Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5285 To provide competitive grants for training court reporters and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under the Commu- nications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 3, 2019 Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide competitive grants for training court reporters and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under the Communications Act of 1934, 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 ‘‘Training for Realtime 4 Writers Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5285 IH (1) As directed by Congress in section 713 of 1 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613), 2 as added by section 305 of the Telecommunications 3 Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 126), 4 the Federal Communications Commission began en- 5 forcing rules requiring full closed captioning of most 6 English television programming on January 1, 2006. 7 (2) The Federal Communications Commission 8 rules also require that video programming be fully 9 captioned in Spanish by 2010. 10 (3) More than 37,500,000 Americans are con- 11 sidered deaf or hard of hearing, and many require 12 captioning services to participate in mainstream ac- 13 tivities. 14 (4) The National Institute on Deafness and 15 other Communication Disorders estimates that one 16 in 3 Americans over the age of 60 has already expe- 17 rienced hearing loss. The 79,000,000 Americans who 18 are identified as ‘‘baby boomers’’ represent 39 per- 19 cent of the population of the United States and most 20 baby boomers began to reach age 60 just in the last 21 few years. 22 (5) Closed captioning is a continuous source of 23 emergency information for people in mass transit 24 and other congregate settings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5285 IH (6) Empirical research studies since 1988 dem- 1 onstrate that captions improve the performance of 2 individuals learning to read English. 3 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM TO PRO- 4 MOTE TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT OF 5 REALTIME WRITERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 7 make competitive grants to eligible entities under sub- 8 section (b) to promote training and placement of individ- 9 uals, including individuals who have completed a court re- 10 porting training program, as realtime writers in order to 11 meet the requirements for closed captioning of video pro- 12 gramming set forth in section 713 of the Communications 13 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) and the rules prescribed 14 thereunder. 15 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this Act, 16 an eligible entity is a court reporting program that— 17 (1) can document and demonstrate to the Sec- 18 retary of Education that it meets minimum stand- 19 ards of educational and financial accountability, with 20 a curriculum capable of training realtime writers 21 qualified to provide captioning services; 22 (2) is accredited by an accrediting agency or as- 23 sociation recognized by the Secretary of Education 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5285 IH under section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b); and 2 (3) is participating in programs under title IV 3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 4 1070 et seq.). 5 (c) PRIORITY IN GRANTS.—In determining whether 6 to make grants under this section, the Secretary of Edu- 7 cation shall give a priority to eligible entities that, as de- 8 termined by the Secretary— 9 (1) possess the most substantial capability to 10 increase their capacity to train realtime writers; 11 (2) demonstrate the most promising collabora- 12 tion with local educational institutions, businesses, 13 labor organizations, or other community groups hav- 14 ing the potential to train or provide job placement 15 assistance to realtime writers; or 16 (3) propose the most promising and innovative 17 approaches for initiating or expanding training or 18 job placement assistance efforts with respect to 19 realtime writers. 20 (d) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec- 21 tion shall be for a period of 5 years. 22 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 23 a grant provided under subsection (a) to an entity eligible 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5285 IH may not exceed $1,500,000 for the 5-year period of the 1 grant under subsection (d). 2 SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under section 4 3, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Sec- 5 retary of Education at such time and in such manner as 6 the Secretary may require. The application shall contain 7 the information set forth under subsection (b). 8 (b) INFORMATION.—Information in the application of 9 an eligible entity under subsection (a) for a grant under 10 section 3 shall include the following: 11 (1) A description of the training and assistance 12 to be funded using the grant amount, including how 13 such training and assistance will increase the num- 14 ber of realtime writers. 15 (2) A description of performance measures to 16 be utilized to evaluate the progress of individuals re- 17 ceiving such training and assistance in matters relat- 18 ing to enrollment, completion of training, and job 19 placement and retention. 20 (3) A description of the manner in which the el- 21 igible entity will ensure that recipients of scholar- 22 ships, if any, funded by the grant will be employed 23 and retained as realtime writers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5285 IH (4) A description of the manner in which the el- 1 igible entity intends to continue providing the train- 2 ing and assistance to be funded by the grant after 3 the end of the grant period, including any partner- 4 ships or arrangements established for that purpose. 5 (5) A description of how the eligible entity will 6 work with local workforce investment boards to en- 7 sure that training and assistance to be funded with 8 the grant will further local workforce goals, includ- 9 ing the creation of educational opportunities for in- 10 dividuals who are from economically disadvantaged 11 backgrounds or are displaced workers. 12 (6) Additional information, if any, of the eligi- 13 bility of the eligible entity for priority in the making 14 of grants under section 3(c). 15 (7) Such other information as the Secretary 16 may require. 17 SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 19 grant under section 3 shall use the grant amount for pur- 20 poses relating to the recruitment, training and assistance, 21 and job placement of individuals, including individuals 22 who have completed a court reporting training program, 23 as realtime writers, including— 24 (1) recruitment; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5285 IH (2) subject to subsection (b), the provision of 1 scholarships; 2 (3) distance learning; 3 (4) further developing and implementing both 4 English and Spanish curriculum to more effectively 5 train realtime writing skills, and education in the 6 knowledge necessary for the delivery of high-quality 7 closed captioning services; 8 (5) mentoring students to ensure successful 9 completion of the realtime writing training and pro- 10 vide assistance in job placement; 11 (6) encouraging individuals with disabilities to 12 pursue a career in realtime writing; and 13 (7) the employment and payment of personnel 14 for all such purposes. 15 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS.— 16 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of a scholarship 17 under subsection (a)(2) shall be based on the 18 amount of need of the recipient of the scholarship 19 for financial assistance, as determined in accordance 20 with part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act 21 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.). 22 (2) AGREEMENT.—Each recipient of a scholar- 23 ship under subsection (a)(2) shall enter into an 24 agreement with the school in which the recipient is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5285 IH enrolled to provide realtime writing services for a pe- 1 riod of time appropriate (as determined by the Sec- 2 retary of Education or the Secretary’s designee) for 3 the amount of the scholarship received. 4 (3) COURSEWORK AND EMPLOYMENT.—The 5 Secretary of Education or the Secretary’s designee 6 shall establish requirements for coursework and em- 7 ployment for recipients of scholarships under sub- 8 section (a)(2), including requirements for repayment 9 of scholarship amounts in the event of failure to 10 meet such requirements for coursework and employ- 11 ment. Requirements for repayment of scholarship 12 amounts shall take into account the effect of eco- 13 nomic conditions on the capacity of scholarship re- 14 cipients to find work as realtime writers. 15 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The recipient of a 16 grant under section 3 may not use more than 5 percent 17 of the grant amount to pay administrative costs associated 18 with activities funded by the grant. The Secretary shall 19 use not more than 5 percent of the amount available for 20 grants under this Act in any fiscal year for administrative 21 costs of the program. 22 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grants amounts 23 under this Act shall supplement and not supplant other 24 Federal or non-Federal funds of the grant recipient for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5285 IH purposes of promoting the training and placement of indi- 1 viduals as realtime writers. 2 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 3 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Each eligible entity receiv- 4 ing a grant under section 3 shall submit to the Secretary 5 of Education, at the end of each year of the grant period, 6 a report on the activities of such entity with respect to 7 the use of grant amounts during such year. 8 (b) REPORT INFORMATION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report of an entity for 10 a year under subsection (a) shall include a descrip- 11 tion of the use of grant amounts by the entity dur- 12 ing such year, including an assessment by the entity 13 of the effectiveness of activities carried out using 14 such funds in increasing the number of realtime 15 writers. The assessment shall utilize the performance 16 measures submitted by the entity in the application 17 for the grant under section 4(b). 18 (2) FINAL REPORT.—The final report of an en- 19 tity on a grant under subsection (a) shall include a 20 description of the best practices identified by the en- 21 tity as a result of the grant for increasing the num- 22 ber of individuals who are trained, employed, and re- 23 tained in employment as realtime writers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5285 IH (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Inspector General of the 1 Department of Education shall conduct an annual review 2 of the management, efficiency, and effectiveness of the 3 grants made under this Act. 4 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 6 retary of Education to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for 7 each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. 8 SEC. 8. SUNSET. 9 This Act is repealed effective the last day of the fifth 10 fiscal year in which funds are appropriated to carry out 11 this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5285.IH H5285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS