START Career Pathways Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3892 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to award competi- tive grants for the purpose of developing, offering, improving, and pro- viding educational or career pathway programs for workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 23, 2019 Mr. HARDER of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to award competitive grants for the purpose of devel- oping, offering, improving, and providing educational or career pathway programs for workers, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Short-Term Acceler- 4 ated Reskilling Tracks Career Pathways Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘START Career Pathways Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:51 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3892 IH SEC. 2. START PATHWAYS TO CAREERS FUND. 1 Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 2 Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.) is amended by adding at 3 the end the following: 4 ‘‘Subtitle F—START Pathways to 5 Careers Fund 6 ‘‘SEC. 199. START PATHWAYS TO CAREERS PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Not later than the end 8 of the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of 9 the START Career Pathways Act, from funds appro- 10 priated under section 199A, the Secretary of Labor (in 11 coordination with the Secretary of Education) shall award 12 competitive grants to eligible entities described in sub- 13 section (c) for the purpose of developing, offering, improv- 14 ing, and providing educational or career pathway pro- 15 grams for workers. 16 ‘‘(b) DURATION.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may award 18 a grant to an eligible entity for not more than a 6- 19 year period. 20 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF GRANTS.—At the end 21 of the initial 3-year grant period for a grant award- 22 ed to an eligible entity under this section, the Sec- 23 retary shall evaluate, using the performance indica- 24 tors under subsection (h), each program for which 25 the eligible entity was awarded such grant to deter- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3892 IH mine if eligible entity is eligible to receive such grant 1 for an additional 3-year grant period. 2 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 3 ‘‘(1) PARTNERSHIPS WITH EMPLOYERS OR AN 4 EMPLOYER OR INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP.— 5 ‘‘(A) GENERAL DEFINITION.—For pur- 6 poses of this section, an ‘eligible entity’ means 7 any of the entities described in subparagraph 8 (B) (or a consortium of any of such entities) in 9 partnership with local employers or a local em- 10 ployer or local industry partnership rep- 11 resenting multiple employers. 12 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF ENTITIES.—The en- 13 tities described in this subparagraph are— 14 ‘‘(i) a junior college or a community 15 college (as defined under section 316 of 16 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 17 U.S.C. 1059c) to mean public 2-year State 18 institutions of higher education at which 19 the highest degree that is predominantly 20 awarded to students is an associate’s de- 21 gree, including 2-year tribally controlled 22 colleges); 23 ‘‘(ii) a 4-year public institution of 24 higher education (as defined in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:51 Aug 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3892 IH 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))) that offers 2- 2 year degrees, and that will use funds pro- 3 vided under this section for activities at 4 the certificate and associate degree levels; 5 or 6 ‘‘(iii) a postsecondary vocational insti- 7 tution, as defined in section 102(c) of the 8 Higher Education Act of 1965. 9 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PARTNERS.— 10 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL 11 PARTNERS.—In addition to partnering with 12 local employers or a local employer or local in- 13 dustry partnership representing multiple em- 14 ployers as described in paragraph (1)(A), an 15 entity described in paragraph (1) may include 16 in the partnership described in paragraph (1) 17 one or more of the organizations described in 18 subparagraph (B). Each eligible entity that in- 19 cludes one or more such organizations shall col- 20 laborate with the State or local board in the 21 area served by the eligible entity. 22 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONS.—The organizations 23 described in this subparagraph are as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(i) A provider of adult education (as 1 defined in section 203) or an institution of 2 higher education (as defined in section 101 3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1001)). 5 ‘‘(ii) A community-based organization. 6 ‘‘(iii) A joint labor-management part- 7 nership. 8 ‘‘(iv) A State board that oversees 9 higher education. 10 ‘‘(v) A State educational agency (as 11 defined in section 8101 of the Elementary 12 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 13 U.S.C. 7801)). 14 ‘‘(vi) An elementary school or sec- 15 ondary school (as such terms are defined 16 in section 8101 of the Elementary and 17 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 18 U.S.C. 7801)). 19 ‘‘(vii) A local educational agency (as 20 defined in section 8101 of the Elementary 21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 22 U.S.C. 7801)). 23 ‘‘(viii) A State-based education fo- 24 cused nonprofit. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(ix) An educational service agency 1 (as defined in section 8101 of the Elemen- 2 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 3 (20 U.S.C. 7801)). 4 ‘‘(x) Any other not-for-profit or com- 5 munity-based organization, with a proven 6 record on job training (as determined by 7 the Secretaries), that the Secretaries con- 8 sider appropriate. 9 ‘‘(d) EDUCATIONAL OR CAREER PATHWAY PRO- 10 GRAM.—For purposes of this section, the Governor of the 11 State in which at least 1 of the entities described in sub- 12 section (c) of an eligible entity is located shall establish 13 criteria for an educational or career training pathway pro- 14 gram leading to a recognized postsecondary credential for 15 which an eligible entity submits a grant proposal under 16 subsection (e). 17 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a 18 grant under this section shall submit an application con- 19 taining a grant proposal, for an educational or career 20 pathway program leading to a recognized postsecondary 21 credential, to the Secretaries at such time and containing 22 such information as the Secretaries determine is required, 23 including— 24 ‘‘(1) a detailed description of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(A) the extent to which the educational or 1 career pathway program described in the grant 2 proposal fits within an overall strategic plan 3 consisting of— 4 ‘‘(i) the State plan described in sec- 5 tion 102 or 103, for the State involved; 6 ‘‘(ii) the local plan described in sec- 7 tion 108, for each local area that com- 8 prises a significant portion of the area to 9 be served by the eligible entity; and 10 ‘‘(iii) a strategic local plan developed 11 by the eligible entity; 12 ‘‘(B) the extent to which the program will 13 meet the needs of employers in the area for 14 workers in high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand 15 sectors or occupations; 16 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the program will 17 meet the educational or career training needs of 18 workers in the area; 19 ‘‘(D) the specific educational or career 20 pathway program and how the program meets 21 the criteria established under subsection (f), in- 22 cluding the manner in which the grant will be 23 used to develop, offer, improve, and provide the 24 educational or career pathway program; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(E) any previous experience of the eligible 1 entity in providing educational or career path- 2 way programs, the absence of which shall not 3 automatically disqualify an eligible institution 4 from receiving a grant under this section; and 5 ‘‘(F) how the program leading to the cre- 6 dential meets the criteria described in sub- 7 section (f); and 8 ‘‘(2) a detailed plan on how the entity will en- 9 sure that the program will meet the performance 10 measures described in subsection (h), and an assur- 11 ance that the entity will annually submit to the Sec- 12 retary information on the performance of the pro- 13 gram on such performance measures. 14 ‘‘(f) CRITERIA FOR AWARD.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants under this section 16 shall be awarded based on criteria established by the 17 Secretaries, that include the following: 18 ‘‘(A) A determination of the merits of the 19 grant proposal submitted by the eligible entity 20 involved to develop, offer, improve, and provide 21 an educational or career pathway program to be 22 made available to local workers. 23 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the likely employ- 24 ment opportunities available in the area to indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3892 IH viduals who complete an educational or career 1 pathway program that the eligible entity pro- 2 poses to develop, offer, improve, and provide. 3 ‘‘(C) An assessment of prior demand for 4 training programs by individuals eligible for 5 training and served by the eligible entity, as 6 well as availability and capacity of existing (as 7 of the date of the assessment) training pro- 8 grams to meet future demand for training pro- 9 grams. 10 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 11 section, the Secretaries shall give priority to eligible 12 entities that— 13 ‘‘(A) include a partnership, with local em- 14 ployers or a local employer or local industry 15 partnership, that— 16 ‘‘(i) pays a portion of the costs of 17 educational or career pathway programs; 18 or 19 ‘‘(ii) creates a career pathway by sup- 20 porting employers who hire individuals who 21 have attained a recognized postsecondary 22 credential resulting from the educational or 23 career training pathway program of the eli- 24 gible entity; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(B) enter into a partnership with a labor 1 organization or labor-management training pro- 2 gram to provide, through the program, tech- 3 nical expertise for occupationally specific edu- 4 cation necessary for a recognized postsecondary 5 credential leading to an occupation in a local 6 high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry 7 sector or occupation; 8 ‘‘(C) are focused on serving individuals 9 with barriers to employment, students who are 10 veterans including, active duty servicemembers 11 who are otherwise eligible for educational assist- 12 ance under chapter 30 of title 38, United 13 States Code, spouses of members of the Armed 14 Forces, children of members of the Armed 15 Forces, and incumbent workers who are low- 16 skilled and who need to increase their work-re- 17 lated skills; 18 ‘‘(D) include any eligible entities serving 19 areas with high unemployment rates; and 20 ‘‘(E) are eligible entities that include an 21 institution of higher education eligible for as- 22 sistance under title III or V of the Higher Edu- 23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.; 20 24 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 1 this section shall be used for one or more of the following: 2 ‘‘(1) The development, offering, improvement, 3 and provision of educational or career pathway pro- 4 grams, that provide relevant job training for skilled 5 occupations, that lead to recognized postsecondary 6 credentials, that will meet the needs of employers in 7 high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand sectors or occu- 8 pations (such as nursing, health care, agriculture, 9 horticulture, food, natural resources, fire science, 10 building trades, and labor) and that may include 11 registered apprenticeship programs, on-the-job train- 12 ing programs, and programs that support employers 13 in upgrading the skills of their workforce. 14 ‘‘(2) The development and implementation of 15 policies and programs to expand opportunities for 16 students to earn a recognized postsecondary creden- 17 tial, including a degree, in high-skill, high-wage, or 18 in-demand industry sectors or occupations, including 19 by— 20 ‘‘(A) facilitating the transfer of academic 21 credits between institutions of higher education, 22 including the transfer of academic credits for 23 courses in the same field of study; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Aug 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(B) expanding articulation agreements 1 and policies that guarantee transfers between 2 such institutions, including through common 3 course numbering and use of a general core 4 curriculum; 5 ‘‘(C) developing or enhancing student sup- 6 port services; and 7 ‘‘(D) establishing policies and processes for 8 assessing and awarding course credit for work- 9 related learning. 10 ‘‘(3) The creation of career pathway programs 11 that provide a sequence of education and occupa- 12 tional training that leads to a recognized postsec- 13 ondary credential, including a degree, including pro- 14 grams that— 15 ‘‘(A) blend basic skills and occupational 16 training; 17 ‘‘(B) facilitate means of transitioning par- 18 ticipants from non-credit occupational, basic 19 skills, or developmental coursework to for-credit 20 coursework within and across institutions; 21 ‘‘(C) build or enhance linkages, including 22 the development of dual enrollment programs 23 and early college high schools, between sec- 24 ondary education or adul [Text truncated for display. 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