Diversify Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1581 To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. WARREN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. MUR- PHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator 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 ‘‘Diversifying by Invest- 4 ing in Educators and Students To Improve Outcomes For 5 Youth Act’’ or the ‘‘Diversify Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1581 IS SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE TEACH GRANTS PROGRAM 1 UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 2 1965. 3 Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in section 420L(1), by inserting ‘‘(except 7 that such term does not include an institution de- 8 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 102)’’ after 9 ‘‘102’’; 10 (2) in section 420M— 11 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking 12 ‘‘$4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,000’’; 13 (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the 14 second and third sentences and inserting the 15 following: ‘‘Any disbursement allowed to be 16 made by crediting the teacher candidate’s ac- 17 count shall be used for the full cost of attend- 18 ance (as defined in section 472).’’; and 19 (C) in subsection (d)— 20 (i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 21 ‘‘$16,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$32,000’’; and 22 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 23 ‘‘$8,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$16,000’’; and 24 (3) in section 420N— 25 (A) in subsection (b)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1581 IS (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 1 (ii) by striking ‘‘an agreement’’ and 2 all that follows through ‘‘the applicant 3 will’’ and inserting ‘‘an agreement by the 4 applicant that the applicant will’’; 5 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 6 (A) through (E) as paragraphs (1) through 7 (5), respectively, and moving the margins 8 of such paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 9 ems to the left; 10 (iv) by redesignating clauses (i) 11 through (vii) as subparagraphs (A) 12 through (G), respectively, and moving the 13 margins of such subparagraphs (as so re- 14 designated) 2 ems to the left; 15 (v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated 16 by clause (iii), by striking ‘‘teach in a 17 school described in section 465(a)(2)(A)’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘teach in a school described 19 in section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high- 20 need early education program’’; and 21 (vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated 22 by clause (iii)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1581 IS (I) in subparagraph (F), as re- 1 designated by clause (iv), by striking 2 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 3 (II) in subparagraph (G), as re- 4 designated by clause (iv), by inserting 5 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 6 (III) by adding at the end the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(H) early childhood education;’’; and 9 (B) by striking subsection (c) and insert- 10 ing the following: 11 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATE.—Upon the completion of the 12 service requirement in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 13 send to the recipient of a grant under this subpart an elec- 14 tronic certificate documenting the completion of such serv- 15 ice.’’; 16 (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 17 section (e); 18 (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not institute 21 or create a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to com- 22 plete the service requirement under subsection (b).’’; and 23 (E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by 24 subparagraph (C)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1581 IS (i) by striking ‘‘subsection 1 (b)(1)(C)(vii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 2 (b)(3)(G)’’; and 3 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND DEF- 6 ICIT CONTROL ACT. 7 (a) EXEMPTION OF PROGRAM FROM SEQUESTRA- 8 TION.—Section 255(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 9 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(h)) is 10 amended by inserting after the item relating to ‘‘Tem- 11 porary Assistance for Needy Families (75–1552–0–1– 12 609).’’ the following new item: 13 ‘‘TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of 14 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 15 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 16 section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under 17 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 18 of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date of 19 enactment of this Act. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB