Workforce DATA Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1738 To require the Secretary of Labor to take initiatives to measure the impact of automation on the workforce in order to inform workforce development strategies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 5, 2019 Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to take initiatives to measure the impact of automation on the workforce in order to inform workforce development strategies, 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 ‘‘Workforce Data for 4 Analyzing and Tracking Automation Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘Workforce DATA Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1738 IS (1) AUTOMATION.—The term ‘‘automation’’ 1 means using technology to produce a good or service 2 previously produced by human work. 3 (2) BOARD; SUBCOMMITTEE.—The term 4 ‘‘Board’’ or ‘‘Subcommittee’’ means the advisory 5 board or subcommittee established or formed under 6 section 4(a). 7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of Labor. 9 SEC. 3. STUDY BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF 10 SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE ON 11 MEASURING THE IMPACT OF AUTOMATION 12 ON THE WORKFORCE. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall request 15 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 16 Medicine to enter into an arrangement with the Secretary 17 for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 18 Medicine to conduct a consensus study on how to measure 19 the impact of automation on the workforce, including job 20 creation, job displacement, job retention, and the shifting 21 of skills in demand due to automation. 22 (b) CONTENTS.—The study under subsection (a) 23 shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1738 IS (1) include a review of workforce data programs 1 used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of the 2 date of enactment of this Act, for measuring the im- 3 pact of automation on the workforce; 4 (2) identify and review other potential data 5 sources for measuring such impact; 6 (3) identify appropriate statistical methods for 7 using and integrating other data sources to supple- 8 ment or enhance the workforce data programs de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1); and 10 (4) advise the Bureau of Labor Statistics on re- 11 search needed to acquire, evaluate, and incorporate 12 additional data sources to adequately measure and 13 assess, on an ongoing basis— 14 (A) industry sectors and occupations sig- 15 nificantly impacted by automation; 16 (B) jobs and occupations created or sub- 17 stantially changed as a result of automation; 18 (C) occupational shifts in labor demand, 19 including the number of workers displaced (or 20 with a change in earnings) due to automation, 21 and the demographics of such workers, such as 22 the race, gender, age, level of education, loca- 23 tion, employment status, and earnings of such 24 workers; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1738 IS (D) the consequences of displacement due 1 to automation, including the consequences of 2 workers becoming subsequently unemployed, 3 exiting from the workforce, entering retraining, 4 changing positions within a company, and expe- 5 riencing a change in earnings; 6 (E) changes to workforce skills in demand 7 as a result of automation; and 8 (F) additional data recommended by the 9 Board or Subcommittee under section 10 4(c)(1)(A)(iii). 11 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 12 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 13 Congress, and make publicly available, a report on the re- 14 sults of the study under subsection (a). 15 (d) PLAN FOR BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.—Not 16 later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary 17 submits the report to Congress under subsection (c), the 18 Secretary shall make publicly available a plan for how the 19 Bureau of Labor Statistics shall respond to the findings 20 of the study contained in such report. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1738 IS SEC. 4. INPUT ON IMPACT OF AUTOMATION FROM WORK- 1 FORCE ADVISORY BOARD OR SUB- 2 COMMITTEE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an 4 advisory board, or form a subcommittee of an advisory 5 board that exists on the date of enactment of this Act, 6 to provide recommendations on addressing the impact of 7 automation on the workforce. 8 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board or Subcommittee 9 shall consist of nationally representative members, includ- 10 ing the balanced participation of— 11 (1) State boards, as defined in section 3 of the 12 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 13 U.S.C. 3102); 14 (2) labor organizations; 15 (3) industry representatives; 16 (4) nonprofit entities, or community-based or- 17 ganizations, with experience researching the impact 18 of automation on the workforce; 19 (5) academic experts in the field of workforce 20 development, labor economics, and program evalua- 21 tion; and 22 (6) any other stakeholders the Secretary deter- 23 mines appropriate. 24 (c) DUTIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1738 IS (1) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL 1 DATA.— 2 (A) INITIAL EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 6 months after the date of enactment of this 4 Act, the Board or Subcommittee shall— 5 (i) identify additional types of data re- 6 lated to the impact of automation on the 7 workforce that would inform actions of 8 business and labor stakeholders; 9 (ii) identify administrative data need- 10 ed to guide policy formation related to eas- 11 ing impacts of automation; and 12 (iii) for purposes of the assessment 13 under section 3(b)(4), provide rec- 14 ommendations to the Secretary and the 15 National Academies of Sciences, Engineer- 16 ing, and Medicine based on the additional 17 data identified under clauses (i) and (ii). 18 (B) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than 1 19 year after the date on which the recommenda- 20 tions are provided under subparagraph (A), and 21 each year thereafter, the Board or Sub- 22 committee shall evaluate the additional data 23 identified under such subparagraph, and pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1738 IS vide updated recommendations to the Secretary 1 based on such evaluation. 2 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON BUREAU OF 3 LABOR STATISTICS MEASUREMENTS.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, and 6 each year thereafter, the Board or Sub- 7 committee shall— 8 (i) evaluate strategies for workforce 9 development, based on measurements of 10 impact on the workforce due to automation 11 determined by the Bureau of Labor Statis- 12 tics and on other relevant evidence; and 13 (ii) provide recommendations to the 14 Secretary and to Congress based on such 15 evaluation. 16 (B) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Secretary shall 17 disseminate the strategies recommended under 18 subparagraph (A) to relevant stakeholders and 19 make such strategies available to the public. 20 (d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 21 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 22 apply to the Board or Subcommittee. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS