BUILDS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2831 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2019 Mr. MITCHELL (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 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 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2831 IH 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 targeted infrastructure industries, including 6 energy, construction, information technology, utilities, and 7 transportation, in order to encourage industry growth and 8 competitiveness and to improve worker training, retention, 9 and advancement. 10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 11 In this Act: 12 (1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION; CA- 13 REER GUIDANCE AND ACADEMIC COUNSELING.—The 14 terms ‘‘career and technical education’’ and ‘‘career 15 guidance and academic counseling’’ have the mean- 16 ings given such terms in section 3 of the Carl D. 17 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 18 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 19 (2) CAREER PATHWAY.—The term ‘‘career 20 pathway’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 21 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 22 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 23 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 24 ble partnership’’ means a partnership that is an in- 25 dustry or sector partnership, or (with respect to an 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2831 IH implementation grant) a partnership that is in the 1 process of establishing an industry or sector partner- 2 ship. 3 (4) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 4 MENT.—The term ‘‘individual with a barrier to em- 5 ployment’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 6 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 7 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 8 (5) INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP.—The 9 term ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’ has the mean- 10 ing given such term in section 3 of the Workforce 11 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 12 (6) LOCAL BOARD.—The term ‘‘local board’’ 13 has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the 14 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 15 U.S.C. 3102). 16 (7) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 17 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden- 18 tial’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 19 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 20 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 21 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Labor. 23 (9) STATE; STATE BOARD.—The terms ‘‘State’’ 24 and ‘‘State board’’ have the meanings given such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2831 IH terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 1 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 2 (10) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUS- 3 TRY.—The term ‘‘targeted infrastructure industry’’ 4 means an industry, including transportation (includ- 5 ing surface, transit, aviation, or railway transpor- 6 tation), construction, energy (including the deploy- 7 ment of renewable and clean energy, energy effi- 8 ciency, transmission, and battery storage), informa- 9 tion technology, or utilities industries, that the eligi- 10 ble partnership identifies in accordance with section 11 5(c) to be served by a grant under this Act. 12 (11) WORK-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work-based 14 learning program’’ means a program (which 15 may be a registered apprenticeship program) 16 that provides workers with paid work experience 17 and corresponding approved classroom instruc- 18 tion, delivered in an employment relationship 19 that both the employer and worker intend to 20 lead to continuing employment after the pro- 21 gram ends. 22 (B) WORK EXPERIENCE.—In subpara- 23 graph (A), the term ‘‘paid work experience’’ in- 24 cludes training by an employer that is provided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2831 IH to a paid worker while engaged in productive 1 work in a job that provides knowledge or skills 2 essential to the full and adequate performance 3 of the job. 4 (12) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP.—The term 5 ‘‘registered apprenticeship’’ means an apprenticeship 6 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com- 7 monly known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 8 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 9 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 11 with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of En- 12 ergy, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Edu- 13 cation, and the Chief of Engineers and Commanding Gen- 14 eral of the Army Corps of Engineers, shall award, on a 15 competitive basis, grants to eligible entities to plan and 16 implement activities to achieve the strategic objectives de- 17 scribed in section 5(d) with respect to a targeted infra- 18 structure industry. 19 (b) GRANTS.— 20 (1) TYPES OF GRANTS.—A grant awarded 21 under this Act may be in the form of— 22 (A) an implementation grant, for entities 23 seeking an initial grant under this Act; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2831 IH (B) a renewal grant for entities that have 1 already received an implementation grant under 2 this Act. 3 (2) DURATION.—Each grant awarded under 4 this Act shall be for a period not to exceed 3 years. 5 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant awarded 6 under this Act may not exceed— 7 (A) for an implementation grant, 8 $2,500,000; and 9 (B) for a renewal grant, $1,500,000. 10 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 11 (1) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—The Secretary 12 shall award grants under this Act in a manner that 13 ensures geographic diversity in the areas in which 14 activities will be carried out under the grants. 15 (2) PRIORITY FOR RENEWAL GRANTS.—In 16 awarding renewal grants under this Act, the Sec- 17 retary shall give priority to eligible entities that— 18 (A) demonstrate long-term sustainability of 19 an industry or sector partnership; and 20 (B) provide a non-Federal share of the 21 cost of the activities. 22 SEC. 5. APPLICATION PROCESS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership desiring a 24 grant under this Act shall submit an application to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2831 IH Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 1 such information as the Secretary may require, including 2 the contents described in subsection (b). 3 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under this 4 Act shall contain, at a minimum— 5 (1) a description of the eligible partnership, evi- 6 dence of the eligible partnership’s capacity to carry 7 out activities to achieve the strategic objectives de- 8 scribed in subsection (d), and the expected participa- 9 tion and responsibilities of each of the partners in- 10 cluded in the industry or sector partnership involved; 11 (2) a description of the targeted infrastructure 12 industry served by the grant, and a description of 13 how such industry was identified in accordance with 14 subsection (c); 15 (3) a description of the workers that will be tar- 16 geted or recruited by the partnership, including an 17 analysis of the existing labor market, a description 18 of potential barriers to employment for targeted 19 workers, and a description of strategies that will be 20 used to help workers overcome such barriers; 21 (4) a description of the local, State, or federally 22 funded infrastructure projects on which the eligible 23 partnership anticipates engaging partners; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2831 IH (5) a description of the strategic objectives de- 1 scribed in subsection (d) that the eligible partnership 2 intends to achieve concerning the targeted infra- 3 structure industry; 4 (6) a description of the credentials that the eli- 5 gible partnership proposes to use or develop as a 6 performance measure, to assess the degree to which 7 the eligible partnership has achieved such strategic 8 objectives, which credentials— 9 (A) shall be nationally portable; 10 (B) shall be recognized postsecondary cre- 11 dentials or, if not available for the industry, 12 other credentials determined by the Secretary 13 to be appropriate; 14 (C) shall be related to the targeted infra- 15 structure industry that the eligible partnership 16 proposes to support; and 17 (D) may be a registered apprenticeship 18 program; 19 (7) a description of the manner in which the eli- 20 gible partnership intends to make sustainable 21 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 22 (8) performance measures for measuring 23 progress towards achieving such strategic objectives; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2831 IH (9) a description of the Federal and non-Fed- 1 eral resources, available under provisions of law 2 other than this Act, that will be leveraged in support 3 of the partnerships and activities under this Act; 4 and 5 (10) a timeline for progress towards achieving 6 such strategic objectives. 7 (c) TARGETED INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY.—Each 8 grant under this Act shall serve a targeted infrastructure 9 industry that is identified by the eligible partnership 10 through working with businesses, industry associations 11 and organizations, labor organizations, State boards, local 12 boards, economic development agencies, and other organi- 13 zations that the eligible partnership determines necessary. 14 (d) STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES.—The activities to be 15 carried out under each grant awarded under this Act shall 16 be designed to achieve strategic objectives that include the 17 following: 18 (1) Recruiting key stakeholders in the targeted 19 infrastructure industry, such as multiple businesses, 20 labor organizations, local boards, and education and 21 training providers, including providers of career and 22 technical education, and regularly convening the 23 stakeholders in a collaborative structure that sup- 24 ports the sharing of information, ideas, and chal- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2831 IH lenges common to the targeted infrastructure indus- 1 try. 2 (2) Identifying the training needs of multiple 3 businesses in the targeted infrastructure industry, 4 including— 5 (A) needs for skills critical to competitive- 6 ness and innovation in the industry; 7 (B) needs of the registered apprenticeship 8 programs or other work-based learning pro- 9 grams supported by the grant; and 10 (C) needs for the usage of career path- 11 ways. 12 (3) Facilitating actions that lead to economies 13 of scale by aggregating training and education needs 14 of multiple businesses. 15 (4) Helping postsecondary educational institu- 16 tions, training institutions, sponsors of registered 17 apprenticeship programs, and all other providers of 18 career and technical education and training pro- 19 grams receiving assistance under this Act, align cur- 20 ricula, entrance requirements, and programs to the 21 targeted infrastructure industry needs and the cre- 22 dentials described in subsection (b)(6), particularly 23 for higher skill, high-priority occupations related to 24 the targeted infrastructure industry. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2831 IH (5) Providing information on the grant activi- 1 ties to the State agency carrying out the State pro- 2 gram under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 3 et seq.), including staff of the agency that provide 4 services under such Act, to enable the agency to in- 5 form recipients of unemployment compensation of 6 the employment and training opportunities that may 7 be offered through the grant activities. 8 (6) Helping partner businesses in industry or 9 sector partnerships to attract potential workers from 10 a diverse jobseeker base, including individuals with 11 barriers to employment, by identifying any such bar- 12 riers through analysis of the labor market and im- 13 plementing strategies to help such workers overcome 14 such barriers. 15 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership receiving 17 a grant under this Act shall— 18 (1) designate an entity in the industry or sector 19 partnership as the fiscal agent for the grant funds; 20 and 21 (2) carry out activities described in subsections 22 (b) (as applicable), (c), and (d) to achieve the stra- 23 tegic objectives identified in the entity’s application 24 under section 5(b)(5), in a manner that integrates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2831.IH H2831 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2831 IH services and funding sources to ensure effectiveness 1 of the activities and that uses the grant funds effi- 2 ciently. 3 (b) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—An eligible partnership 4 receiving an implementation grant under this Act shall use 5 not more than $250,000 of the grant funds to carry out 6 planning activities during th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]