JOBS Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 839 To extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility of certain short-term programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility of certain short- term programs. 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 ‘‘Jumpstart Our Busi- 4 nesses by Supporting Students Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘JOBS Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 839 IS SEC. 2. EXTENDING FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY OF 1 CERTAIN SHORT-TERM PROGRAMS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Higher Edu- 3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by in- 4 serting after subsection (j) the following: 5 ‘‘(k) JOB TRAINING FEDERAL PELL GRANT PRO- 6 GRAM.— 7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE CAREER PATHWAY PRO- 9 GRAM.—The term ‘eligible career pathway pro- 10 gram’ means a program that— 11 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of section 12 484(d)(2); 13 ‘‘(ii) is listed on the provider list 14 under section 122(d) of the Workforce In- 15 novation and Opportunity Act; 16 ‘‘(iii) is part of a career pathway, as 17 defined in section 3 of that Act; and 18 ‘‘(iv) is aligned to a program of study 19 as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per- 20 kins Career and Technical Education Act 21 of 2006. 22 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE JOB TRAINING PRO- 23 GRAM.— 24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 25 job training program’ means a career and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 839 IS technical education program at an institu- 1 tion of higher education that— 2 ‘‘(I) provides not less than 150, 3 and not more than 600, clock hours of 4 instructional time over a period of not 5 less than 8 weeks and not more than 6 15 weeks; 7 ‘‘(II) provides training aligned 8 with the requirements of high-skill, 9 high-wage, or in-demand industry sec- 10 tors or occupations in the State or 11 local area, as determined by an indus- 12 try or sector partnership; 13 ‘‘(III) is a program of training 14 services, and provided through an eli- 15 gible training provider, as described 16 under section 122(d) of the Workforce 17 Innovation and Opportunity Act; 18 ‘‘(IV) provides a student, upon 19 completion of the program, with a rec- 20 ognized postsecondary credential that 21 is recognized by employers in the rel- 22 evant industry, including credentials 23 recognized by industry or sector part- 24 nerships in the relevant industry in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 839 IS the State or local area where the in- 1 dustry is located and the job training 2 program is provided; 3 ‘‘(V) has been determined by the 4 institution of higher education (after 5 validation of that determination by an 6 industry or sector partnership) to pro- 7 vide academic content, an amount of 8 instructional time, and a recognized 9 postsecondary credential that are suf- 10 ficient to— 11 ‘‘(aa) meet the hiring re- 12 quirements of potential employ- 13 ers; and 14 ‘‘(bb) satisfy any applicable 15 educational prerequisite require- 16 ment for professional licensure or 17 certification, so that the student 18 who completes the program and 19 seeks employment qualifies to 20 take any licensure or certification 21 examination needed to practice or 22 find employment in an occupa- 23 tion that the program prepares 24 students to enter; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 839 IS ‘‘(VI) may include integrated 1 education and training; 2 ‘‘(VII) may be offered as part of 3 an eligible career pathway program; 4 ‘‘(VIII) does not exceed by more 5 than 50 percent the minimum number 6 of clock hours required for training if 7 the State has established such a re- 8 quirement; and 9 ‘‘(IX) shall include institutional 10 credit articulation for a student en- 11 rolled in a noncredit job training pro- 12 gram. 13 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL BY THE SEC- 14 RETARY.—In the case of a program that is 15 seeking to establish eligibility as an eligible 16 job training program under this subpara- 17 graph, the Secretary shall make a deter- 18 mination about whether the program meets 19 the requirements of this subparagraph not 20 more than 60 days after the date on which 21 such program is submitted for consider- 22 ation as an eligible job training program. 23 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE.—The 24 Secretary shall not determine that a pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 839 IS gram is an eligible job training program in 1 accordance with clause (ii) unless the Sec- 2 retary receives a certification from the ap- 3 propriate State board containing an assur- 4 ance that the program meets the require- 5 ments of clause (i). 6 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU- 7 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu- 8 cation’ means— 9 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education, 10 as defined in section 101; or 11 ‘‘(ii) a postsecondary vocational insti- 12 tution, as defined in section 102(c). 13 ‘‘(D) INSTITUTIONAL CREDIT ARTICULA- 14 TION.—The term ‘institutional credit articula- 15 tion’ means an institution of higher education 16 provides a student who has completed a non- 17 credit program with the equivalent academic 18 credit that may be applied to a subsequent 19 credit-bearing certificate or degree program 20 upon enrollment in such program at such insti- 21 tution. 