CHANCE in TECH Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 777 To direct the Secretary of Labor to enter into contracts with industry inter- mediaries for purposes of promoting the development of and access to apprenticeships in the technology sector, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To direct the Secretary of Labor to enter into contracts with industry intermediaries for purposes of promoting the development of and access to apprenticeships in the technology sector, 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 ‘‘Championing Appren- 4 ticeships for New Careers and Employees in Technology 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘CHANCE in TECH Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 777 IS (1) During any given 90-day period there can 1 be more than 500,000 information technology job 2 openings in the United States. 3 (2) Employment in the technology sector is 4 growing twice as fast as employment in the United 5 States. 6 (3) Jobs in the technology sector tend to pro- 7 vide higher pay and better benefits than other jobs 8 and have been more resilient to economic downturn 9 than jobs available in other private sector industries. 10 (4) Information technology skills are transfer- 11 able across nearly all industries. 12 (5) Exceptional education and on-the-job train- 13 ing programs exist and should be scaled to meet the 14 demands of the modern technology workforce. 15 (6) Adoption of existing employer-driven inter- 16 mediary models, such as ApprenticeshipUSA under 17 the Department of Labor, will help grow the infor- 18 mation technology workforce. 19 (7) Career pathway education should start in 20 high school through pathways and programs of 21 study that align with local and regional employer 22 needs. 23 (8) Preparing a student for a job in the tech- 24 nology sector is essential to the growth and competi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 777 IS tiveness of the economy in the United States in the 1 21st century. 2 (9) Nearly 800,000 information technology 3 workers will retire between 2017 and 2024. 4 (10) In 2016, the average salary in the infor- 5 mation technology sector was $108,000, while the 6 average salary among all other sectors was $53,040. 7 SEC. 3. TECHNOLOGY APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACTS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor (referred 9 to in this section as ‘‘the Secretary’’) shall enter into con- 10 tracts with industry intermediaries for the purpose of pro- 11 moting the development of and access to apprenticeships 12 in the technology sector, from amounts appropriated 13 under section 5. 14 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to be awarded a con- 15 tract under this section, an industry intermediary shall 16 submit an application to the Secretary, at such time and 17 in such a manner as may be required by the Secretary, 18 that identifies proposed activities designed to further the 19 purpose described in subsection (a). 20 (c) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall award con- 21 tracts under this section based on competitive criteria to 22 be prescribed by the Secretary. 23 (d) CONTRACTOR ACTIVITIES.—An industry inter- 24 mediary that is awarded a contract under this section may 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 777 IS only use the funds made available through such contract 1 to carry out activities designed to further the purpose de- 2 scribed in subsection (a), including— 3 (1) facilitating the provision and development of 4 apprenticeships in the technology sector through col- 5 laborations with public and private entities that pro- 6 vide job-related instruction, such as on-the-job train- 7 ing, pre-apprenticeship training, and technical train- 8 ing; 9 (2) encouraging entities to establish such ap- 10 prenticeships; 11 (3) identifying, assessing, and training appli- 12 cants for such apprenticeships who are— 13 (A) enrolled in high school; 14 (B) enrolled in an early college high school 15 that focuses on education in STEM subjects; 16 (C) individuals aged 18 years or older who 17 meet appropriate qualification standards; or 18 (D) enrolled in pre-apprenticeship or ap- 19 prenticeship training initiatives that allow 20 adults to concurrently increase academic and 21 workforce skills through proven, evidence-based 22 models that connect all learning to the specific 23 apprenticeship involved and significantly accel- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 777 IS erate completion of preparation for the appren- 1 ticeship; and 2 (4) tracking the progress of such applicants 3 who participate in such apprenticeships. 4 SEC. 4. CHANCE IN TECH AWARDS FOR 21ST CENTURY 5 SCHOOLS. 6 (a) AWARDS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 7 cation may issue awards, to be known as ‘‘CHANCE in 8 TECH Awards for 21st Century Schools’’, to schools (re- 9 ferred to in this section as ‘‘covered schools’’) that— 10 (1) are secondary schools or junior or commu- 11 nity colleges; and 12 (2) demonstrate high achievement in providing 13 students necessary skills to compete in the 21st cen- 14 tury workforce. 15 (b) CRITERIA.—In selecting a covered school for an 16 award under subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into 17 account— 18 (1) the availability of STEM, career and tech- 19 nical education, and computer technology courses at 20 the covered school; 21 (2) State academic assessments, as described in 22 section 111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)), of 24 students at the covered school in STEM subjects; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 777 IS (3) any coordination between the covered school 1 and local and regional employers in the technology 2 sector for the purpose of providing work-based learn- 3 ing programs such as apprenticeships and intern- 4 ships; and 5 (4) the availability of individualized plans pro- 6 vided by the covered school to students relating to 7 postsecondary education or training, career paths, 8 and financial aid. 9 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 11 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 12 2020 and each subsequent fiscal year. 13 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘apprentice- 16 ship’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 17 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 18 ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap- 19 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 20 (2) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.—The 21 term ‘‘career and technical education’’ has the 22 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Carl D. 23 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 24 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 777 IS (3) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.—The term 1 ‘‘early college high school’’ has the meaning given 2 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 4 (4) HIGH SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high school’’ 5 has the meaning given such term in section 8101 of 6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 8 (5) INDUSTRY INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘‘in- 9 dustry intermediary’’ means an entity that— 10 (A) in order to accelerate apprenticeship 11 program development and help establish new 12 apprenticeship partnerships at the national, 13 State, or regional level, serves as a conduit be- 14 tween an employer and an entity, such as— 15 (i) an industry partner; 16 (ii) the Department of Labor; and 17 (iii) a State agency responsible for 18 workforce development programs; 19 (B) demonstrates a capacity to work with 20 employers and other key partners to identify 21 workforce trends and foster public-private fund- 22 ing to establish new apprenticeship programs; 23 and 24 (C) is an entity such as— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 777 IS (i) a business; 1 (ii) a consortium of businesses; 2 (iii) a business-related nonprofit orga- 3 nization, including industry associations 4 and business federations; 5 (iv) a private organization functioning 6 as a workforce intermediary for the ex- 7 press purpose of serving the needs of busi- 8 nesses, including community-based non- 9 profit service providers and industry- 10 aligned training providers; or 11 (v) a consortium of any of the entities 12 described in clauses (i) through (iv). 13 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 14 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 15 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High- 16 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 17 (7) JUNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The 18 term ‘‘junior or community college’’ has the meaning 19 given the term in section 312(f) of the Higher Edu- 20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 21 (8) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 22 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 23 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 24 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 777 IS (9) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec- 1 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 2 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 4 (10) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 5 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 6 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 8 (11) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means 9 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 10 (12) TECHNOLOGY SECTOR.—The term ‘‘tech- 11 nology sector’’ means the industry sector involved in 12 the design or development of hardware, software, or 13 security of digital data. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S777.IS S777 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS