Aviation Workforce Development and Recruitment Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1883 To increase funding for aviation workforce development grant programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2023 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. THUNE, Mr. KELLY, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. WARNOCK, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To increase funding for aviation workforce development grant programs, 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 Workforce 4 Development and Recruitment Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1883 IS SEC. 2. INCREASING FUNDING FOR AVIATION WORKFORCE 1 DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAMS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 625 of the FAA Reau- 3 thorization Act of 2018 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) in subsection (a)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 7 the end; 8 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(3) a program to provide grants for eligible 13 projects to support the education and recruitment of 14 aviation manufacturing technical workers and the 15 development of the aviation manufacturing work- 16 force.’’; 17 (2) in subsection (b)— 18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2023’’ 19 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2029’’; 20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 21 paragraph (3); 22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 23 following new paragraph: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1883 IS ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—In addition to 1 amounts available for grants pursuant to paragraph 2 (1), there is authorized to be appropriated— 3 ‘‘(A) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 4 2024 through 2029 to provide grants under the 5 program established under subsection (a)(1); 6 ‘‘(B) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 7 2024 through 2029 to provide grants under the 8 program established under subsection (a)(2); 9 and 10 ‘‘(C) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 11 2024 through 2029 to provide grants under the 12 program established under subsection (a)(3).’’; 13 and 14 (D) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by 15 subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case 16 of fiscal years 2024 through 2029, 17 $1,000,000)’’ after ‘‘$500,000’’; 18 (3) in subsection (c)— 19 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, a 20 postsecondary vocational institution (as defined 21 in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002),’’ after ‘‘(20 U.S.C. 23 1001))’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1883 IS (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘, a 1 postsecondary vocational institution (as defined 2 in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002),’’ after ‘‘(20 U.S.C. 4 1001))’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 6 paragraph: 7 ‘‘(3) An application for a grant under the pro- 8 gram established under subsection (a)(3) shall be 9 submitted, in such form as the Secretary may speci- 10 fy, by— 11 ‘‘(A) a holder of a type or production cer- 12 tificate or similar authorization issued under 13 section 44704 of title 49, United States Code, 14 or a credible applicant for such a certificate as 15 determined by the Secretary; 16 ‘‘(B) an accredited institution of higher 17 education (as defined in section 101 of the 18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 19 1001)), a postsecondary vocational institution 20 (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Edu- 21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), or a high 22 school or secondary school (as defined in section 23 7801 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1883 IS ‘‘(C) a State or local governmental enti- 1 ty.’’; 2 (4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—For purposes of a pro- 5 gram established under subsection (a), an eligible project 6 is a project— 7 ‘‘(1) to create and deliver a program designed 8 to provide students with meaningful aviation edu- 9 cation that is designed to prepare the students to be- 10 come aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, unmanned 11 aircraft systems operators, aviation maintenance 12 technical workers, or aviation manufacturing tech- 13 nical workers (as applicable to the relevant program 14 described in subsection (a)); 15 ‘‘(2) to support the professional development of 16 teachers and other educators implementing a pro- 17 gram described in paragraph (1); 18 ‘‘(3) to establish new educational programs that 19 teach technical skills used by aircraft pilots, aero- 20 space engineers, unmanned aircraft systems opera- 21 tors, aviation maintenance technical workers, or 22 aviation manufacturing technical workers (as appli- 23 cable to the relevant program described in sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1883 IS section (a)), including purchasing equipment, or to 1 improve existing such programs; 2 ‘‘(4) to establish scholarships or registered ap- 3 prenticeships for individuals pursuing employment 4 as aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, unmanned 5 aircraft systems operators, aviation maintenance 6 technical workers, or aviation manufacturing tech- 7 nical workers (as applicable to the relevant program 8 described in subsection (a)); 9 ‘‘(5) to support outreach about careers as air- 10 craft pilots, aerospace engineers, unmanned aircraft 11 systems operators, aviation maintenance technical 12 workers, or aviation manufacturing technical work- 13 ers (as applicable to the relevant program described 14 in subsection (a)) to— 15 ‘‘(A) primary, secondary, and post-sec- 16 ondary school students; or 17 ‘‘(B) communities underrepresented in the 18 applicable industry; 19 ‘‘(6) to support educational opportunities in 20 both urban and rural areas; 21 ‘‘(7) to support transition to careers as aircraft 22 pilots, aerospace engineers, unmanned aircraft sys- 23 tems operators, aviation maintenance technical 24 workers, or aviation manufacturing technical work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1883 IS ers (as applicable to the relevant program described 1 in subsection (a)), including for veterans and mem- 2 bers of the Armed Forces; or 3 ‘‘(8) to otherwise enhance or expand the air- 4 craft pilot, aerospace engineer, unmanned aircraft 5 system operator workforces, aviation maintenance 6 technical worker, or aviation manufacturing tech- 7 nical worker workforces.’’; 8 (5) in subsection (e) 9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 10 (i) by inserting ‘‘aviation manufactur- 11 ers,’’ after ‘‘repair stations,’’ and 12 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 13 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (C) by adding at the end the following new 16 paragraph: 17 ‘‘(3) give priority to applicants who partner 18 with, or establish links between, secondary schools 19 and post-secondary schools and who work collabo- 20 ratively or participate in industry or sector partner- 21 ships.’’; and 22 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub- 23 section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1883 IS ‘‘(f) CONSULTATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF EDU- 1 CATION.—The Secretary may consult with the Secretary 2 of Education in— 3 ‘‘(1) developing the design of the grant applica- 4 tion under this section; 5 ‘‘(2) reviewing and selecting applications for 6 grants for eligible projects under this section; and 7 ‘‘(3) establishing considerations regarding pro- 8 gram quality and measurement of student out- 9 comes.’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (4) of 11 section 48105 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 12 by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2029’’. 13 (c) NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR AVIATION 14 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 16 the date of enactment of this section, the Adminis- 17 trator shall, to the extent practicable and in con- 18 sultation with other Federal agencies and private in- 19 dividuals, establish a national strategic plan for ad- 20 dressing projected shortages of aviation workers in 21 the aviation industry, including— 22 (A) any short-term, medium-term, and 23 long-term needs critical to the economy, na- 24 tional security, workforce readiness, environ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1883 IS mental concerns, and priorities of the United 1 States aviation sector, such as emergency readi- 2 ness and resilience; and 3 (B) any situation or condition that war- 4 rants special attention by the Federal Govern- 5 ment. 6 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The national strategic 7 plan established under paragraph (1) shall— 8 (A) take into account the activities and ac- 9 complishments of all agencies in the executive 10 branch of the Federal Government that are re- 11 lated to carrying out such national strategic 12 plan; and 13 (B) include recommendations for legisla- 14 tion, regulations, and budget proposals to carry 15 out such national strategic plan. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS