Workforce Preparation and Development Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Workforce Preparation and 
Development Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The knowledge and skills of the United States workforce 
        are fundamental to the economic competitiveness of the Nation 
        today and in the future, however, the United States does not 
        currently possess a comprehensive, effective, and efficient 
        system of workforce preparation and development.
            (2) Due to global competition, emerging technologies in the 
        workplace, the emergence of quality managing, corporate 
        realignments, and the loss of many low-skilled jobs, United 
        States workers will increasingly need to enhance their skills 
        on a continuing, lifelong basis through such a workforce 
        preparation and development system.
            (3) Reports from the Comptroller General of the United 
        States have identified 154 different Federal programs, totaling 
        $24,000,000,000, and administered by 14 different Federal 
        agencies, that offer some form of education, job training, or 
        employment assistance to youths and adults.
            (4) Such reports point to the many problems of duplication 
        and fragmentation that exist within the varied Federal 
        workforce preparation and development programs, including--
                    (A) the additional costs of administering 
                overlapping workforce preparation and development 
                programs at the Federal, State, and local levels which 
                divert scarce resources that could be better used to 
                assist all individuals in preparing for and entering 
                the workforce; and
                    (B) conflicting eligibility requirements, annual 
                budgeting and operating cycles, planning and reporting 
                requirements, and performance measurement systems which 
                serve as barriers to the integration of Federal 
                workforce preparation and development programs and 
                result in an inefficient use of resources.
            (5) Major goals of any reform of the Federal workforce 
        preparation and development system must be--
                    (A) to streamline and consolidate individual 
                workforce preparation and development programs, 
                eliminating unnecessary duplication and fragmentation 
                in such programs;
                    (B) to provide maximum authority and responsibility 
                to States and local communities for operation of State 
                and local workforce preparation and development 
                programs;
                    (C) to stress private sector partnerships and 
                encourage increased leadership and responsibility on 
                the part of the private sector through the use of 
                creative incentives for investment in workforce 
                training (which may include reduced regulatory burdens, 
tax incentives, and employer loans for the training of incumbent 
workers);
                    (D) to establish a system which is market-driven, 
                accountable, provides customer choice and easy access 
                to services, and reinforces individual responsibility;
                    (E) to improve education, literacy, job training 
                and employment assistance programs in the United 
                States, encouraging lifelong learning and skills 
                upgrading through a seamless system connecting 
                elementary, secondary, postsecondary, adult, and work-
                based training and education; and
                    (F) to establish a comprehensive, integrated labor 
                market information system to ensure that workforce 
                preparation and development programs are related to the 
                demand for particular skills in local labor markets, 
                and to ensure that information about the employment and 
                earnings of the local workforce, occupations in demand, 
                skill requirements for such occupations, and the 
                performance of education and training providers, are 
                available to job seekers, employers, teachers, 
                students, and decision-makers.
            (6) Early exposure to career opportunities can enrich the 
        education experience and provide incentives for students to 
        stay in school and achieve higher levels of learning.
            (7) Millions of families in the United States are trapped 
        in a cycle of poverty, dependency, and undereducation that is 
        linked to illiteracy and low educational achievement, for which 
        adult education and family literacy programs have been shown to 
        be successful in improving the educational attainment and job 
        skills of parents and their children, contributing to 
        reductions in crime, welfare dependency, and enhancing 
        employment opportunities for such individuals.
            (8) In recent years, a number of innovative States and 
        local communities have begun successful efforts to integrate 
        Federal workforce preparation and development programs through 
        one-stop service delivery systems, however, without exception, 
        such States and communities have experienced numerous Federal 
        barriers to such program integration.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to begin the 
transformation of the vast array of Federal workforce preparation and 
development programs from a collection of fragmented and duplicative 
categorical programs into a streamlined, comprehensive, coherent, high-
quality, cost-effective, and accountable Federal workforce preparation 
and development system that is designed to meet the education, 
employment, and training needs of the workforce of the United States, 
both today and in the future.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF INTENT.

    Not later than the adjournment sine die of the 104th Congress, the 
Congress shall carry out the following:
            (1) The Congress shall conduct a thorough evaluation of all 
        Federal workforce preparation and development programs to 
        determine the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of such 
        programs.
            (2) The Congress shall enact legislation that provides for 
        the following:
                    (A) The elimination of duplication and 
                fragmentation among Federal workforce preparation and 
                development programs through the reform, consolidation, 
                and, where appropriate, elimination of such programs, 
                thus providing States and local communities with 
                streamlined and more flexible funding for the purpose 
                of preparing the future and current workforce.
                    (B) The transfer of major decision-making authority 
                for the design, governance, and implementation of 
                comprehensive, integrated workforce preparation and 
                development systems to States and local communities.
                    (C) A vital role for the private sector at the 
                Federal, State, and local levels in the design and 
                implementation of a Federal workforce preparation and 
                development system established in accordance with 
                subparagraph (D), encouraging the utilization of State 
                and local employer-led boards responsible for strategic 
                planning and program oversight of State and local 
                workforce preparation and development systems.
                    (D) The establishment of a Federal workforce 
                preparation and development system that--
                            (i) is streamlined and consolidated;
                            (ii) provides maximum authority and 
                        responsibility to States and local communities 
                        for the operation of State and local workforce 
                        preparation and development programs;
                            (iii) is accountable;
                            (iv) stresses private sector partnerships 
                        and encourages increased leadership and 
                        responsibility on the part of the private 
                        sector for investment in workforce training;
                            (v) is market-driven;
                            (vi) provides customer choice and easy 
                        access to services; and
                            (vii) reinforces individual responsibility 
                        by stressing attachment to employment, and at 
                        the same time, encouraging lifelong learning 
                        and skills upgrading through a seamless system 
                        connecting elementary, secondary, 
                        postsecondary, adult, and work-based training 
                        and education.
                    (E) The establishment of a national labor market 
                information system that provides employers, job 
                seekers, students, teachers, training providers, and 
                others with accurate and timely information on the 
                local economy, occupations in demand, earnings, and the 
                skill requirements for such occupations, and 
                information on the performance of service providers in 
                the local community.
            (3) Consistent with the legislation enacted in accordance 
        with paragraph (2), the Congress shall provide for the repeal 
        of existing Federal workforce preparation and development 
        programs, as appropriate.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL WORKFORCE PREPARATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS DEFINED.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``Federal workforce preparation 
and development programs'' means programs under any of the following 
provisions of law:
            (1) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology 
        Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.).
            (2) The Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1501 et 
        seq.).
            (3) The Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.).
            (4) The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program 
        authorized under part F of title IV of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 681 et seq.).
            (5) The Adult Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.).
            (6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.).
            (7) The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 
        6101 et seq.).
            (8) Chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
        U.S.C. 2271 et seq.).
            (9) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977.
            (10) Veterans vocational training programs authorized under 
        chapter 106 of title 10, United States Code, and chapters 30, 
        31, 32, 35, and 41 of title 38, United States Code.
            (11) Other Federal employment, education, or training 
        programs, as appropriate.

Summary: Workforce Preparation and Development Act - Declares the intent of the Congress to provide for the establishment of a comprehensive and consolidated workforce preparation and development system in the United States. Declares that, by the end of the 104th Congress, the Congress shall: (1) conduct a thorough evaluation of all Federal workforce preparation and development programs to determine their quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. (2) enact legislation that provides for a comprehensive and consolidated workforce preparation and development system, with specified features. And (3) repeal specified existing Federal workforce preparation and development programs, as appropriate.