National Transit Workforce Training Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6575 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a national transit frontline workforce training center, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. BACON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a na- tional transit frontline workforce training center, 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 ‘‘National Transit 4 Workforce Training Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6575 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRANSIT FRONTLINE WORKFORCE 1 TRAINING CENTER. 2 Section 5314(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL FRONTLINE WORKFORCE TRAINING 5 CENTER.— 6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 7 tablish a national transit frontline workforce train- 8 ing center (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Center’), 9 targeted to both rural and urban transit systems, 10 and award grants to a nonprofit organization with 11 a demonstrated capacity to develop and provide 12 transit career ladder programs through labor-man- 13 agement partnerships and apprenticeships on a na- 14 tionwide basis to carry out the duties under para- 15 graph (2). The Center shall be dedicated to the 16 needs of the frontline transit workforce through 17 standards-based training in the maintenance and op- 18 erations occupations. 19 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with 21 the Administrator of the Federal Transit Ad- 22 ministration, public transportation authorities, 23 and national entities, the Center shall develop 24 and conduct training and educational programs 25 for frontline local transportation employees en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6575 IH gaged in Government-aid public transportation 1 work. 2 ‘‘(B) TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL PRO- 3 GRAMS.—The training and educational pro- 4 grams developed under subparagraph (A) may 5 include courses in recent developments, tech- 6 niques, and procedures related to— 7 ‘‘(i) developing consensus national 8 training standards in partnership with in- 9 dustry stakeholders for key frontline occu- 10 pations with demonstrated skill gaps; 11 ‘‘(ii) developing national systems of 12 qualification and apprenticeship for transit 13 maintenance and operations occupations; 14 ‘‘(iii) building local, regional, and 15 Statewide transit training partnerships to 16 identify and address workforce skill gaps 17 and develop skills needed for delivering 18 quality transit service and supporting em- 19 ployee career advancement; 20 ‘‘(iv) developing programs for training 21 of frontline workers, instructors, mentors, 22 and labor-management partnership rep- 23 resentatives, in the form of classroom, 24 hands-on, on-the-job, as well as web-based 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6575 IH training. Training can be delivered at a na- 1 tional center regionally, or at individual 2 transit agencies; 3 ‘‘(v) developing training programs for 4 skills related to existing and emerging 5 transit technologies, e.g. for zero-emission 6 buses (ZEBs); 7 ‘‘(vi) developing improved capacity for 8 safety, security, and emergency prepared- 9 ness in local transit systems and in the in- 10 dustry as a whole through— 11 ‘‘(I) developing the role of the 12 frontline workforce in building and 13 sustaining safety culture and safety 14 systems in the industry and in indi- 15 vidual public transportation systems; 16 and 17 ‘‘(II) training to address front- 18 line worker roles in promoting health 19 and safety for transit workers and the 20 riding public; 21 ‘‘(vii) developing local transit capacity 22 for career pathways partnerships with 23 schools and other community organizations 24 for recruiting and training under-rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6575 IH resented populations as successful transit 1 employees who can develop careers in the 2 transit industry; and 3 ‘‘(viii) in collaboration with the Fed- 4 eral Transit Administration, conducting 5 and disseminating research to— 6 ‘‘(I) provide transit workforce job 7 projections and identify training needs 8 and gaps; 9 ‘‘(II) determine the most cost-ef- 10 fective methods for transit workforce 11 training and development, including 12 return on investment analysis; 13 ‘‘(III) identify the most effective 14 methods for implementing successful 15 safety systems and a positive safety 16 culture; and 17 ‘‘(IV) promote transit workforce 18 best practices for achieving cost-effec- 19 tive, quality, safe, and reliable public 20 transportation services. 21 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall co- 22 ordinate activities under this section, to the max- 23 imum extent practicable, with the National Office of 24 Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6575 IH Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education of 1 the Department of Education. 2 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE.—For the 3 purposes of carrying out this section, the Secretary 4 shall require that the National Transit Database col- 5 lect additional human capital data on an annual 6 basis. Such human capital data shall be collected 7 and defined with industry input. 8 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 0.5 10 percent of amounts made available to a recipi- 11 ent under sections 5307, 5337, and 5339 is 12 available for expenditures by the recipient, with 13 the approval of the Secretary, to pay not more 14 than 80 percent of the cost of eligible activities 15 under this subsection. 16 ‘‘(B) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—A recipient 17 may use amounts made available under sub- 18 paragraph (A) to carry out existing local edu- 19 cation and training programs for public trans- 20 portation employees supported by the Secretary, 21 the Department of Labor, or the Department of 22 Education. 23 ‘‘(6) HUMAN CAPITAL DEFINED.—In this sub- 24 section, the term ‘human capital’ means the knowl- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6575 IH edge, talents, skills, abilities, experience, intelligence, 1 training, judgment, and wisdom possessed individ- 2 ually and collectively by the frontline transit work- 3 force, including operations, maintenance, and admin- 4 istrative personnel.’’. 5 SEC. 3. DATA REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED IN NATIONAL 6 TRANSIT DATABASE. 7 Section 5335 of title 49, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 (1) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘, either 10 human capital or physical capital’’ before the period 11 at the end; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF HUMAN CAPITAL.—In this sec- 14 tion, the term ‘human capital’ has the meaning given the 15 term in section 5314(b).’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6575.IH H6575 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS