Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act

Summary: Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends title IV&nbsp;(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to require the Administration for Children &amp; Families (ACF) to make grants to states for demonstration projects that provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individuals to enter and retain employment. At least one&nbsp;of these&nbsp;demonstration projects shall fund programs that offer apprenticeships registered under the National Apprenticeship Act. States may use grant funds to subsidize an individual's wages for up to 12 months. The subsidy may be up to 50% of an individual's wages. Individuals are eligible for subsidized wages if they: (1) are recipients of TANF or similar state assistance or a noncustodial parent of a child receiving such assistance, (2) are unemployed when the subsidy begins, and (3) have an income below 200% of the poverty line. States must ensure that participants in subsidized job programs do not displace current workers.The ACF must reserve funding to carry out the bill from amounts in the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Individuals into the 
Workforce Act''.

SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO SUPPORT SUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENT FOR 
              TANF RECIPIENTS TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE.

    Section 403 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Subsidized Employment Demonstration Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
        States to conduct demonstration projects, at least one of which 
        shall fund programs that offer apprenticeships registered under 
        the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the `National 
        Apprenticeship Act'; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et 
        seq.), designed to implement and evaluate strategies that 
        provide wage subsidies to enable low-income individuals to 
        enter into and retain employment in an in-demand industry 
        sector or occupation identified by the appropriate State or 
        local workforce development board.
            ``(2) Application requirements.--The Secretary shall 
        require each State that applies for a grant under this 
        subsection to do the following:
                    ``(A) Describe how wage subsidies will be provided 
                (such as whether paid directly to the employer or the 
                individual), the duration of the subsidies, the amount 
                of the subsidies, the structure of the subsidies, and 
                how employers will be recruited to participate in the 
                subsidized employment program.
                    ``(B) Describe how the State expects those 
                participating in subsidized employment to be able to 
                retain employment after the subsidy ends.
                    ``(C) Describe how the State will coordinate 
                subsidized employment funded under this subsection with 
                other efforts to help low-income individuals, including 
                individuals displaced or relocated from a public 
                housing authority to an alternative public housing 
                facility or placed on rental assistance, enter work as 
                conducted by the State.
                    ``(D) Describe how the State will coordinate 
                subsidized employment funded under this subsection with 
                the Federal Work-Study Program, career pathway (as 
                defined in section 3(7) of the Workforce Innovation and 
                Opportunity Act) services, and other Federal programs 
                to help low-income individuals complete education and 
                training programs and enter the workforce.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A State to which a grant is made 
                under this subsection may use the grant to subsidize 
                the wages of an eligible recipient for a period not 
                exceeding 12 months, and only to the extent that the 
                total of the funds paid under this project and any 
                other Federal funds so used with respect to the 
                recipient does not exceed 50 percent of the amount of 
                the wages received by the recipient during the period.
                    ``(B) Eligible recipient.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), an eligible recipient is--
                            ``(i)(I) a recipient of assistance under 
                        the State program funded under this part or any 
                        other State program funded with qualified State 
                        expenditures (as defined in section 
                        409(a)(7)(B)(i)); or
                            ``(II) a noncustodial parent of a minor 
                        child who is receiving assistance referred to 
                        in subclause (I);
                            ``(ii) who, at the time the subsidy begins, 
                        is unemployed; and
                            ``(iii) whose income, at that time, is less 
                        than 200 percent of the poverty line (as 
                        defined by the Office of Management and Budget, 
                        and revised annually in accordance with section 
                        673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
                        of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))).
            ``(4) Limitations.--
                    ``(A) Nondisplacement.--A State to which a grant is 
                made under this subsection shall ensure that no 
                participant in a subsidized job program funded in whole 
                or in part under this subsection is employed or 
                assigned to a job under the program--
                            ``(i) when any other individual is on 
                        layoff from the same or any substantially 
                        equivalent job; or
                            ``(ii) if the employer has terminated the 
                        employment of any regular employee or otherwise 
                        caused an involuntary reduction of its 
                        workforce in order to fill the vacancy so 
                        created with an adult described in paragraph 
                        (1).
                    ``(B) Grievance procedure.--A State with a program 
                funded under this subsection shall establish and 
                maintain a grievance procedure for resolving complaints 
                of alleged violations of subparagraph (A).
                    ``(C) No preemption.--Nothing in this paragraph 
                shall preempt or supersede any provision of State or 
                local law that provides greater protection for 
                employees from displacement.
            ``(5) Reports.--As a condition of receiving funds under 
        this subsection for a fiscal year, a State shall submit to the 
        Secretary, within 6 months after the end of the fiscal year, a 
        report that--
                    ``(A) specifies, for each month of the fiscal year, 
                the number of individuals whose employment is 
                subsidized with these funds and the percentage of such 
                individuals whose employment is in an area that matches 
                their previous training and work experience;
                    ``(B) describes the structure of the State 
                activities to use the funds to subsidize employment, 
                including the amount and duration of the subsidies 
                provided;
                    ``(C) describes the State's policies in effect 
                during the fiscal year--
                            ``(i) to ensure nondisplacement as required 
                        under paragraph (4)(A); and
                            ``(ii) to implement grievance procedures as 
                        required in (4)(B), including information on 
                        the number of grievance claims filed in the 
                        preceding fiscal year and the aggregate results 
                        of those claims;
                    ``(D) specifies the percentage of eligible 
                recipients who received a subsidy who are in 
                unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after 
                the subsidy ended;
                    ``(E) specifies the percentage of eligible 
                recipients who received a subsidy who are in 
                unsubsidized employment during the fourth quarter after 
                the subsidy ended;
                    ``(F) specifies the median earnings of eligible 
                recipients who received a subsidy who are in 
                unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after 
                the subsidy ended; and
                    ``(G) specifies the number of eligible recipients 
                who received a subsidy who concurrently received other 
                Federal or State means-tested benefits during their 
                subsidized employment.
            ``(6) Evaluation.--The Secretary, in consultation with each 
        State conducting a demonstration project, shall conduct a high-
        quality evaluation of the demonstration project, including an 
        analysis of the project's effect on eligible recipients who 
        received additional credentialing and training during their 
        subsidized employment or participation in an apprenticeship or 
        career pathways program, and may reserve funds made available 
        under this subsection to conduct the evaluation in accordance 
        with the following:
                    ``(A) Evaluator qualifications.--The Secretary may 
                not enter into a contract with an evaluator unless the 
                evaluator has demonstrated experience in conducting 
                rigorous evaluations of program effectiveness 
                including, where available and appropriate, well-
                implemented randomized controlled trials.
                    ``(B) Methodologies to be used.--The evaluation of 
                a demonstration project shall use experimental designs 
                using random assignment or other reliable, evidence-
                based research methodologies that allow for the 
                strongest possible causal inferences when random 
                assignment is not feasible.
                    ``(C) Public disclosure.--The Secretary shall 
                publish the results of the evaluation on the website of 
                the Department of Health and Human Services in a 
                location easily accessible by the public.
            ``(7) Recommendations to congress.--The Secretary shall 
        submit recommendations to the Committee on Ways and Means of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of 
        the Senate on how to increase the employment, retention, and 
        advancement of individuals currently or formerly receiving 
        assistance under a State program funded under this part or any 
        other State program funded with qualified State expenditures 
        (as defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)). Such recommendations 
        shall include recommendations on the effects of additional 
        credentialing and training provided during subsidized 
        employment or participation in an apprenticeship or career 
        pathways program. Such recommendations shall include 
        recommendations on how to address employment-related challenges 
        in rural areas and among members of federally recognized Indian 
        tribes.
            ``(8) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to carry out 
        subsection (b) for fiscal year 2018, the Secretary shall 
        reserve $100,000,000 to carry out this subsection.
            ``(9) Use of certain funds for career pathway programs.--
        The Secretary shall use 15 percent of the amounts reserved to 
        carry out this subsection, to fund programs that offer career 
        pathway (as defined in section 3(7) of the Workforce Innovation 
        and Opportunity Act) services.
            ``(10) Availability of funds.--Funds provided to a State 
        under this subsection in a fiscal year shall be expended by the 
        State in the fiscal year or in the succeeding fiscal year.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 
2017.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 23, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.