Jobs Now Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1635 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a pilot program to award grants to units of general local government and community-based organizations to create jobs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a pilot program to award grants to units of general local government and community-based organiza- tions to create jobs, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jobs Now Act of 4 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1635 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS TO UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERN- 1 MENT. 2 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and 3 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is amended by 4 adding after section 172 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 173. PILOT PROGRAM. 6 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding sec- 7 tion 181(e), from the amounts appropriated under sub- 8 section (h), the Secretary shall carry out a 2-year pilot 9 program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to units 10 of general local government or community-based organiza- 11 tions to retain, employ, or train employees providing a 12 public service for a unit of general local government. 13 ‘‘(b) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT DE- 14 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘unit of 15 general local government’ means any general purpose po- 16 litical subdivision of a State, or the United States Virgin 17 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 18 the Northern Mariana Islands, the freely associated states 19 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 20 States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau, that has 21 the power to levy taxes and spend funds, as well as general 22 corporate and police powers. 23 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 24 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1635 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 1 graph (B), a unit of general local government 2 or community-based organization shall use not 3 less than 50 percent of the grant funds received 4 under this section to— 5 ‘‘(i) in the case of a unit, retain em- 6 ployees of such unit who are providing a 7 public service for the unit and who would 8 otherwise be laid off as a consequence of 9 budget cuts; and 10 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an organization, 11 retain employees of the organization who 12 are providing a public service for the unit 13 in which the organization is located and 14 who would otherwise be laid off as a con- 15 sequence of budget cuts. 16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In a case in which 50 17 percent of a grant amount received under this 18 section would exceed the amount needed for a 19 unit or organization to retain the employees de- 20 scribed in subparagraph (A), the unit or organi- 21 zation may use only the amount needed to re- 22 tain such employees for such purpose. 23 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES.—After using grant 24 funds received under this section in accordance with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1635 IH paragraph (1), a unit of general local government or 1 community-based organization may use any remain- 2 ing grant funds provided under this section to— 3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a unit of general local 4 government— 5 ‘‘(i) employ individuals in new posi- 6 tions providing a public service for the 7 unit; or 8 ‘‘(ii) train individuals for new public 9 service positions for the unit; and 10 ‘‘(B) in the case of a community-based or- 11 ganization— 12 ‘‘(i) employ individuals in new posi- 13 tions that would provide a public service 14 for the unit in which the organization is lo- 15 cated or services in the private sector; or 16 ‘‘(ii) train individuals for any such po- 17 sitions. 18 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—The 19 Secretary shall encourage each unit of general local gov- 20 ernment and each community-based organization receiving 21 a grant under this section to use such grant funds to re- 22 tain, employ, or train— 23 ‘‘(1) veterans; 24 ‘‘(2) individuals with disabilities; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1635 IH ‘‘(3) individuals who are receiving unemploy- 1 ment benefits; or 2 ‘‘(4) dislocated workers. 3 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN UNITS AND ORGANIZA- 4 TIONS.— 5 ‘‘(1) UNITS.—In awarding grants to units of 6 general local government under this section, the Sec- 7 retary shall give priority to units of general local 8 government with high unemployment, foreclosure, 9 and poverty rates as compared to other units of gen- 10 eral local government applying to receive a grant 11 under this section. 12 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATIONS.—In awarding grants to 13 units of general local government under this section, 14 the Secretary shall give priority to community-based 15 organizations located in units of general local gov- 16 ernment with high unemployment, foreclosure, and 17 poverty rates as compared to other units of general 18 local government applying to receive a grant under 19 this section. 20 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION.—Each unit of general local gov- 21 ernment or community-based organization desiring to re- 22 ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application 23 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con- 24 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1635 IH ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the first 1 appropriation of funds under subsection (h), the Secretary 2 shall submit to Congress, a report on— 3 ‘‘(1) the number and percentage of individuals 4 hired or trained, and the number and percentage of 5 employees of units retained, as a result of a grant 6 under this section; and 7 ‘‘(2) best practices in carrying out a grant pro- 8 gram to hire, train, or retain employees of units of 9 general local government. 10 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 11 are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 to carry 12 out this section for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1635.IH H1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS