Jobs for All Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1000 To establish a National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment opportunities for the unemployed, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment opportunities for the unemployed, 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 ‘‘Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and 5 Training Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Jobs for All Act’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1000 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FULL EMPLOYMENT TRUST FUND Sec. 101. National Full Employment Trust Fund. Sec. 102. Source of funds. Sec. 103. Loans from the Federal Reserve System. Sec. 104. Trust Fund corpus reserved. TITLE II—PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION Sec. 201. In general. Sec. 202. Grant management. Sec. 203. Office of Technical Assistance. Sec. 204. Office of Educational Support. Sec. 205. Office of Assisted Placement. Sec. 206. Office of Dispute Resolution. Sec. 207. Office of Statistics and Research. Sec. 208. National Employment Conference. Sec. 209. Program website. Sec. 210. Staffing administrative functions. Sec. 211. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. TITLE III—EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY GRANTS Sec. 301. Grants. Sec. 302. Eligible entities. Sec. 303. Use of funds. Sec. 304. Grant conditions. Sec. 305. Program employment described. Sec. 306. Eligibility for program employment. Sec. 307. Compensation. Sec. 308. Assisted placement. Sec. 309. Priority given to certain projects. Sec. 310. Startup period. Sec. 311. Secretary’s authority to administer projects directly. Sec. 312. Reports. Sec. 313. Dispute resolution. Sec. 314. Tax on securities transactions. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The Federal Government has established 3 the achievement of full employment as a national 4 goal in the Employment Act of 1946 and the Full 5 Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1000 IH (2) Consistent with this goal and pursuant to 1 these Acts, the Congress has declared it to be the 2 continuing policy and responsibility of the Federal 3 Government to use all practicable means to create 4 and maintain conditions which promote useful em- 5 ployment opportunities for all who seek them, in- 6 cluding the self-employed. 7 (3) Consistent with this goal and pursuant to 8 these Acts, the Congress has also declared and es- 9 tablished as a national goal the fulfillment of the 10 right to full opportunities for useful paid employ- 11 ment at fair rates of compensation of all individuals 12 able, willing, and seeking to work. 13 (4) The United States also has a duty under 14 Articles 55 and 56 of the United Nations Charter to 15 promote ‘‘full employment’’ and the ‘‘universal re- 16 spect for, and observance of, human rights and fun- 17 damental freedoms for all without distinction as to 18 race, sex, language, or religion’’. 19 (5) The human rights the United States has a 20 duty to promote pursuant to this obligation are set 21 forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 22 (6) Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of 23 Human Rights states that ‘‘Everyone has the right 24 to work’’ and to ‘‘just and favorable remuneration’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1000 IH that insures for his or her family ‘‘an existence wor- 1 thy of human dignity, and supplemented, if nec- 2 essary, by other means of social protection’’. 3 (7) Consistent with the purpose and intent of 4 the Employment Act of 1946, the Full Employment 5 and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, Articles 55 and 6 56 of the United Nations Charter, and Article 23 of 7 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 8 Congress recognizes and declares that the meaning 9 of full employment under both United States and 10 international law is synonymous with the realization 11 of the right to work. 12 (8) Consistent with this understanding of the 13 meaning of full employment, the stated policy of the 14 United States with respect to the achievement of full 15 employment and the realization of the right to work, 16 and the obligations of the United States under inter- 17 national law, the Full Employment and Balanced 18 Growth Act of 1978 established an interim 5-year 19 target of 3 percent unemployment for individuals 20 20 years of age and older, and 4 percent for individuals 21 age 16 and over within 5 years, with full employ- 22 ment to be achieved ‘‘as soon as practicable’’ there- 23 after. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1000 IH (9) Notwithstanding the targets set forth in the 1 Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 2 1978, the United States continues to suffer substan- 3 tial unemployment and underemployment across all 4 phases of the business cycle, including periods when 5 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 6 tem is pursuing policies that may be useful in con- 7 trolling inflation but whose necessary consequence is 8 the continuation of a level of unemployment and 9 underemployment that is inconsistent with the 10 achievement of full employment and the realization 11 of the right to work. 12 (10) The Federal Government’s failure to de- 13 velop and implement policies capable of reconciling 14 the need to control inflation with its obligation to 15 achieve full employment and secure the right to 16 work imposes numerous economic and social costs on 17 the Nation, the following among them: 18 (A) The Nation is deprived of the full sup- 19 ply of goods and services and related increases 20 in economic well-being that would occur under 21 conditions of genuine full employment. 22 (B) The Nation’s depressed output of 23 goods and services, especially in the public sec- 24 tor, is insufficient to meet pressing national 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1000 IH needs for infrastructure investment and mainte- 1 nance, public transportation, clean energy pro- 2 duction, low and moderate income housing, edu- 3 cation, health care, child and elder care, and 4 many other public goods and human services. 5 (C) Unemployment and underemployment 6 expose many workers and families to signifi- 7 cant, social, psychological, and physiological 8 costs, including disruption of family life, the 9 loss of individual dignity and self-respect, and 10 the aggravation of physical and mental ill- 11 nesses. 12 (D) Persisting unemployment and under- 13 employment have devastating financial con- 14 sequences for its victims, resulting in the loss of 15 income and spending power for families, and 16 interfering with their ability to save and accu- 17 mulate assets for a secure family life and retire- 18 ment. 19 (E) Because disadvantaged population 20 groups suffer the burdens and harmful con- 21 sequences of unemployment with greater fre- 22 quency and at higher levels than nondisadvan- 23 taged population groups, unemployment pre- 24 sents a virtually insurmountable barrier to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1000 IH achievement of equal opportunity for all Ameri- 1 cans. 2 (F) Exceptionally high levels of unemploy- 3 ment among the Nation’s youth are particularly 4 harmful because of their long-term negative ef- 5 fects. 6 (G) High levels of unemployment and inad- 7 equate consumer demand also contribute to 8 poor conditions for retail businesses, manufac- 9 turers, and many other firms to grow and pros- 10 per. 11 (H) In the real estate sector, the Congress 12 finds that high levels of unemployment con- 13 tribute to foreclosures, evictions, and commer- 14 cial vacancies, thereby undermining the quality 15 of neighborhood and community life, and ham- 16 pering prospects for the economic development 17 of all the Nation’s neighborhoods and commu- 18 nities. 19 (11) Since the historic promise of the Employ- 20 ment Act of 1946 and the Full Employment and 21 Balanced Growth Act of 1978 has not been realized, 22 the Congress declares and reaffirms the Federal 23 Government’s obligation to insure the availability of 24 decent jobs for all at living wages. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1000 IH (12) The Congress further declares and reaf- 1 firms that the elimination of job disparities among 2 groups of workers who experience chronically higher 3 rates of unemployment and underemployment is an 4 essential component of the Federal Government’s 5 commitment to the achievement of full employment 6 and the realization of the right to work. 7 (13) The Congress also finds that both job va- 8 cancy surveys and historic experience shows that 9 even at the top of the business cycle, when the na- 10 tional unemployment rate drops to the 4 percent or 11 below, the economy fails to provide enough jobs to 12 employ everyone who wants to work. Consequently, 13 the need for direct job creation by the Federal Gov- 14 ernment is especially important at such times to 15 close the economy’s job gap without adding signifi- 16 cantly to inflationary pressures, a goal it is virtually 17 impossible to achieve with economic policies directed 18 at boosting production in the private sector of the 19 economy. 20 (14) The Congress further finds that in addi- 21 tion to providing a non-inflationary pathway for the 22 achievement of full employment and the realization 23 of the right to work, the direct job-creation strategy, 24 conceived and tested by the Federal Government 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1000 IH during the New Deal era, would also reduce the se- 1 verity of recessions while enriching the Nation with 2 a substantial increase in the production of badly 3 needed public goods and services. 4 (15) The Congress further finds that because of 5 the broad range of social costs the problem of unem- 6 ployment imposes on society, including in particular 7 reduced tax collections and increased social welfare 8 expenditures by all levels of government, the achieve- 9 ment of full employment and the realization of the 10 right to work by means of the New Deal’s direct job 11 creation strategy would cost far less than other 12 major social welfare benefits provided by government 13 and might even end up saving the public money. 14 (16) Therefore, while the Congress fully sup- 15 ports efforts to maximize the creation of private, 16 public, and nonprofit sector jobs through improved 17 use of general economic and structural policies, it 18 recognizes and affirms the need to supplement those 19 policies with a well-designed direct job creation pro- 20 gram committed to and capable of closing the econo- 21 my’s job gap across all phases of the business cycle. 22 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of the Jobs for All 23 Act to achieve genuine full employment and fulfill the 24 right to useful work at living wages for all persons able, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1000 IH willing and seeking employment by establishing a National 1 Full Employment Trust Fund to pay for a national pro- 2 gram of public service employment capable of achieving 3 these goals by supplementing the employment opportuni- 4 ties furnished by the existing private, public, and nonprofit 5 sectors of the economy under existing law. 6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 8 (1) ACA.—The term ‘‘ACA’’ means the Patient 9 Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended. 10 (2) DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUAL OR POPU- 11 LATION GROUP.—The term ‘‘disadvantaged indi- 12 vidual’’ or ‘‘disadvantaged population group’’ means 13 an individual or population group that the Secretary 14 has identified as suffering from disabilities or socio- 15 economic disadvantages that significantly interfere 16 with the individual’s or group’s access to equal em- 17 ployment opportunity. 18 (3) COMPARABLE WORTH.—The term ‘‘com- 19 parable worth’’, used with respect to work, means 20 work that includes the composite of the skill, effort, 21 responsibility, and working conditions normally re- 22 quired in the performance of a particular job as de- 23 termined pursuant to standards established by the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1000.IH H1000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1000 IH Secretary following consultations with experts in the 1 field of comparable worth wage assessments. 2 (4) EQUAL OPPORTUNITY GRANT.—The terms 3 ‘‘Equal Opportunity Grant’’ and ‘‘grant’’ mean an 4 Employment Opportunity Grant authorized in title 5 III of this Act. 6 (5) GRANT RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘grant re- 7 cipient’’ means an entity awarded an Employment 8 Opportunity Grant under section 6 of this Act. 9 (6) HEALTH EXCHANGE.—the term ‘‘Health 10 Exchange’’ or ‘‘State Health Exchange’’ means an 11 American Health Benefit Exchange established 12 under section 1311(b) or 1321(c) of the ACA. 13 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 14 has the meaning given such term in section 102(17) 15 of the Housing and Community Development Act 16 (42 U.S.C. 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