7 ‘‘(IV) an eligible provider of 8 adult education and literacy activities 9 under title II; or 10 ‘‘(V) an established nonprofit or- 11 ganization that conducts research or 12 provides training on technical, social 13 and emotional, and employability 14 skills and knowledge aligned to the 15 needs of adult learners and workers. 16 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 18 RESTART grant to carry out a returnship program, 19 an entity shall submit an application to the Sec- 20 retary at such time and in such manner as the Sec- 21 retary may reasonably require. 22 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Such an application shall in- 23 clude— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S662.IS S662 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 662 IS ‘‘(A) a description of the demand for 1 skilled workers in STEM fields and how the 2 RESTART grant will be used to help meet that 3 demand; 4 ‘‘(B) a description of how the program will 5 lead to employment of unemployed or under- 6 employed individuals, particularly workers from 7 underrepresented populations or from rural 8 areas, who seek to return or transition to the 9 STEM workforce; 10 ‘‘(C) if the entity has entered into or plans 11 to enter into an arrangement with an eligible 12 provider as described in subsection (e)(2) to 13 carry out a returnship program, information 14 identifying the eligible provider, and a descrip- 15 tion of how the arrangement will help the entity 16 build the knowledge and skills of skilled workers 17 participating in the program; 18 ‘‘(D) a description of how the eligible enti- 19 ty will develop and establish, or expand, a 20 returnship program that adds to the number of 21 full-time employees employed by the entity, but 22 does not displace full-time employees currently 23 (as of the date of submission of the application) 24 employed [Text truncated for display. 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