Workforce Training Enhancement Act of 2016

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Workforce Training Enhancement Act 
of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The viability of the domestic steel industry is crucial 
        to the United States economy and national security.
            (2) The steel and taconite iron mining industries have been 
        severely impacted by the foreign dumping and overproduction of 
        steel and are continually faced with unfair trade practices.
            (3) In 2014, United States imports of steel and steel 
        products increased by 36 percent and captured 28 percent of the 
        total United States steel market. In 2015, United States 
        imports of steel and steel products continued to increase, and 
        captured 29 percent of the total United States steel market.
            (4) In 1974, Congress enacted the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
        U.S.C. 2101 et seq.), which established the trade adjustment 
        assistance program under chapter 2 of title II of that Act (19 
        U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) to assist workers who have been adversely 
        affected by trade.
            (5) The trade adjustment assistance program provides vital 
        benefits and services to workers whose employment has been 
        adversely affected by foreign trade. Those benefits and 
        services include education and training, income support, 
        relocation assistance, job search assistance, and the health 
        coverage tax credit.
            (6) Since the inception of the trade adjustment assistance 
        program, more than 5,000,000 United States workers have been 
        certified as eligible for benefits and services under the 
        program.
            (7) As of September 30, 2015, the trade adjustment 
        assistance program had served more than 2,200,000 workers.
            (8) In fiscal year 2015, the Department of Labor certified 
        413 petitions for eligibility for the trade adjustment 
        assistance program, which provided access to trade adjustment 
        assistance benefits for 57,631 workers.
            (9) In 2015, more than 13,000 new participants were 
        enrolled in the trade adjustment assistance for workers program 
        and the program provided services and benefits to more than 
        47,000 workers.
            (10) From fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2015, the 
        average processing time for a petition under the trade 
        adjustment assistance for workers program was 49.1 days and the 
        average processing time for fiscal year 2015 was 47.2 days.
            (11) The trade adjustment assistance program provides vital 
        education and training services to assist trade-affected 
        workers to acquire new skills and prepare for new employment.
            (12) From 2012 through 2015, more than 9,800 steelworkers 
        and iron ore miners in 17 States lost their jobs as a result of 
        increases in imports of steel and steel products and were 
        certified as eligible to apply for the trade adjustment 
        assistance program.
            (13) In fiscal year 2015, more than 6,500 steelworkers were 
        certified as eligible for trade adjustment assistance, 
        including workers who were laid off or furloughed in 2014.
            (14) In order to empower workers who have been adversely 
        affected by foreign trade, States should have the option of 
        providing the funding for vital educational and training 
        programs for workers while their petitions for certification of 
        eligibility for trade adjustment assistance is pending.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF STATES TO REIMBURSE CERTAIN COSTS OF PROVIDING 
              TRAINING TO WORKERS AFTER A PETITION FOR TRADE ADJUSTMENT 
              ASSISTANCE IS FILED.

    (a) In General.--Section 236(a)(6) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2296(a)(6)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C)(i) If the conditions described in clause (ii) are met, a 
State may use the funds distributed to the State under paragraph (2) to 
reimburse the costs of providing training to a worker before the worker 
is approved for training under paragraph (1) paid by--
            ``(I) the State from funds provided by the State;
            ``(II) the State or local workforce development areas 
        within the State from funds available under subtitle B of title 
        I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
        3151 et seq.); or
            ``(III) an eligible entity under section 170 of that Act 
        (29 U.S.C. 3225) in the State from funds available under that 
        section.
    ``(ii) The conditions described in this clause are met if--
            ``(I) as of the date of the reimbursement under clause (i) 
        the worker is covered by a certification for eligibility under 
        subchapter A; and
            ``(II) the training, the costs of which are being 
        reimbursed--
                    ``(aa) commenced after the date on which the total 
                or partial separations of the group of workers covered 
                by the certification for eligibility began or 
                threatened to begin; and
                    ``(bb) meets the requirements for approval of 
                training under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 236(a)(4)(B) of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(4)(B)) is amended by striking ``No'' and 
inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (6)(C), no''.

Summary: Workforce Training Enhancement Act of 2016 This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974, with respect to trade adjustment assistance (TAA) for training to adversely affected workers, to authorize a state to use certain funds distributed by the Department of Labor to reimburse the costs of providing training to an adversely affected worker before the worker is approved for training under the Act if those costs have been paid by: the state from state funds, the state or local workforce development areas within the state from funds available for workforce investment activities and providers under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or another entity eligible in the state under the national dislocated worker grants program from funds available for that program. The use of funds under this Act shall be conditioned, however, on the worker's coverage by a certification for TAA eligibility for training meeting approval requirements which commenced after the date on which the total or partial separations of the group of workers covered by the certification for eligibility began or threatened to begin.