Early STEAM Achievement Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3374 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a grant program for early childhood STEAM activities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2023 Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. ROSS, Mr. GRI- JALVA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. TONKO, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. TRONE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. TITUS, Ms. BROWN, Ms. CARAVEO, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NADLER, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. MULLIN, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a grant program for early childhood STEAM activities. 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 ‘‘Early STEAM 4 Achievement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3374.IH H3374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3374 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap- 2 propriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary of Health 3 and Human Services shall award grants, on a competitive 4 basis, to eligible entities to assist such entities in carrying 5 out early childhood STEAM programs and activities. 6 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARDING GRANTS.—In 7 awarding grants under this Act, the Secretary shall— 8 (1) give priority to eligible entities that seek to 9 use such grant to carry out the activities described 10 in subsection (d)(3); 11 (2) award not less than one-third of the funds 12 appropriated for a fiscal year under subsection (e) to 13 eligible entities in rural communities; and 14 (3) award not less than one-quarter of the 15 funds appropriated for a fiscal year under subsection 16 (e) to eligible entities that are nonprofit organiza- 17 tions. 18 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring to re- 19 ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application 20 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con- 21 taining such information as the Secretary may request. 22 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 23 a grant under this section shall use the grant to carry 24 out at least one of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3374.IH H3374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3374 IH (1) Professional development relating to early 1 childhood STEAM activities for teachers of early 2 childhood education programs. 3 (2) Materials and equipment necessary to carry 4 out such early childhood STEAM activities. 5 (3) Establishing partnerships between the eligi- 6 ble entity and an institution of higher education to 7 provide training in early childhood STEAM activities 8 for teachers of early childhood education programs. 9 (4) Establishing partnerships between the eligi- 10 ble entity and an arts agency, a community arts 11 partner, or a museum to provide training in early 12 childhood STEAM activities for teachers of early 13 childhood education programs. 14 (5) The provision of professional development 15 programs for teachers of early childhood education 16 program by institutions of higher education. 17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may nec- 19 essary to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2024 20 through 2028. 21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 22 (1) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 23 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 24 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3374.IH H3374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3374 IH Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec- 1 tion 501(a) of such Code. 2 (2) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PRO- 3 GRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood education pro- 4 gram’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5 103(8) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 6 U.S.C. 1003), except that such term includes pro- 7 grams described in paragraph (8)(C) of such section 8 103 that serve children from birth through age 9 eight. 10 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 11 ty’’ means an early childhood education program. 12 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 16 (5) STEAM.—The term ‘‘STEAM’’ means 17 science (including computer science), technology, en- 18 gineering, art, and mathematics. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3374.IH H3374 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS