Relaunching America’s Workforce Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6646 To provide State and local workforce and career and technical education systems with support to respond to the COVID–19 national emergency. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. FUDGE, Mrs. MCBATH, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. HORSFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide State and local workforce and career and tech- nical education systems with support to respond to the COVID–19 national emergency. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Relaunching America’s Workforce Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 6 as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6646 IH Sec. 3. Special rule. TITLE I—WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT Sec. 101. Definitions and WIOA requirements. Subtitle A—Workforce Development Activities in Response to the COVID–19 National Emergency Sec. 111. Workforce response activities. Sec. 112. National dislocated worker grants. Sec. 113. State dislocated worker activities responding to the COVID–19 emer- gency. Sec. 114. Youth workforce investment activities responding to the COVID–19 national emergency. Sec. 115. Adult employment and training activities responding to the COVID– 19 national emergency. Subtitle B—Employment Service COVID–19 National Emergency Response Fund Sec. 121. Employment service. Subtitle C—Job Corps Response to the COVID–19 National Emergency Sec. 131. Job Corps response to the COVID–19 national emergency. Subtitle D—National Programs Sec. 141. Native American programs responding to the COVID–19 national emergency. Sec. 142. Migrant and seasonal farmworker program response. Sec. 143. YouthBuild activities responding to the COVID–19 national emer- gency. Sec. 144. Reentry employment opportunities responding to the COVID–19 na- tional emergency. Sec. 145. Registered apprenticeship opportunities responding to the COVID–19 national emergency. Subtitle E—Adult Education and Literacy COVID–19 National Emergency Response Sec. 151. Adult education and literacy response activities. Sec. 152. Distribution of funds. Subtitle F—Community College and Industry Partnership Grants Sec. 161. Community college and industry partnership grants. Subtitle G—General Provisions Sec. 171. General provisions. TITLE II—CARL D. PERKINS CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT OF 2006 Sec. 201. Definitions and Perkins CTE requirements. Sec. 202. COVID–19 career and technical education response flexibility. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6646 IH Sec. 203. Perkins career and technical education. Sec. 204. General provisions. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPRENTICESHIP; APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 3 GRAM.—The terms ‘‘apprenticeship’’ or ‘‘apprentice- 4 ship program’’ mean an apprenticeship program reg- 5 istered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly 6 known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’) (50 7 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), in- 8 cluding any requirement, standard, or rule promul- 9 gated under such Act, as such requirement, stand- 10 ard, or rule was in effect on December 30, 2019. 11 (2) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘coronavirus’’ 12 means coronavirus as defined in section 506 of the 13 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple- 14 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 15 123). 16 (3) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The 17 term ‘‘COVID–19 national emergency’’ means the 18 national emergency declared by the President under 19 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 20 seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the 21 coronavirus. 22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6646 IH (A) in subtitles A through D of title I, 1 means the Secretary of Labor; and 2 (B) in subtitle E of title I and in title II, 3 means the Secretary of Education. 4 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RULE. 5 Any funds made available under this Act that are 6 used to fund an apprenticeship or apprenticeship program 7 shall only be used for, or provided to, an apprenticeship 8 or apprenticeship program that meets the definition of 9 such term in section 2 of this Act, including any funds 10 awarded for the purposes of grants, contracts, or coopera- 11 tive agreements, or the development, implementation, or 12 administration, of an apprenticeship or an apprenticeship 13 program. 14 TITLE I—WORKFORCE INNOVA- 15 TION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT 16 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS AND WIOA REQUIREMENTS. 17 Except as otherwise provided, in this title— 18 (1) the terms have the meanings given the 19 terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 20 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); and 21 (2) an allotment, allocation, or other provision 22 of funds made in accordance with a provision of the 23 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 24 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) shall be made in compliance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6646 IH with the applicable requirements of such Act (29 1 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), including the applicable re- 2 quirements of section 182(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3 3242) unless otherwise provided for in this Act. 4 Subtitle A—Workforce Develop- 5 ment Activities in Response to 6 the COVID–19 National Emer- 7 gency 8 SEC. 111. WORKFORCE RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 9 (a) FUNDS FOR ADULTS AND DISLOCATED WORK- 10 ERS.—With respect to funds under this subtitle allotted 11 or allocated to a State or local area for adult workforce 12 development activities in accordance with paragraph 13 (2)(A) or paragraph (3) of section 133(b) of the Work- 14 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 15 3173(b)), or allocated to a local area for dislocated worker 16 workforce development activities in accordance with sec- 17 tion 133(b)(2)(B) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3173(b)(2)(B)), 18 the following shall apply: 19 (1) ELIGIBILITY OF ADULTS AND DISLOCATED 20 WORKERS.—Such an adult or dislocated worker— 21 (A) shall not be required to meet the re- 22 quirements of section 134(c)(3)(B) of the 23 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 24 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(B)); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6646 IH (B) may include an individual described in 1 section 2102(a)(3)(A) of the Coronavirus Aid, 2 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 3 116–136). 4 (2) INDIVIDUALIZED CAREER SERVICES.—Such 5 funds may be used to provide individualized career 6 services described in section 134(c)(2)(A)(xii) of the 7 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 8 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)(xii)) to any such adult and 9 dislocated worker. 10 (3) INCUMBENT WORKER TRAINING.