BUILDS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1517 To require the Secretary of Labor to award grants for promoting industry or sector partnerships to encourage industry growth and competitiveness and to improve worker training, retention, and advancement as part of an infrastructure investment. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to award grants for pro- moting industry or sector partnerships to encourage in- dustry growth and competitiveness and to improve work- er training, retention, and advancement as part of an infrastructure investment. 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 ‘‘Building U.S. Infra- 4 structure by Leveraging Demands for Skills’’ or the 5 ‘‘BUILDS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1517 IS SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to promote industry or 2 sector partnerships that engage in collaborative planning, 3 resource alignment, and training efforts across multiple 4 businesses, for a range of workers employed or potentially 5 employed by infrastructure industries, in order to encour- 6 age industry growth and competitiveness and to improve 7 worker training, retention, and advancement. 8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION; CA- 11 REER GUIDANCE AND ACADEMIC COUNSELING.—The 12 terms ‘‘career and technical education’’ and ‘‘career 13 guidance and academic counseling’’ have the mean- 14 ings given such terms in section 3 of the Carl D. 15 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 16 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 17 (2) CAREER PATHWAY.—The term ‘‘career 18 pathway’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 19 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 20 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 21 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 22 ble partnership’’ means a partnership that is an in- 23 dustry or sector partnership, or (with respect to an 24 implementation grant) a partnership that is in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1517 IS process of establishing an industry or sector partner- 1 ship. 2 (4) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 3 MENT; INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP; LOCAL 4 BOARD; RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 5 TIAL.—The terms ‘‘individual with a barrier to em- 6 ployment’’, ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’, ‘‘local 7 board’’, and ‘‘recognized postsecondary credential’’ 8 have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of 9 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 10 (5) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 11 The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship program’’ has 12 the meaning given such term in section 171 of such 13 Act (29 U.S.C. 3226). 14 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of Labor. 16 (7) STATE; STATE BOARD.—The terms ‘‘State’’ 17 and ‘‘State board’’ have the meanings given such 18 terms in section 3 of such Act. 19 (8) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY.— 20 The term ‘‘targeted infrastructure industry’’ means 21 an industry, including transportation (including sur- 22 face, transit, maritime, aviation, or railway transpor- 23 tation), construction, energy, information technology, 24 or utilities industries, that the eligible partnership 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1517 IS identifies in accordance with section 5(c) to be 1 served by a grant under this Act. 2 (9) WORK-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work-based 4 learning program’’ means a program (which 5 may be a registered apprenticeship program) 6 that provides workers with paid work experience 7 and corresponding approved classroom instruc- 8 tion, delivered in an employment relationship 9 that both the employer and worker intend to 10 lead to continuing employment after the pro- 11 gram ends. 12 (B) PAID WORK EXPERIENCE.—In sub- 13 paragraph (A), the term ‘‘paid work experi- 14 ence’’ includes training by an employer that is 15 provided to a paid employee while engaged in 16 productive work in a job that provides knowl- 17 edge or skills essential to the full and adequate 18 performance of the job. 19 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 21 with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of En- 22 ergy, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Edu- 23 cation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 24 Agency, and the Chief of Engineers and Commanding 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1517 IS General of the Army Corps of Engineers, shall award, on 1 a competitive basis, grants to eligible entities to plan and 2 implement activities to achieve the strategic objectives de- 3 scribed in section 5(d) with respect to a targeted infra- 4 structure industry. 5 (b) GRANTS.— 6 (1) TYPES OF GRANTS.—A grant awarded 7 under this Act may be in the form of— 8 (A) an implementation grant, for entities 9 seeking an initial grant under this Act; or 10 (B) a renewal grant for entities that have 11 already received an implementation grant under 12 this Act. 13 (2) DURATION.—Each grant awarded under 14 this Act shall be for a period not to exceed 3 years. 15 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant awarded 16 under this Act may not exceed— 17 (A) for an implementation grant, 18 $2,500,000; and 19 (B) for a renewal grant, $1,500,000. 20 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 21 (1) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—The Secretary 22 shall award grants under this Act in a manner that 23 ensures geographic diversity in the areas in which 24 activities will be carried out under the grants. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1517 IS (2) PRIORITY FOR RENEWAL GRANTS.—In 1 awarding renewal grants under this Act, the Sec- 2 retary shall give priority to eligible entities that— 3 (A) demonstrate long-term sustainability of 4 an industry or sector partnership; 5 (B) demonstrate success in improving ac- 6 cess and retention in work-based learning pro- 7 grams for workers with barriers to employment 8 and those underrepresented in the infrastruc- 9 ture industry; and 10 (C) provide a non-Federal share of the cost 11 of the activities. 12 SEC. 5. APPLICATION PROCESS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership desiring a 14 grant under this Act shall submit an application to the 15 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 16 such information as the Secretary may require, including 17 the contents described in subsection (b). 18 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under this 19 Act shall contain, at a minimum— 20 (1) a description of the eligible partnership, evi- 21 dence of the eligible partnership’s capacity to carry 22 out activities to achieve the strategic objectives de- 23 scribed in subsection (d), and the expected participa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1517 IS tion and responsibilities of each of the partners in- 1 cluded in the industry or sector partnership involved; 2 (2) a description of the targeted infrastructure 3 industry served by the grant, and a description of 4 how such industry was identified in accordance with 5 subsection (c); 6 (3) a description of the workers that will be tar- 7 geted or recruited by the partnership, including an 8 analysis of the existing labor market, a description 9 of potential barriers to employment for targeted 10 workers, and a description of strategies that will be 11 employed to help workers overcome such barriers; 12 (4) a description of the local, State, or federally 13 funded infrastructure projects on which the eligible 14 partnership anticipates engaging partners; 15 (5) a description of the strategic objectives de- 16 scribed in subsection (d) that the eligible partnership 17 intends to achieve concerning the targeted infra- 18 structure industry; 19 (6) a description of the credentials that the eli- 20 gible partnership proposes to use or develop as a 21 performance measure, to assess the degree to which 22 the eligible partnership has achieved such strategic 23 objectives, which credentials— 24 (A) shall be nationally portable; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1517 IS (B) shall be recognized postsecondary cre- 1 dentials or, if not available for the industry, 2 other credentials determined by the Secretary 3 to be appropriate; 4 (C) shall be related to the targeted infra- 5 structure industry that the eligible partnership 6 proposes to support; and 7 (D) may be credentials for a registered ap- 8 prenticeship program; 9 (7) a description of the manner in which the eli- 10 gible partnership intends to make sustainable 11 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 12 (8) performance measures for measuring 13 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 14 (9) a description of the Federal and non-Fed- 15 eral resources, available under provisions of law 16 other than this Act, that will be leveraged in support 17 of the partnerships and activities under this Act; 18 and 19 (10) a timeline for progress towards achieving 20 such strategic objectives. 21 (c) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY.—Each 22 grant under this Act shall serve a targeted infrastructure 23 industry that is identified by the eligible partnership 24 through working with businesses, industry associations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1517 IS and organizations, labor organizations, State boards, local 1 boards, economic development agencies, and other organi- 2 zations that the eligible partnership determines necessary. 3 (d) STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES.—The activities to be 4 carried out under each grant awarded under this Act shall 5 be designed to achieve strategic objectives that include the 6 following: 7 (1) Recruiting key stakeholders in the targeted 8 infrastructure industry, such as multiple businesses, 9 labor organizations, local boards, and education and 10 training providers, including providers of career and 11 technical education, and regularly convening the 12 stakeholders in a collaborative structure that sup- 13 ports the sharing of information, ideas, and chal- 14 lenges common to the targeted infrastructure indus- 15 try. 16 (2) Supporting the training needs of multiple 17 businesses in the targeted infrastructure industry, 18 including needs— 19 (A) for skills critical to competitiveness 20 and innovation in the industry; 21 (B) of the registered apprenticeship pro- 22 grams or other work-based learning programs 23 supported by the grant; and 24 (C) related to integrating career pathways. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1517 IS (3) Facilitating actions that lead to economies 1 of scale by aggregating training and education needs 2 of multiple businesses. 3 (4) Helping postsecondary educational institu- 4 tions, training institutions, sponsors of registered 5 apprenticeship programs, and all other providers of 6 career and technical education and training pro- 7 grams receiving assistance under this Act, align cur- 8 ricula, entrance requirements, and programs to the 9 targeted infrastructure industry needs and the cre- 10 dentials described in subsection (b)(6), particularly 11 for higher skill, high-priority occupations related to 12 the targeted infrastructure industry. 13 (5) Providing information on the grant activi- 14 ties to the State agency carrying out the State pro- 15 gram under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 16 et seq.), including staff of the agency that provide 17 services under such Act, to enable the agency to in- 18 form recipients of unemployment compensation of 19 the employment and training opportunities that may 20 be offered through the grant activities. 21 (6) Helping partner businesses in industry or 22 sector partnerships to attract and retain workers 23 from a diverse jobseeker base, including individuals 24 with barriers to employment and those underrep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1517 IS resented in their industry, by identifying any such 1 barriers through analysis of the labor market and 2 implementing strategies to help such workers over- 3 come such barriers. 4 (7) Expanding the number of individuals with 5 a barrier to employment who have access to training 6 and education opportunities that are aligned with 7 business needs, and providing those workers with 8 supports necessary to address the barrier to their 9 employment. 10 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership receiving 12 a grant under this Act shall— 13 (1) designate an entity in the industry or sector 14 partnership as the fiscal agent for the grant funds; 15 and 16 (2) carry out activities described in subsections 17 (b) (as applicable), (c), and (d) to achieve the stra- 18 tegic objectives identified in the partnership’s appli- 19 cation under section 5(b)(5), in a manner that inte- 20 grates services and funding sources to ensure effec- 21 tiveness of the activities and that uses the grant 22 funds efficiently. 23 (b) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—An eligible partnership 24 receiving an implementation grant under this Act shall use 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1517 IS not more than $250,000 of the grant funds to carry out 1 planning activities during the first year of the grant pe- 2 riod. Such activities may include— 3 (1) establishing the industry or sector partner- 4 ship; 5 (2) convening key stakeholders as identified in 6 the applicat [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]