Workforce Recovery and Training Services Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7731 To promote workforce recovery through the provision of additional training services and workforce investment activities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 22, 2020 Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To promote workforce recovery through the provision of addi- tional training services and workforce investment activi- ties, 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 ‘‘Workforce Recovery 4 and Training Services Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. WORKFORCE RECOVERY AND TRAINING SERVICES. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 8 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7731 IH (A) a public health emergency related to 1 the coronavirus declared by the Secretary of 2 Health and Human Services pursuant to sec- 3 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 4 U.S.C. 247d); 5 (B) an event related to the coronavirus for 6 which the President declared a major disaster 7 or an emergency under section 401 or 501, re- 8 spectively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 9 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 10 U.S.C. 5170, 5191); or 11 (C) a national emergency related to the 12 coronavirus declared by the President under the 13 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 14 seq.). 15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Labor. 17 (3) WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPOR- 18 TUNITY ACT TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided 19 in this section, the terms in this section have the 20 meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Work- 21 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 22 3102). 23 (b) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7731 IH (1) ALLOTMENT TO STATES.—From funds ap- 1 propriated to carry out this section and not reserved 2 under subsection (e)(4), not later than 30 days after 3 receiving the appropriated funds, the Secretary shall 4 make allotments to States in accordance with the 5 formula described in section 132(b)(2)(B) of the 6 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 7 U.S.C. 3172(b)(2)(B)) and make the reservation for 8 and provide assistance to outlying areas in accord- 9 ance with section 132(b)(2)(A) of such Act (29 10 U.S.C. 3172(b)(2)(A)). 11 (2) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL AREAS.—Not later 12 than 30 days after a State receives an allotment 13 under paragraph (1), the Governor shall— 14 (A) reserve 40 percent of the allotment 15 funds to carry out activities under subsection 16 (c)(1); and 17 (B) allocate the remainder of the funds to 18 local areas in accordance with section 19 133(b)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and 20 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3173(b)(2)(B)) to 21 enable the local areas to carry out activities 22 under subsection (c)(2). 23 (c) USES OF FUNDS.— 24 (1) STATE USE OF FUNDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7731 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—From the funds re- 1 served under subsection (b)(2)(A), the Gov- 2 ernor— 3 (i) shall allocate not less than 50 per- 4 cent of the funds to the local areas most 5 significantly impacted by a qualifying 6 emergency, as determined by the Governor, 7 to enable the local areas to carry out ac- 8 tivities under paragraph (2); and 9 (ii) with the funds that are not allo- 10 cated under clause (i) or reserved under 11 subparagraph (B), may— 12 (I) carry out rapid response ac- 13 tivities described in section 14 134(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Inno- 15 vation and Opportunity (29 U.S.C. 16 3174(a)(2)(A)); 17 (II) carry out activities to facili- 18 tate remote access to employment and 19 training activities, including career 20 services, through a one-stop center; 21 (III) in coordination with local 22 areas, carry out activities necessary to 23 expand online learning opportunities 24 and make available resources to sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7731 IH port or allow for online service deliv- 1 ery, including online delivery of train- 2 ing services, by providers identified as 3 eligible providers of training services 4 under subsection (d) or (h) of section 5 122 of the Workforce Innovation and 6 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152); 7 (IV) assist local boards through 8 the purchase of technology, supplies, 9 and online training materials for dis- 10 tribution or use by local areas; and 11 (V) expand the list of eligible 12 providers of training services estab- 13 lished under section 122(d) of the 14 Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 15 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)). 16 (B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 5 per- 17 cent of the funds reserved under subsection 18 (b)(2)(A) shall be used by the State for admin- 19 istrative activities related to carrying out this 20 section. 21 (2) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—Funds allocated 22 to a local area under subsection (b)(2)(B) or para- 23 graph (1)(A)(i)— 24 (A) shall be used for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7731 IH (i) the provision of in-person and vir- 1 tual training services, aligned with indus- 2 try needs, that shall include— 3 (I) on-the-job training, for which 4 the local board may take into account 5 the impact of a qualifying emergency 6 as a factor in determining whether to 7 increase the amount of a reimburse- 8 ment to an amount of up to 75 per- 9 cent of the wage rate of a participant 10 in accordance with section 11 134(c)(3)(H) of the Workforce Inno- 12 vation and Opportunity Act (29 13 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(H)); 14 (II) customized training, for 15 which the local board may take into 16 account the impact of a qualifying 17 emergency as a factor in determining 18 the portion of the cost of training an 19 employer shall provide; 20 (III) transitional jobs as de- 21 scribed in section 134(d)(5) of the 22 Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 23 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(5)) 24 (but for adults or dislocated workers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7731 IH determined eligible by a one-stop oper- 1 ator or one-stop partner), including 2 positions in contact tracing, public 3 health, or infrastructure, if provision 4 of the jobs does not displace any cur- 5 rently employed employee (as of the 6 date of the participation in the transi- 7 tional job); and 8 (IV) incumbent worker training 9 described in section 134(d)(4) of the 10 Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 11 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(4)) to 12 support worker retention; 13 (ii) training services provided through 14 individual training accounts, which, not- 15 withstanding section 122 of the Workforce 16 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 17 U.S.C. 3152), eligible individuals may ob- 18 tain from providers identified as eligible 19 providers of training services under sub- 20 section (d) or (h) of that section 122 or 21 from another provider that is identified by 22 the State board or local board involved; 23 (iii) short-term training— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7731 IH (I) in which a current employee 1 (as of the date of the participation), 2 including an employee participating in 3 a transitional job described in clause 4 (i)(III), may participate; 5 (II) for which the participant 6 may receive an employer-sponsored in- 7 dividual training account; 8 (III) for which the employer 9 agrees to pay— 10 (aa) not less than 10 per- 11 cent of the costs of such training 12 in the case of an employer that is 13 a small business concern, as de- 14 fined in section 3(a) of the Small 15 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)); 16 and 17 (bb) not less than 20 per- 18 cent of such costs in the case of 19 any other employer; and 20 (IV) for which the participant is 21 provided the opportunity to choose a 22 provider from among the providers 23 identified as eligible providers of 24 training services under subsection (d) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7731 IH or (h) of section 122 of the Workforce 1 Innovation and Opportunity Act or a 2 provider identified by the employer as 3 having the ability to provide the skills 4 necessary for the individual to be 5 hired permanently or to advance the 6 individual’s career; and 7 (iv) short-term training in fields in 8 which the local area needs workers to meet 9 the demands for health care, direct care, 10 and frontline workers responding to a 11 qualifying emergency; and 12 (B) may be used for— 13 (i) the establishment and expansion of 14 partnerships with public and private enti- 15 ties to support online programs of training 16 services— 17 (I) which programs are identified 18 under section 122 of the Workforce 19 Innovation and Opportunity Act and 20 lead to an industry-recognized creden- 21 tial in high-skill, high-wage, or in-de- 22 mand industry sectors or occupations, 23 in areas such as technology, health 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7731 IH care, direct care, and manufacturing; 1 and 2 (II) through which the partner- 3 ships may provide for the cost of an 4 assessment related to obtaining such 5 credential; 6 (ii) providing training services that 7 are aligned with the needs of local industry 8 and recognized by employers; 9 (iii) expanding access to individualized 10 career services, which include— 11 (I) in-person and virtual employ- 12 ment and reemployment services to 13 help individuals find employment; and 14 (II) career navigation supports to 15 enable workers to find new pathways 16 to high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand 17 industry sectors and occupations and 18 the necessary training to support 19 those pathways; and 20 (iv) providing access to technology, in- 21 cluding broadband service and devices to 22 enable individuals served under this section 23 to receive online career and training serv- 24 ices. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7731 IH (3) MINIMUM AMOUNT FOR TRAINING.—Not 1 less than 50 percent of the funds made available 2 under subsection (b)(2)(B) and paragraph (1)(A)(i) 3 shall be used to provide training services described 4 in paragraph (2)(A). 5 (d) REALLOCATION.— 6 (1) LOCAL FUNDS.—Each local board shall re- 7 turn to the Governor any funds received under this 8 section that the local board does not obligate within 9 1 year after receiving such funds. The Governor 10 shall reallocate such returned funds, to the local 11 areas that are not required to return funds under 12 this paragraph, in accordance with subsection 13 (c)(1)(A). 14 (2) STATE FUNDS.—Each Governor shall re- 15 turn to the Secretary any funds received under this 16 section that the Governor does not obligate within 2 17 years after receiving such funds. The Secretary shall 18 reallot such returned funds to the States that are 19 not required to return funds under this paragraph, 20 in accordance with subsection (b)(1). 21 (e) GENERAL PROVISIONS.— 22 (1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 24 specified in this section, to be eligible to receive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7731 IH services authorized under this section, an indi- 1 vidual shall be an adult or dislocated worker. 2 (B) INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE 3 SERVICES THROUGH INDIVIDUAL TRAINING AC- 4 COUNTS.—To be eligible to receive training 5 services through an individual training account 6 or employer-sponsored individual training ac- 7 count described in subsection (c)(2)(A)(iii), an 8 eligible individual shall be an adult or dislocated 9 worker— 10 (i) who, after an in-person or virtual 11 interview, evaluation, or assessment, and 12 career planning, has been determined by a 13 one-stop operator or one-stop partner, as 14 appropriate, to— 15 (I) be unlikely to obtain or retain 16 employment with wages comparable to 17 or higher than wages from previous 18 employment, solely through the career 19 services available through the one-stop 20 center; and 21 (II) have the skills and qualifica- 22 tions to successfully participate in the 23 selected program of training services; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 7731 IH (ii) who selects a program of training 1 services that are directly linked to the em- 2 ployment opportunities in the local area, or 3 in another area to which the adult or dis- 4 located worker is willing to commute or re- 5 locate. 6 (2) SPECIAL RULES.— 7 (A) ADMINISTRATION.—Except as other- 8 wise provided in this section, the provisions of 9 subtitle E of title I of the Workforce Innovation 10 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3241 et seq.) 11 shall apply to funds provided under this section. 12 (B) SINGLE STATE LOCAL AREA.—In any 13 case in which a State is designated as a local 14 area pursuant to section 106(d) of the Work- 15 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 16 U.S.C. 3121(d)), the State board shall carry 17 out the functions of a local board as specified 18 in this section. 19 (3) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.—The Governor, in 20 partnership with local boards and the chief elected 21 officials for local areas, shall— 22 (A) conduct oversight for the activities au- 23 thorized under this section; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7731.IH H7731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 7731 IH (B) ensure the appropriate use [Text truncated for display. 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