—In a case 11 in which the local board for such local area provides 12 to the Secretary an assurance that the local area will 13 use such funds to provide the work support activities 14 designed to assist low-wage workers in retaining and 15 enhancing employment in accordance with section 16 134(d)(1)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 17 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(1)(B)), such local 18 board may— 19 (A) use up to 40 percent of such funds for 20 a training program for incumbent workers de- 21 scribed in section 134(d)(4)(A)(i) of such Act 22 (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(4)(A)(i)); and 23 (B) consider the economic impact of the 24 COVID–19 national emergency to the employer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6646 IH or participants of such program in determining 1 an employer’s eligibility under section 2 134(d)(4)(A)(ii) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3 3174(d)(4)(A)(ii)) for the Federal share of the 4 cost of such program. 5 (4) TRANSITIONAL JOBS.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The local board for 7 such local area may use up to 40 percent of 8 such funds to provide transitional jobs in ac- 9 cordance with section 134(d)(5) of the Work- 10 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 11 U.S.C. 3174(d)(5)). 12 (B) CLARIFICATION.—Section 194(10) of 13 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 14 (29 U.S.C. 3254(10)) shall not apply with re- 15 spect to the funds used under subparagraph 16 (A). 17 (5) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.—The Governor or 18 the local board for such area may take into account 19 the impact of the COVID–19 national emergency as 20 a factor in determining whether to increase the 21 amount of a reimbursement to an amount up to 75 22 percent of the wage rate of a participant in accord- 23 ance with 134(c)(3)(H) of the Workforce Innovation 24 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(H)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6646 IH (6) CUSTOMIZED TRAINING.—The local board 1 of such area may take into account the impact of 2 the COVID–19 national emergency as a factor in de- 3 termining the portion of the cost of training an em- 4 ployer shall provide in accordance with section 3(14) 5 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 6 (29 U.S.C. 3102(14)). 7 (b) YOUTH.—With respect to funds allotted or allo- 8 cated under this subtitle for the activities described in 9 chapter 2 of subtitle B of subtitle I of the Workforce Inno- 10 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3161 et seq.) for 11 out-of-school youth and in-school youth (as such terms are 12 defined in section 129(a)(1) of the Workforce Innovation 13 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3164(a)(1))), the Gov- 14 ernor or local board involved may determine that— 15 (1) in the case of an individual described in sec- 16 tion 2102(a)(3)(A) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 17 Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) who 18 meets the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of sec- 19 tion 129(a)(1)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and 20 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3164(a)(1)(B)), such 21 individual meets the definition of out-of-school youth 22 in such section 129(a)(1)(B); and 23 (2) in the case of an individual described in sec- 24 tion 2102(a)(3)(A) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6646 IH Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) who 1 meets the requirements of clauses (i) through (iii) of 2 section 129(a)(1)(C) of the Workforce Innovation 3 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3164(a)(1)(C)), 4 such individual meets the definition of in-school 5 youth in such section 129(a)(1)(C). 6 (c) GOVERNOR’S RESERVE.—Of the funds allotted 7 under this subtitle to a State in accordance with section 8 127(b)(1)(C) and paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) of section 9 132(b) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 10 (29 U.S.C. 3162(b)(1)(C); 3172(b)), the Governor— 11 (1) shall make the reservation under section 12 128(a) and 133(a)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 13 3163(a); 3173(a)(1)); and 14 (2) may make an additional reservation of not 15 more than 10 percent for activities related to re- 16 sponding to the COVID–19 national emergency if 17 such funds are used for activities benefitting local 18 areas within such State most impacted by the 19 COVID–19 national emergency, including— 20 (A) training for health care workers, public 21 health workers, personal care attendants, direct 22 service providers, home health workers, and 23 frontline workers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6646 IH (B) resources to support, allow for, or pro- 1 vide access to online services, including coun- 2 seling, case management, and employment re- 3 tention supports, and delivery by local boards, 4 one-stop centers, one-stop operators, or training 5 by eligible training providers; or 6 (C) providing additional resources to such 7 local areas to provide career services and sup- 8 portive services for eligible individuals. 9 (d) STATE WORKFORCE COVID–19 RECOVERY 10 PLAN.—Not later than 60 days after a State receives 11 funds under this subtitle, the Governor shall submit to the 12 Secretary, as a supplement to the unified State plan sub- 13 mitted under section 102(a) of the Workforce Innovation 14 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3112(a)), a workforce 15 plan that responds to the COVID–19 national emergency. 16 SEC. 112. NATIONAL DISLOCATED WORKER GRANTS. 17 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the funds appro- 18 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall award, 19 in accordance with section 170 of the Workforce Innova- 20 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3225), national dis- 21 located worker grants to the entities that meet the require- 22 ments for the grants under such section to carry out the 23 activities described in such section and in subsection (d) 24 of this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6646.IH H6646 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6646 IH (b) PLAN.—The Secretary shall submit to the Com- 1 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep- 2 resentatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 3 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committees 4 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 5 Senate, within 30 days, a plan for awarding grants under 6 this section. 7 (c) TIMING.—Subject to the availability of appropria- 8 tions to carry out this section, not later than 60 days after 9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall use 10 not less than 50 percent of the funds appropriated under 11 subsection (e) to award grants under this section. 12 (d) USES OF FUNDS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not fewer than half of the 14 funds appropriated under subsection (d) shall be 15 used to award grants under this section [Text truncated for display. 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