ELEVATE Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 136 To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employment, training, and supportive services program for the long-term unemployed and indi- viduals with barriers to employment, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 15, 2019 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employ- ment, training, and supportive services program for the long-term unemployed and individuals with barriers to employment, 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; AMENDMENT TO SOCIAL SECU- 3 RITY ACT; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘Economic Ladders to End Volatility and Advance Train- 6 ing and Employment Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘ELEVATE 7 Act of 2019’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 136 IS (b) AMENDMENTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Ex- 1 cept as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this 2 Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment 3 to or repeal of a section or other provision, the reference 4 shall be considered to be made to that section or other 5 provision of the Social Security Act. 6 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; amendment to Social Security Act; table of contents. Sec. 2. Employment, training, and supportive services program. Sec. 3. Self-employment assistance benefits and relocation assistance benefits. Sec. 4. Employee retention work opportunity credit. Sec. 5. Conforming amendments. Sec. 6. Effective date; regulations. SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND SUPPORTIVE SERV- 9 ICES PROGRAM. 10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Social Security Act (42 11 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title XII 12 the following: 13 ‘‘TITLE XIII—REEMPLOYMENT 14 AND OTHER JOB-RELATED 15 ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS 16 ‘‘PART A—EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND 17 SUPPORTIVE SERVICES PROGRAM 18 ‘‘SEC. 1301. PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS; ADMINISTRATION. 19 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro- 20 vide funds to States to initiate and expand the provision 21 of employment services, training and other services and 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 136 IS activities, and supportive services for eligible individuals 1 in order to— 2 ‘‘(1) promote subsidized employment programs 3 for public, private for-profit, private non-profit, and 4 social enterprise sector jobs; 5 ‘‘(2) expand the availability of jobs during eco- 6 nomic downturns or in areas with persistently high 7 unemployment or poverty; 8 ‘‘(3) provide economically and socially disadvan- 9 taged individuals (such as the long-term unem- 10 ployed, people with criminal records, former foster 11 youth, and other economically and socially disadvan- 12 taged populations) with the ability to gain job expe- 13 rience; 14 ‘‘(4) provide employers with new pathways into 15 the workforce development system enabling them to 16 have a greater role in the training and hiring of new 17 workers and labor market re-entrants; and 18 ‘‘(5) allow for sufficient State flexibility to de- 19 sign programs targeted at community-specific work- 20 force gaps and employer needs. 21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this part: 22 ‘‘(1) ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER EM- 23 PLOYMENT AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES.—The term 24 ‘adult and dislocated worker employment and train- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 136 IS ing activities’ means adult and dislocated worker 1 employment and training activities funded under 2 chapter 3 of subtitle B of title I of the Workforce 3 Innovation and Opportunity Act. 4 ‘‘(2) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘dis- 5 located worker’ has the meaning given that term in 6 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 7 tunity Act. 8 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 9 individual’ means an individual who, on the basis of 10 an assessment by the State, has been determined to 11 be unlikely to find unsubsidized employment due 12 to— 13 ‘‘(A) being an individual with a barrier to 14 employment; 15 ‘‘(B) being a dislocated worker; or 16 ‘‘(C) local or national economic conditions. 17 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT SERVICES.—The term ‘em- 18 ployment services’ means a subsidized job placement 19 in the public, private for-profit, private non-profit, or 20 social enterprise sector and includes payment or re- 21 imbursement of employer subsidies for wages, the 22 employer share of payroll taxes, employer costs for 23 unemployment insurance, employer costs for work- 24 ers’ compensation premiums, and costs attributable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 136 IS to supervision and other administration directly re- 1 lated to the employment of an eligible individual in 2 the subsidized job placement. 3 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 4 has the meaning given that term in section 419(4). 5 ‘‘(6) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 6 MENT.—The term ‘individual with a barrier to em- 7 ployment’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 8 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 9 Act and includes an individual who is an offender 10 (as defined in such section). 11 ‘‘(7) INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAIN- 12 ING.—The term ‘integrated education and training’ 13 has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the 14 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 15 ‘‘(8) PAYROLL TAXES.—The term ‘payroll 16 taxes’ means taxes under section 3111, 3221, 3301, 17 or 3321 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 18 any similar State or local tax imposed on employers. 19 ‘‘(9) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘supportive 21 services’ has the meaning given that term in 22 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 23 portunity Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 136 IS ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL SERVICES.—Such term 1 includes any of the following: 2 ‘‘(i) Stipends for an eligible individual 3 provided with unpaid training services. 4 ‘‘(ii) Legal services. 5 ‘‘(iii) Other supplemental services nec- 6 essary for an eligible individual to partici- 7 pate in the State program funded under 8 this part. 9 ‘‘(10) STATE EXPENDITURES.—The term ‘State 10 expenditures’ means all State or local funds that are 11 expended by the State or a local agency including 12 State or local funds that are matched or reimbursed 13 by the Federal Government and State or local funds 14 that are not matched or reimbursed by the Federal 15 Government. 16 ‘‘(11) TIER-1 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 17 (c), the term ‘tier-1 practice’ means a practice 18 that— 19 ‘‘(A) offers a new or potentially more effec- 20 tive strategy for addressing widely shared chal- 21 lenges; 22 ‘‘(B) has not been systematically studied 23 but is supported by a strong logic model; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 136 IS ‘‘(C) is a departure from existing work- 1 force strategies. 2 ‘‘(12) TIER-2 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 3 (c), the term ‘tier-2 practice’ means a practice that 4 will expand knowledge about the efficacy of a work- 5 force strategy and provide more information about 6 the feasibility of implementing proven workforce 7 strategies in different contexts and is, with respect 8 to a State— 9 ‘‘(A) a practice that has been implemented 10 by a State program and evaluated by a State or 11 by a neutral third-party and the evaluation re- 12 sults indicate some potential for positive im- 13 pacts on participant or system-wide outcomes; 14 or 15 ‘‘(B) a practice that has not been pre- 16 viously implemented by the State, but is sup- 17 ported by strong evidence of positive change 18 and has been evaluated before using an out- 19 come, quasi-experimental, or random assign- 20 ment design, and evaluation findings indicate 21 some statistically significant positive change. 22 ‘‘(13) TIER-3 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 23 (c), the term ‘tier-3 practice’ means with respect to 24 a State, a practice that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 136 IS ‘‘(A) previously has been implemented by a 1 program funded by a State; and 2 ‘‘(B) previously has been evaluated using a 3 random assignment design and the evaluation 4 findings indicate some positive impacts on par- 5 ticipant or system wide outcomes. 6 ‘‘(14) TRAINING AND OTHER SERVICES OR AC- 7 TIVITIES.—The term ‘training and other services or 8 activities’ means any of the following services or ac- 9 tivities if provided in conjunction with a subsidized 10 job placement and determined by the State as nec- 11 essary to significantly increase the likelihood that 12 the job placement will be successful for the employer 13 and employee and may improve the prospect of ob- 14 taining and retaining unsubsidized jobs: 15 ‘‘(A) Services provided through adult and 16 dislocated worker employment and training ac- 17 tivities. 18 ‘‘(B) Integrated education and training. 19 ‘‘(C) Education directly related to employ- 20 ment. 21 ‘‘(D) Vocational and employment services 22 integrated with trauma-informed substance use 23 disorder treatment, in collaboration with a sub- 24 stance use disorder treatment provider. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 136 IS ‘‘(E) Casework and job coaching. 1 ‘‘(F) Union-provided job training services. 2 ‘‘(c) OUTCOME MEASURES REQUIRED.—A practice 3 shall not be considered to be a tier-1, tier-2, or tier-3 prac- 4 tice unless the practice is intended, studied, or evaluated 5 for purposes of making meaningful improvements in vali- 6 dated measures of important outcomes for eligible individ- 7 uals and their families, such as recidivism, health, employ- 8 ment, and economic well-being over the short and long- 9 term. 10 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to section 1302(d), 11 the program under this part shall be administered by the 12 Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for the Admin- 13 istration for Children and Families within the Department 14 of Health and Human Services and in consultation with 15 the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education. 16 ‘‘(e) STATE ENTITLEMENT.—This part constitutes 17 budget authority in advance of appropriations Acts and 18 represents the obligation of the Federal Government to 19 provide payments to States under section 1304(a). 20 ‘‘SEC. 1302. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible for pay- 22 ment under section 1304 unless the State has submitted 23 to the Secretary a plan that describes— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 136 IS ‘‘(1) the State’s strategy for creating or ex- 1 panding programs that offers subsidized employment 2 for eligible individuals and moving such individuals 3 into unsubsidized employment; 4 ‘‘(2) how such strategy fits with the State’s 5 overall strategy for, and assessment of, the State’s 6 workforce needs; 7 ‘‘(3) the employment services, training and 8 other services or activities, and supportive services to 9 be provided under the State program funded under 10 this part; 11 ‘‘(4) which specific populations of eligible indi- 12 viduals the State will serve, with a focus on how the 13 State plans to assess and serve the eligible individ- 14 uals with serious or multiple barriers to employment; 15 ‘‘(5) the strategies the State will use for out- 16 reach and engagement with the populations specified 17 under paragraph (4) to ensure that such populations 18 are aware of subsidized employment opportunities in 19 their community; 20 ‘‘(6) the strategies the State will use for out- 21 reach, engagement, and ongoing collaboration with 22 employers to promote employers’ use of the program 23 and ensure they have the training necessary to sup- 24 port eligible individuals; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 136 IS ‘‘(7) the strategies the State will use, based on 1 such assessments, to create employability plans for 2 eligible individuals participating in the State pro- 3 gram funded under this part and, based on such 4 plans, assign and provide eligible individuals with 5 employment services, training and other services and 6 activities, and supportive services; 7 ‘‘(8) how the State will coordinate the State 8 program funded under this part with other relevant 9 systems and programs based on the populations 10 identified which may include criminal justice, child 11 support, juvenile justice, child welfare, homeless 12 services and other human services and workforce de- 13 velopment programs of the State, including pro- 14 grams supported through the Workforce Innovation 15 and Opportunity Act; 16 ‘‘(9) how the State will ensure employers par- 17 ticipating in the program comply with the non- 18 displacement requirements of section 1305(c); and 19 ‘‘(10) a plan for regular, rigorous evaluation of 20 the State program funded under this part, including 21 how the State plans to measure program outcomes 22 and impacts. 23 ‘‘(b) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The State shall in- 24 clude with the plan a certification that supportive services 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 136 IS for eligible individuals will supplement, and not supplant, 1 other assistance provided by the State. 2 ‘‘(c) DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION.— 3 ‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—The initial State plan 4 under this section shall be submitted by the State 5 agency or agencies responsible for administering the 6 State program under this par [Text truncated for display. 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