Aviation Minority Workforce Development Act of 2023

Federal

Source: Congress.gov · 948 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to create a grant program that gives money to schools and organizations to help people from racial and gender minority groups get jobs in aviation. The program will support education, training, apprenticeships and recruitment efforts to increase minority representation in the aviation workforce.

Who It Affects

Students from underrepresented racial and gender minority groups seeking aviation careers; colleges and universities (especially minority-serving institutions); community colleges; aviation companies and industry groups; labor unions; aviation apprenticeship programs; and nonprofit organizations focused on aviation employment.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of Transportation must establish the grant program within 6 months after the bill becomes law (Sec. 2(a)) • Grant money can pay for creating new aviation education programs, increasing resources at existing programs, helping students with education and training costs, and recruiting minority students interested in aviation (Sec. 2(b)) • At least 40 percent of all grant money each year must go to minority-serving institutions (Sec. 2(c)) • The Secretary must report to Congress each year describing how many grants were awarded, the grant amounts, what activities were funded, and whether the program is working (Sec. 2(d))

What Changes

A new federal grant program will be created to fund aviation workforce development programs specifically designed to increase opportunities for racial and gender minorities in the aviation industry.

Important Definitions

• Minority-serving institution: An institution described in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Sec. 2(f)(4)) • Eligible entity: A minority-serving institution or a group of colleges partnered with aviation companies, labor unions, apprenticeship programs, nonprofits or community colleges (Sec. 2(f)(2)) • Secretary: The Secretary of Transportation (Sec. 2(f)(6))

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1163 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to increase racial and gender minority access and representation in the aviation workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to increase racial and gender minority access and representation in the aviation workforce, 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 ‘‘Aviation Minority 4 Workforce Development Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1163.IS S1163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1163 IS SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE RACIAL AND GEN- 1 DER MINORITY ACCESS AND REPRESENTA- 2 TION IN THE AVIATION WORKFORCE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 4 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Trans- 5 portation shall establish a program to award grants to eli- 6 gible entities to increase racial and gender minority access 7 and representation in the aviation workforce. 8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 9 this section to an eligible entity shall be used to— 10 (1) facilitate the creation of programs that edu- 11 cate and train students from under-represented ra- 12 cial and gender groups to participate in the aviation 13 workforce; 14 (2) increase access to, and the availability of, 15 resources at existing aviation workforce programs 16 for the express purpose of increasing representation 17 of racial and gender minorities, including at minor- 18 ity serving institutions; 19 (3) assist students from under-represented ra- 20 cial and gender minorities with education, appren- 21 ticeship, internship, transportation, and certification 22 costs; and 23 (4) increase outreach and recruitment to stu- 24 dents from racial and gender minorities who are in- 25 terested in working in the aviation industry. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1163.IS S1163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1163 IS (c) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall ensure that 1 not less than 40 percent of the total amount of funds ap- 2 propriated in each fiscal year to carry out this section are 3 awarded to minority-serving institutions. 4 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 5 after the first grant is awarded under the grant program 6 under this section, and annually thereafter for as long as 7 the Secretary is conducting such program, the Secretary 8 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 9 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 10 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep- 11 resentatives a report that evaluates such program, includ- 12 ing— 13 (1) a description of the number of grants 14 awarded; 15 (2) the amount of each grant; 16 (3) the activities funded under each grant; and 17 (4) the effectiveness of such funded activities in 18 meeting the objective described in subsection (a). 19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 21 $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 22 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu- 24 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1163.IS S1163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1163 IS or community college’’ in section 312(f) of the High- 1 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 2 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 3 ty’’ means— 4 (A) a minority-serving institution; and 5 (B) a consortium of 1 or more institutions 6 of higher education that has a partnership with 7 1 or more of the following entities: 8 (i) A member of the aviation industry, 9 such as a company or industry association. 10 (ii) A labor-management organization. 11 (iii) An aviation industry registered 12 apprenticeship program. 13 (iv) A nonprofit organization dedi- 14 cated to helping individuals gain employ- 15 ment in the aviation industry. 16 (v) A community college or a postsec- 17 ondary vocational institution with experi- 18 ence in providing relevant education or 19 training for individuals seeking employ- 20 ment in the aviation industry or a similar 21 industry. 22 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 23 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1163.IS S1163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1163 IS meaning given that term in section 101 of the High- 1 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 2 (4) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 3 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti- 4 tution described in section 371(a) of the Higher 5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 6 (5) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU- 7 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu- 8 tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section 9 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 10 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 11 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of Transportation. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1163.IS S1163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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