PARTNERS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 989 To promote registered apprenticeships and other work-based learning pro- grams for small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand industry sectors, through the establishment and support of industry or sector partnerships. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. FERGUSON, Mrs. DAVIS of California, and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To promote registered apprenticeships and other work-based learning programs for small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand industry sectors, through the establish- ment and support of industry or sector partnerships. 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 ‘‘Promoting Apprentice- 4 ships through Regional Training Networks for Employers 5 Required Skills Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘PARTNERS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 989 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to promote registered ap- 2 prenticeships and other work-based learning programs for 3 small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand in- 4 dustry sectors, through the establishment and support of 5 industry or sector partnerships. 6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 9 ble partnership’’ means an industry or sector part- 10 nership as defined in section 3 of the Workforce In- 11 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) that 12 submits and obtains approval of an application con- 13 sistent with section 5(c). 14 (2) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTOR.—The term 15 ‘‘in-demand industry sector’’ means a sector de- 16 scribed in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B) of section 17 3(23) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 18 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(23)). 19 (3) LOCAL OR REGIONAL.—The term ‘‘local or 20 regional’’, used with respect to an entity, means that 21 the entity provides services in, respectively, a local 22 area or region. 23 (4) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP.—The term 24 ‘‘registered apprenticeship’’ means an apprenticeship 25 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 989 IH monly known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 1 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work-based 3 learning program’’ means a program that pro- 4 vides workers with paid work experience and 5 corresponding classroom instruction, delivered 6 in an employment relationship that both the 7 business and worker intend to lead to con- 8 tinuing employment after the program ends. 9 (B) WORK EXPERIENCE.—In subpara- 10 graph (A), the term ‘‘paid work experience’’ in- 11 cludes training by an employer that is provided 12 to a paid employee while engaged in productive 13 work in a job that provides knowledge or skills 14 essential to the full and adequate performance 15 of the job. 16 (5) WORKFORCE TERMS.—The terms ‘‘Gov- 17 ernor’’, ‘‘individual with a barrier to employment’’, 18 ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local 19 board’’, ‘‘State board’’, ‘‘outlying area’’, ‘‘recognized 20 postsecondary credential’’, ‘‘region’’, ‘‘State’’, and 21 ‘‘supportive services’’, used with respect to activities 22 supported under this Act, have the meanings given 23 the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 24 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 989 IH (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Labor. 2 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. 3 From funds paid into the general fund of the Treas- 4 ury and available under section 286(s)(2) of the Immigra- 5 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(s)(2)), the Sec- 6 retary shall carry out this Act. 7 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES. 8 (a) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts available for this 9 Act under section 4, the Secretary may reserve— 10 (1) not more than 5 percent of those amounts 11 for the costs of technical assistance and Federal ad- 12 ministration of this Act; 13 (2) not more than 2 percent of those amounts 14 for the costs of evaluations conducted under section 15 8(b); and 16 (3) not more than 1⁄4 of 1 percent of such 17 amounts to provide assistance to the outlying areas. 18 (b) ALLOTMENTS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts available for 20 this Act under section 4 that remain after the Sec- 21 retary makes the reservations under subsection (a), 22 the Secretary shall, for the purpose of supporting 23 (which may include assistance in establishing ex- 24 panded) local or regional eligible partnerships to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 989 IH support work-based learning programs under this 1 Act, make allotments to eligible States in accordance 2 with clauses (ii) through (v) of section 132(b)(1)(B) 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 4 (29 U.S.C. 3162(b)(1)(C)), subject to paragraph 5 (2). 6 (2) APPLICATION.—For purposes of applying 7 the clauses described in paragraph (1), under para- 8 graph (1), the Secretary— 9 (A) shall not apply subclauses (I) and (III) 10 of clause (iv) with respect to the first fiscal year 11 after the date of enactment of this Act; 12 (B) shall apply clause (iv)(II) by sub- 13 stituting ‘‘0.5 percent of the remaining amounts 14 described in paragraph (1)’’ for the total de- 15 scribed in that clause; 16 (C) shall not apply clause (iv)(IV); 17 (D) shall apply clause (v)(II) by sub- 18 stituting the term ‘‘allotment percentage’’, used 19 with respect to the second full fiscal year after 20 the date of enactment of this Act, or a subse- 21 quent fiscal year, means a percentage of the re- 22 maining amounts described in paragraph (1) 23 that is received through an allotment made 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 989 IH under this subsection for the fiscal year for the 1 two sentences in that clause; and 2 (E) shall apply clause (v)(III) by sub- 3 stituting ‘‘a work-based learning program car- 4 ried out under this Act’’ for ‘‘a program of 5 workforce investment activities carried out 6 under this subtitle’’. 7 (3) USE OF UNALLOTTED FUNDS.—If a State 8 fails to meet the requirements for an allotment 9 under this subsection, the Secretary may allot funds 10 that are not allotted under paragraphs (1) and (2) 11 to eligible States under a formula based on the for- 12 mula specified in section 132(c) of the Workforce In- 13 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3173(c)). 14 (4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 15 ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State that meets the re- 16 quirements of section 102 or 103 of the Workforce 17 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3112, 18 3113) and subsection (c). 19 (c) STATE ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 20 allotment under subsection (b), a State, in consultation 21 with State boards and local boards, shall submit an appli- 22 cation to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and 23 containing a description of the activities to be carried out 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 989 IH with the grant funds. At a minimum, the application shall 1 include information on— 2 (1) the local or regional industry or sector part- 3 nerships that will be supported, including the lead 4 partners for the partnerships, and how the partner- 5 ships will work to engage small and medium-sized 6 businesses, as applicable, in the activities of the 7 partnerships; 8 (2) the in-demand industry sectors that will be 9 served, including how such industry sectors were 10 identified, and how the activities of the partnerships 11 will align with State, regional, and local plans as re- 12 quired under title I of the Workforce Innovation and 13 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.); 14 (3) the registered apprenticeship programs or 15 other work-based learning programs to be supported 16 though the partnerships; 17 (4) the populations that will receive services, in- 18 cluding individuals with barriers to employment and 19 populations that were historically underrepresented 20 in the industry sectors to be served through the 21 partnerships; 22 (5) the services, including business engagement, 23 classroom instruction, and support services (includ- 24 ing at least 6 months of post-employment support 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 989 IH services), that will be supported through the grant 1 funds; 2 (6) the recognized postsecondary credentials 3 that workers will obtain through participation in the 4 program and the quality of the program that leads 5 to the credentials; 6 (7) levels of performance to be achieved on the 7 performance indicators described in section 8, to 8 measure progress towards expanding work-based 9 learning programs; 10 (8) how local or regional partnerships will lever- 11 age additional resources, including funding provided 12 under title I of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 13 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.) and non- 14 Federal resources, to support the activities carried 15 out under this Act; and 16 (9) such other subjects as the Secretary may 17 require. 18 (d) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall 19 review applications submitted under subsection (c) in con- 20 sultation with the Secretary of Education and the Sec- 21 retary of Health and Human Services. 22 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO PARTNERSHIPS. 23 (a) GRANTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 989 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a State 1 that receives an allotment under section 5 shall use 2 the funds made available through the allotment and 3 not reserved under subsection (d) to award grants to 4 eligible partnerships. The Governor shall award the 5 grants for the purpose of assisting (which may in- 6 clude establishing or expanding) local or regional in- 7 dustry or sector partnerships that are identified in 8 the application submitted under section 5(c), to 9 carry out activities described in section 7. 10 (2) PERIOD AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A State 11 may make a grant under this section for a period of 12 3 years, and in an amount of not more than 13 $500,000. 14 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Governor of 15 a State that receives an allotment under section 5 16 for a fiscal year may use the funds made available 17 through the allotment during that year or the 2 sub- 18 sequent fiscal years. 19 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 20 under this section, an industry or sector partnership de- 21 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall— 22 (1) submit an application to the State at such 23 time, in such manner, and containing such informa- 24 tion as the State may require; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 989 IH (2) designate a partner in the industry or sector 1 partnership, to serve as the fiscal agent for purposes 2 of the grant. 3 (c) AWARDS OF GRANTS.— 4 (1) PARTICIPATION IN MULTIPLE ELIGIBLE 5 PARTNERSHIPS.—Subject to paragraph (2), a State 6 may award grants under this section in a way that 7 results in an entity being represented in more than 8 one partnership that receives such a grant. 9 (2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In making the 10 grants, a State shall ensure that there is geographic 11 diversity in the areas in which activities will be car- 12 ried out under the grants. 13 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The State may reserve not 14 more than 5 percent of the amount of an allotment under 15 section 5 for the administration of the grants awarded 16 under this section. 17 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that re- 19 ceives a grant under section 6 shall use the grant funds 20 to support a registered apprenticeship or other work-based 21 learning program. The eligible partnership shall use the 22 grant funds to support the activities described in sub- 23 sections (b) and (c) and such other strategies as may be 24 necessary to support the development and implementation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 989 IH of work-based learning programs, and participant reten- 1 tion in and completion of those programs. The partnership 2 may use the grant funds to establish or expand eligible 3 partnerships. 4 (b) BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT.—The eligible partner- 5 ship shall use grant funds to provide services to engage 6 businesses in work-based learning programs, which may 7 include assisting a small or medium-sized business with— 8 (1) the navigation of the registration process 9 for a sponsor of a registered apprenticeship pro- 10 gram; 11 (2) the connection of the business with an edu- 12 cation provider to develop classroom instruction to 13 complement on-the-job learning; 14 (3) the development of a curriculum for a work- 15 based learning program; 16 (4) the employment of workers in a work-based 17 learning program for a transitional period before the 18 business hires an individual for continuing employ- 19 ment; 20 (5) the provision of training to managers and 21 front-line workers to serve as trainers or mentors to 22 workers in the work-based learning program; 23 (6) the provision of career awareness activities; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H989.IH H989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 989 IH (7) the recruitment of individuals to participate 1 in a work-based learning program from individuals 2 receiving additional workforce and [Text truncated for display. 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