22 ‘‘(E) WIOA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘in- 23 dustry or sector partnership’, ‘in-demand indus- 24 try sector or occupation’, ‘recognized postsec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 839 IS ondary credential’, and ‘State board’ have the 1 meanings given such terms in section 3 of the 2 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 3 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—For the award year begin- 4 ning on July 1, 2019, and each subsequent award 5 year, the Secretary shall carry out a program 6 through which the Secretary shall award Federal 7 Pell Grants to students in eligible job training pro- 8 grams (referred to as a ‘job training Federal Pell 9 Grant’). Each eligible job training Federal Pell 10 Grant awarded under this subsection shall have the 11 same terms and conditions, and be awarded in the 12 same manner, as a Federal Pell Grant awarded 13 under subsection (a), except as follows: 14 ‘‘(A) A student who is eligible to receive a 15 job training Federal Pell Grant under this sub- 16 section is a student who— 17 ‘‘(i) has not yet attained a 18 postbaccalaureate degree; 19 ‘‘(ii) attends an institution of higher 20 education; 21 ‘‘(iii) is enrolled, or accepted for en- 22 rollment, in an eligible job training pro- 23 gram at such institution of higher edu- 24 cation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 839 IS ‘‘(iv) meets all other eligibility re- 1 quirements for a Federal Pell Grant (ex- 2 cept with respect to the type of program of 3 study, as provided in clause (iii)). 4 ‘‘(B) The amount of a job training Federal 5 Pell Grant for an eligible student shall be deter- 6 mined under subsection (b), except that sub- 7 section (b)(4) shall not apply. 8 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION IN TOTAL ELIGIBILITY PE- 9 RIOD.—Any period during which a student receives 10 a job training Federal Pell Grant under this sub- 11 section shall be included in calculating the student’s 12 period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants under 13 subsection (c), and the eligibility requirements re- 14 garding students who are enrolled in an under- 15 graduate program on less than a full-time basis shall 16 similarly apply to students who are enrolled in an el- 17 igible job training program at an eligible institution 18 on less than a full-time basis.’’. 19 (b) ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNITION OF ELIGI- 20 BLE JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Section 496(a)(4) of the 21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)(4)) 22 is amended— 23 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 24 after the semicolon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 839 IS (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 1 after the semicolon; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(C) if such agency or association has or 4 seeks to include within its scope of recognition 5 the evaluation of the quality of institutions of 6 higher education participating in the job train- 7 ing Federal Pell Grant program under section 8 401(k), such agency or association shall, in ad- 9 dition to meeting the other requirements of this 10 subpart, demonstrate to the Secretary that, 11 with respect to such eligible job training pro- 12 grams (as defined in that subsection)— 13 ‘‘(i) the agency or association’s stand- 14 ards include a process for determining if 15 the institution has the capability to effec- 16 tively offer an eligible job training pro- 17 gram; and 18 ‘‘(ii) the agency or association re- 19 quires a demonstration that the program— 20 ‘‘(I) has identified each recog- 21 nized postsecondary credential offered 22 and the corresponding industry or sec- 23 tor partnership that actively recog- 24 nizes each credential in the relevant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 839 IS industry in the State or local area 1 where the industry is located; and 2 ‘‘(II) provides the academic con- 3 tent and amount of instructional time 4 that is sufficient to— 5 ‘‘(aa) meet the hiring re- 6 quirements of potential employ- 7 ers; and 8 ‘‘(bb) satisfy any applicable 9 educational prerequisites for pro- 10 fessional licensure or certification 11 requirements so that the student 12 who completes the program and 13 seeks employment qualifies to 14 take any licensure or certification 15 examination that is needed to 16 practice or find employment in 17 an occupation that the program 18 prepares students to enter.’’. 19 (c) INTERAGENCY DATA SHARING.—The Secretary 20 of Education shall coordinate and enter into a data shar- 21 ing agreement with the Secretary of Labor to ensure ac- 22 cess to data related to indicators of performance collected 23 under section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 24 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141). Under such data sharing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 839 IS agreement, the Commissioner of the National Center for 1 Education Statistics shall collect and review the contents 2 of performance reports for eligible providers of training 3 services described in section 116(d)(4) of that Act not less 4 frequently than once each year. 5 (d) MINIMUM FEDERAL PELL GRANT.—Section 6 401(b)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘ten percent’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘5 percent’’. 9 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend- 10 ments made by this section, shall take effect on July 1, 11 2019. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS