Innovation Corps Act of 2017

Summary: Innovation Corps Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Commerce to establish a competitive program to make grants to institutions of higher education to establish or enhance education programs that retrain workers displaced from their jobs by automation to provide such workers with skills needed for jobs in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields. Commerce shall establish an Innovation Corps whereby recent college graduates may volunteer, in an education program for which an institution of higher education receives (or is eligible to receive) such a grant, to help retrain displaced workers. The Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended to: (1) allow federal student loan deferment for graduate volunteers who serve in the corps, and (2) require Commerce to repay up to $100,000 of such a student loan for a borrower who completes two years of corps service.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Innovation Corps Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The acceleration of artificial intelligence is enabling 
        the automation of jobs that have traditionally required human 
        labor.
            (2) Such automation opens up new opportunities for 
        individuals, the economy, and society, but such automation also 
        has the potential to disrupt the employment landscape for 
        millions of people in the United States.
            (3) The potential for artificial intelligence to improve 
        the livelihoods and quality of life for the United States 
        workforce over the long run depends on the institutions and 
        policies in place.
            (4) Job training for dislocated workers in the skills 
        needed in the innovation economy will be critical to 
        maintaining the stability of the larger economy and individual 
        families.
            (5) Young people are often well equipped to adapt to 
        changes in technology and may be able to provide unique 
        expertise in retraining dislocated workers.
            (6) The outstanding balance of Federal student loans now 
        exceeds $1 trillion. This debt burden is limiting the ability 
        of recent graduates to fully participate in the economy.

SEC. 3. JOB-TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM FOR WORKERS DISPLACED BY AUTOMATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service, shall establish a competitive program to make grants 
to institutions of higher education to establish or enhance education 
programs that retrain workers displaced from their jobs by automation 
to provide such workers with skills needed for jobs in the STEM fields.
    (b) Management Plan.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every 5 years 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a 
management plan for the grant program established under this section. 
The plan shall include the organization, structure, and funding 
profiles of the grant program for the 6 years following the submission 
of the plan.
    (c) Eligibility.--The Secretary may only make a grant under this 
section to an institution of higher education that submits an 
application at such time, in such form, and accompanied by such 
information and assurances as the Secretary may require.
    (d) Use of Funds.--An institution of higher education that receives 
a grant under this section shall use the grant funds for one or more 
education programs that retrain workers displaced, or at risk of future 
displacement, from their jobs by automation in order to enable such 
workers to reenter the workforce in jobs in the STEM fields.
    (e) Conditions for Receipt of Grant Funds.--An institution of 
higher education may not receive grant funds under this section unless 
the institution meets the following requirements:
            (1) The institution certifies that each education program 
        for which the institution receives grant funds provides workers 
        with training in skills needed for jobs in the STEM fields.
            (2) The institution uses graduate volunteers to assist with 
        the education program for which the institution receives grant 
        funds.
    (f) Maximum Amount of Grant.--A grant under this section may not 
exceed $5,000,000.
    (g) Rules Prescribing Selection Criteria.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, after a public comment 
period of not less than 60 days, the Secretary shall issue rules 
prescribing the criteria for selection of an institution of higher 
education to receive a grant under this section. Such criteria shall 
include performance requirements for an education program for which an 
institution of higher education receives grant funds. The Secretary 
shall update such rules as necessary.
    (h) Rules for Grant Administration.--Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, after a public comment period of 
not less than 60 days, the Secretary shall issue rules to ensure that 
grants under this section are made and administered in an accountable 
fashion in order to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. The Secretary 
shall update such rules as necessary.
    (i) Deadline To Begin Making Grants.--The Secretary shall begin 
making grants under this section not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (j) Reports.--Not later than June 3 and December 31 of each year, 
the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce and the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that 
reviews the grant program established under this section during the 6 
months preceding the submission of the report. Such report shall 
include any recommendations to address waste, fraud, and abuse in such 
program.
    (k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $250,000,000, of which not more 
than 5 percent shall be available for the costs of administering the 
grant program established under this section, for each of the fiscal 
years 2018 through 2028.

SEC. 4. INNOVATION CORPS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an Innovation 
Corps whereby recent college graduates may volunteer, in an education 
program for which an institution of higher education receives (or is 
eligible to receive) a grant under section 3, to help retrain workers 
that have been displaced from their jobs by automation.
    (b) Stipend.--The Secretary shall pay a monthly stipend to each 
graduate volunteer in accordance with the rules issued under subsection 
(c)(4).
    (c) Rules.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, after a public comment period of not less than 60 days, 
the Secretary shall issue rules containing--
            (1) the eligibility requirements for graduate volunteers;
            (2) the application procedures to become a graduate 
        volunteer;
            (3) the code of conduct for graduate volunteers; and
            (4) the amount of a monthly stipend for graduate volunteers 
        sufficient to furnish graduate volunteers with housing, food, 
        and transportation to and from the education program with which 
        the graduate volunteer volunteers.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $250,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2018 through 2028.

SEC. 5. STUDENT LOAN DEFERMENT AND FORGIVENESS FOR GRADUATE VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) Loan Deferment.--Section 455(f)(2) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (C);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) during which the borrower is serving as a 
                graduate volunteer in the Innovation Corps established 
                under section 4 of the Innovation Corps Act of 2017.''.
    (b) Loan Forgiveness.--With respect to any borrower of Federal 
student loans who completes 2 years of volunteer service as a graduate 
volunteer in the Innovation Corps established under section 4, the 
Secretary of Commerce shall repay, on behalf of such borrower, not more 
than $100,000 of the balance of principal and interest due on such 
loans as of the date of completion of such service.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Automation.--The term ``automation'' means the 
        introduction of machinery into any enterprise that is intended 
        to, or has the effect of, replacing human labor.
            (2) Federal student loan.--The term ``Federal student 
        loan'' means a loan made under part D of title IV of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.).
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (4) Graduate volunteer.--The term ``graduate volunteer'' 
        means a recent college graduate who volunteers in the 
        Innovation Corps established under section 4.
            (5) Recent college graduate.--The term ``recent college 
        graduate'' means an individual who has graduated from an 
        institution of higher education not more than 2 years before 
        applying to become a graduate volunteer in the Innovation Corps 
        established under section 4.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
            (7) STEM field.--The term ``STEM field'' means science, 
        technology, engineering, or mathematics.