Partnerships for American Jobs Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6247 To establish a competitive grant program at the U.S. Department of Edu- cation to support the development, production, and distribution of public media programming designed to prepare Americans for in-demand occu- pations that address the needs of State and local economies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself and Mr. MEUSER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To establish a competitive grant program at the U.S. Depart- ment of Education to support the development, produc- tion, and distribution of public media programming de- signed to prepare Americans for in-demand occupations that address the needs of State and local economies. 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 ‘‘Partnerships for Amer- 4 ican Jobs Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:19 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6247 IH (1) The terms ‘‘career pathway’’, ‘‘State 1 board’’, and ‘‘local board’’ have the meanings given 2 the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 3 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 4 (2) The term ‘‘digital media programming’’ 5 means video and audio programming that may be 6 delivered through a variety of media platforms, in- 7 cluding broadcast television and radio, the internet, 8 mobile devices, and other platforms. 9 (3) The term ‘‘in-demand industry sector or oc- 10 cupation’’ has the meaning given in section 3 of the 11 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 12 U.S.C. 3102). 13 (4) The term ‘‘institutions of higher education’’ 14 has the meaning given in section 102 of the Higher 15 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1001). 16 (5) The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and 17 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings given 18 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 20 (6) The terms ‘‘public broadcast station’’ and 21 ‘‘public telecommunications entity’’ have the mean- 22 ings given such terms in section 397 of the Commu- 23 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6247 IH (7) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 1 of Education. 2 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 3 The purpose of this Act is to support the development 4 and distribution of digital media programming that— 5 (1) promotes middle school, high school, and 6 postsecondary student entrance into in-demand occu- 7 pations; 8 (2) promotes student entrance into career path- 9 way programs that provide such preparation; and 10 (3) assists in meeting the needs of State and 11 local economies through increased workers in in-de- 12 mand industry sectors or occupations. 13 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, in 15 consultation with the Secretary of Labor, may award com- 16 petitive grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative 17 agreements with, eligible entities described in subsection 18 (c) to enable such entities— 19 (1) to develop, produce, and distribute edu- 20 cational and promotional digital media programming 21 that is designed— 22 (A) to illustrate the value of career path- 23 ways in in-demand industry sectors and occupa- 24 tions; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6247 IH (B) to encourage secondary and postsec- 1 ondary graduation and demonstrate successful 2 student outcomes; 3 (C) to inform young Americans, particu- 4 larly those who live in communities not cur- 5 rently served by career pathway programs, of a 6 full range of secondary or postsecondary edu- 7 cation options which align with the skill needs 8 of industries in the economy of the State or a 9 locality as specified in subparagraph (D); and 10 (D) to address the economic needs of a 11 State as specified in the unified State plan that 12 such State established under section 102 of the 13 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 14 U.S.C. 3112) or locality as specified in a local 15 plan established under section 108 of such Act 16 (29 U.S.C. 3123) through encouragement of 17 students and workers to enter professions and 18 occupations related to in-demand industries or 19 occupations; 20 (2) to facilitate the development, directly or 21 through contracts with producers of educational tele- 22 vision and audio programming, of educational pro- 23 gramming for middle school, high school, and post- 24 secondary learners, and accompanying support mate- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6247 IH rials and services that promote the effective use of 1 such programming; 2 (3) to facilitate the development of program- 3 ming, digital content, and support materials, for 4 parents, educators, specialized instructional support 5 personnel, and employers, that is designed for dis- 6 tribution over the broadcast channels of television 7 and radio public broadcast stations and the internet; 8 and 9 (4) to contract with entities (such as public 10 telecommunications entities) to disseminate and dis- 11 tribute programming developed under this Act to the 12 widest possible audience through the most appro- 13 priate distribution technologies, including broadcast 14 and online platforms. 15 (b) AVAILABILITY.—In awarding grants, contracts, 16 or cooperative agreements under this section, the Sec- 17 retary shall ensure that eligible entities make program- 18 ming widely available, with support materials as appro- 19 priate, to local educational agencies, institutions of higher 20 education, workforce development systems, and employers 21 in relevant industries. 22 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 23 grant, contract or cooperative agreement under this sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6247 IH tion an entity shall be a public telecommunications entity 1 that is able to demonstrate each of the following: 2 (1) A capacity to contract for the development 3 and national distribution of educational and pro- 4 motional video, audio, and other media programming 5 that is accessible by middle school, high school, and 6 postsecondary learners. 7 (2) A capacity to distribute programming, dig- 8 ital content, and support materials, for parents, edu- 9 cators, specialized instructional support personnel, 10 and employers, that is designed for distribution over 11 the broadcast channels of television and radio public 12 broadcast stations and the internet. 13 (3) A capacity, consistent with the entity’s mis- 14 sion and nonprofit nature, to negotiate the contracts 15 described in paragraphs (2) and (4) of subsection 16 (a) in a manner that returns to the entity an appro- 17 priate share of any ancillary income from sales of 18 any program-related products. 19 (4) A capacity to localize programming and ma- 20 terials to meet specific State and local needs and to 21 provide educational outreach at the local level. 22 SEC. 5. COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES. 23 (a) CONSULTATION WITH THE SECRETARY.—An eli- 24 gible entity receiving a grant, contract, or cooperative 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6247 IH agreement under this Act shall consult with the Sec- 1 retary— 2 (1) to maximize the utilization of educational 3 programming by secondary and postsecondary learn- 4 ers, and make such programming widely available to 5 federally funded programs serving such populations; 6 and 7 (2) to coordinate activities with Federal, State, 8 and local programs that support workforce develop- 9 ment and career and technical education, including 10 programs under the Carl D. Perkins Career and 11 Technical Education Act of 2006 (29 U.S.C. 2301 12 et seq.), the Elementary and Secondary Education 13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), 15 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 16 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). 17 (b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES.—To the 18 extent feasible, an eligible entity receiving a grant, con- 19 tract, or cooperative agreement shall also coordinate its 20 activity under such award with the activities of one or 21 more of the following entities: 22 (1) Employers. 23 (2) Workforce development professionals and 24 agencies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6247 IH (3) Educators. 1 (4) Labor organizations. 2 (5) Joint labor-management partnerships. 3 (6) State educational agencies and local edu- 4 cational agencies. 5 (7) State boards and local boards. 6 (8) Institutions of higher education. 7 (9) Business councils. 8 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS. 9 An eligible entity desiring to receive a grant, contract, 10 or cooperative agreement under this Act shall submit to 11 the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Labor 12 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 13 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably 14 require. This application must include— 15 (1) the full scale and content of the program- 16 ming to be produced; 17 (2) the population and geographic area to be 18 targeted by the programming; 19 (3) the economic need of the State or locality 20 that the programming is designed to meet through 21 increased participation in in-demand industries and 22 occupations; and 23 (4) the initiatives to be undertaken by the eligi- 24 ble entity to develop public-private partnerships to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6247 IH secure non-Federal support for the development, dis- 1 tribution, and broadcast of the programming. 2 SEC. 7. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS. 3 (a) BIENNIAL REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—An eli- 4 gible entity receiving a grant, contract, or cooperative 5 agreement under this Act shall prepare and submit to the 6 Secretary a biennial report that contains such information 7 as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the report 8 shall describe the activities undertaken with funds received 9 under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, in- 10 cluding each of the following: 11 (1) The programming that has been developed, 12 directly or indirectly, by the eligible entity. 13 (2) The target population for this program- 14 ming. 15 (3) The economic needs of the State or locality 16 (as identified in the application of the eligible entity 17 under section 6(3)) that this programming was at- 18 tempting to meet through the encouragement of new 19 workers in in-demand sectors and occupations. 20 (4) The degree to which the number of workers 21 working in such in-demand sectors and occupations 22 has increased since the programming was distrib- 23 uted. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6247 IH (5) The means by which programming devel- 1 oped under this section has been distributed, and the 2 geographic distribution achieved. 3 (6) The initiatives undertaken by the eligible 4 entity to develop public-private partnerships to se- 5 cure non-Federal support for the development, dis- 6 tribution, and broadcast of educational and pro- 7 motional programming. 8 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall pre- 9 pare and submit to the relevant committees of Congress 10 a biennial report that includes the following: 11 (1) A summary of the activities assisted under 12 this Act. 13 (2) A description of the educational and pro- 14 motional materials made available under section 15 4(a)(4), and the manner in which such materials 16 have been distributed in accordance with such sec- 17 tion. 18 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 19 An eligible entity that receives a grant, contract, or 20 cooperative agreement under this Act may use up to 5 per- 21 cent of the amount received under the grant, contract, or 22 agreement for the normal and customary expenses of ad- 23 ministering the grant, contract, or agreement. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6247 IH SEC. 9. SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS. 1 The authority provided by section 4 may be exercised 2 only to such extent and in such amounts as are provided 3 in advance in appropriations Acts. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Mar 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6247.IH H6247 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS