Justice for Dislocated Workers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8583 To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to require employers who are ordering a plant closing or mass layoff to cover the cost of an economic impact study in each impacted unit of local government, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 13, 2020 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial Services, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifica- tion Act to require employers who are ordering a plant closing or mass layoff to cover the cost of an economic impact study in each impacted unit of local government, 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 ‘‘Justice for Dislocated 4 Workers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8583 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 Section 2(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Retrain- 2 ing Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101(a)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1)— 4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting be- 5 fore the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 6 without regard to the number employees em- 7 ployed within a single site of employment’’; and 8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting be- 9 fore the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 10 without regard to the number employees em- 11 ployed within a single site of employment’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘means the permanent’’ 14 and inserting the following: ‘‘means—’’ 15 ‘‘(A) the permanent’’; 16 (B) in subparagraph (A), as so designated 17 by this paragraph, by striking ‘‘50 or employees 18 excluding any part-time employees’’ and insert- 19 ing ‘‘25 or more full-time employees or 75 or 20 more full-time or part-time employees; or’’; and 21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(B) a permanent or temporary shutdown 23 of a single site of employment of multiple em- 24 ployers, if such employers contract with a com- 25 mon employer of the affected employees and if 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8583 IH such shutdown results in a combined employ- 1 ment loss during any 30-day period for 50 or 2 more employees, excluding any part-time em- 3 ployees.’’; and 4 (3) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking clauses (i) 5 and (ii) and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(i) at least 33 percent of the employ- 7 ees (excluding any part-time employees); 8 and 9 ‘‘(ii) 25 or more full-time employees 10 or 75 or more full-time or part-time em- 11 ployees.’’. 12 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION. 13 Section 3(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Retrain- 14 ing Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102) is amended— 15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 16 end; 17 (2) in paragraph (2)— 18 (A) by inserting ‘‘the State representatives 19 for such State,’’ before ‘‘and the chief’’; and 20 (B) by striking the period at the end and 21 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8583 IH ‘‘(3) to each Member of Congress representing 1 such State or the Congressional district in which 2 such unit is located.’’. 3 SEC. 4. ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY. 4 Section 3 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 5 Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(e) ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A notice served by an em- 9 ployer under subsection (a) before ordering a plant 10 closing or mass layoff shall not be considered valid 11 unless, not less than 30 days prior to serving such 12 notice, the employer covers the cost of, and ensures 13 that each unit of local government within which such 14 closing or layoff is to occur completes (directly or 15 through a contract), an economic impact study to 16 assess the economic impact of such order during the 17 1-year period beginning on the first day of such clo- 18 sure or layoff on such unit, which shall include— 19 ‘‘(A) a review of the finances of the em- 20 ployer to determine if the employer is finan- 21 cially viable (as such term is defined by the 22 Secretary of the Treasury) to make the pay- 23 ments described in paragraph (2), which deter- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8583 IH mination shall include whether the employer is 1 experiencing economic hardship; and 2 ‘‘(B) in a case in which an employer is not 3 experiencing economic hardship, an assessment 4 of direct and indirect financial losses (including 5 impact on local businesses (such as downstream 6 job and supply chain loss and decreases in cus- 7 tomer base), and impact on tax revenue) that 8 will be experienced by such unit. 9 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT BY EMPLOYER.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an em- 11 ployer that is not experiencing an economic 12 hardship and that orders a plant closing or 13 mass layoff, the employer not later than 30 14 days prior to such closure or mass layoff, 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(i) pay to the Impacted Workers 17 Fund established under section 505 of the 18 Public Works and Economic Development 19 Act of 1965 (if such a Fund has been es- 20 tablished) of the State in which each coun- 21 ty is located that, in accordance with para- 22 graph (1)(B), will experience financial 23 losses as a result of such order, an amount 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8583 IH equal to such financial losses to be dis- 1 persed in accordance with such section; or 2 ‘‘(ii) in a case in which the Fund de- 3 scribed in clause (i) has not been estab- 4 lished, pay to the workforce development 5 system (as defined in section 3 of the 6 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 7 (29 U.S.C. 3102)) of the State in which 8 each county is located that, in accordance 9 with paragraph (1)(B), will experience fi- 10 nancial losses as a result of such order, an 11 amount equal to such financial losses to be 12 dispersed in accordance with such section. 13 ‘‘(B) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A unit 14 of local government aggrieved by an employer 15 that violates subparagraph (A), may sue in any 16 district court of the United States for any dis- 17 trict in which the violation is alleged to have oc- 18 curred, or in which the employer transacts busi- 19 ness. 20 ‘‘(3) GUIDANCE BY THE SECRETARY.—Not 21 later than 6 months after the date of enactment of 22 the Justice for Dislocated Workers Act, the Sec- 23 retary of Labor shall issue guidance on conducting 24 the economic impact studies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8583 IH ‘‘(4) GRANTS TO COVER THE COST OF ECO- 1 NOMIC IMPACT STUDIES.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 3 Labor shall award grants to employers subject 4 to the requirements of paragraph (1) the cost 5 an economic impact study required under such 6 paragraph. 7 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant 8 under this paragraph, an employer shall submit 9 to the Secretary of Labor an application at 10 such time, in such manner, and containing such 11 information as the Secretary may require.’’. 12 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RE- 13 QUIREMENTS. 14 Section 5 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 15 Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), by inserting 17 ‘‘twice’’ before ‘‘the average regular’’; and 18 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘The rem- 19 edies’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as otherwise provided 20 in section 3(e)(2)(B), the remedies’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8583 IH SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO ESTABLISH IM- 1 PACTED WORKERS FUNDS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Public Works and Economic 3 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.) is 4 amended by inserting after section 504 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 505. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO ESTABLISH IM- 6 PACTED WORKERS FUNDS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive funds 8 described in section 3(e)(2) of the Worker Adjustment and 9 Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(e)(2)) a 10 State shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the 11 Secretary under this section. 12 ‘‘(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT CONTENTS.—A co- 13 operative agreement entered into under subsection (a) 14 shall require a participating State to— 15 ‘‘(1) establish and administer an Impacted 16 Workers Fund (in this Act referred to as a ‘Fund’) 17 to receive amounts pursuant to section 3(e)(2) of the 18 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 19 (29 U.S.C. 2102(e)(2)); and 20 ‘‘(2) ensure that amounts deposited into the 21 fund are used to support only the jurisdiction of the 22 unit of local government for which such amounts are 23 deposited (as determined by an economic impact 24 study under section 3(e) of the Worker Adjustment 25 and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:11 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8583 IH 2102(e))), including for workforce training, income 1 assistance, and wage insurance.’’. 2 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 3 tents in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic 4 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note) is 5 amended by inserting after the item related to section 504 6 the following: 7 ‘‘Sec. 505. Cooperative agreements to establish Impacted Workers Funds.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:11 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8583.IH H8583 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS