I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4760 

To bolster the domestic workforce by encouraging communication between 

career and technical education institutions and emphasizing potential 

employment opportunities, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

to treat certain costs relating to career and technical education as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of section 529 programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 

Committees on Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, 

Armed Services, and Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To bolster the domestic workforce by encouraging communication between career and technical education institutions and emphasizing potential employment opportunities, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 

treat certain costs relating to career and technical education as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of section 529 programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Generating Real Op3 portunities for Workforce Training and Hiring Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘GROWTH Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON 

6 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

7 SCHOOLS. 

8 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

9 (1) consistent communication between institu10 tions providing career and technical education, as 

11 defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career 

12 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

13 2302), and employment entities regarding cur14 riculum and industry need is paramount to pro15 ducing a truly skilled and viable domestic workforce; 

16 (2) employment opportunities provided through 

17 recognized postsecondary credentials, as defined in 

18 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor19 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102), are as important to the 

20 advancement of the economy of the United States as 

21 any other domestic business sector; and 

22 (3) elementary schools and secondary schools 

23 (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the El24 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7801)) should highlight enrollment in career 


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1 and technical professions as desirable and often 

2 high-skill, high-wage occupations. 

3 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF TRANSPORTATION AND STUDENT 

4 LOAN EXPENSES OF CAREER AND TECH5 NICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 529(e) 

7 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add8 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) CERTAIN COSTS OF CAREER AND

10 TECHNICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

12 individual who is enrolled in (or, for pur13 poses of subclause (II), who is enrolled in 

14 or has graduated from) career and tech15 nical education, such term shall also in16 clude— 

17 ‘‘(I) costs for transportation in 

18 the course of attendance of such pro19 gram, and 

20 ‘‘(II) amounts paid by the indi21 vidual in repayment of a student loan 

22 incurred to finance the individual’s 

23 enrollment in such program. 

24 ‘‘(ii) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDU25 CATION.—For purposes of this subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4760.IH H4760

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1 graph, the term ‘career and technical edu2 cation’ means a program of organized edu3 cational activities which offers a sequence 

4 of courses which— 

5 ‘‘(I) provides individuals with co6 herent and rigorous content aligned 

7 with challenging academic standards 

8 and relevant technical knowledge and 

9 skills needed to prepare for further 

10 education and careers in current or 

11 emerging professions, 

12 ‘‘(II) provides technical skill pro13 ficiency, an industry-recognized cre14 dential, a certificate, or an associate 

15 degree, and 

16 ‘‘(III) includes competency-based 

17 applied learning which contributes to 

18 the academic knowledge, higher-order 

19 reasoning and problem-solving skills, 

20 work attitudes, general employability 

21 skills, technical skills, occupation-spe22 cific skills, and knowledge of all as23 pects of an industry, including entre24 preneurship, of an individual. 


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1 Such program may include prerequisite 

2 courses (other than a remedial course) 

3 which meet the requirements of this 

4 clause.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to distributions made after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE DEVELOP9 MENT INITIATIVES. 

10 Section 504 of title 23, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE DEVEL13 OPMENT INITIATIVES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 

15 provide grants under this subsection to eligible enti16 ties described in paragraph (3) to establish highway 

17 construction workforce development initiatives (re18 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘initiatives’) to at19 tract, train, and place workers into highway con20 struction careers. 

21 ‘‘(2) COOPERATIVE EFFORTS.—The initiatives 

22 established with a grant under this subsection shall 

23 encourage cooperative efforts between— 

24 ‘‘(A) the highway construction industry; 

25 ‘‘(B) the Federal Highway Administration; 


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1 ‘‘(C) State departments of transportation; 

2 ‘‘(D) State and local workforce develop3 ment boards; 

4 ‘‘(E) community colleges and technical 

5 schools; and 

6 ‘‘(F) labor organizations. 

7 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 

8 award a grant under this subsection to a public or 

9 private entity for use in accordance with this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZED USES.—An eligible entity de12 scribed in paragraph (3) shall use a grant provided 

13 under this subsection to carry out an initiative— 

14 ‘‘(A) to promote highway construction 

15 worker career opportunities; 

16 ‘‘(B) to support relevant outreach and 

17 awareness efforts; 

18 ‘‘(C) to develop relevant education and 

19 training materials; 

20 ‘‘(D) to provide life skills training, includ21 ing rudimentary math and other basis skills; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(E) for related support services.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MILITARY SPOUSE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

2 INITIATIVES. 

3 (a) EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF REIMBURSE4 MENT OF MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES UN5 DERGOING A PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION FOR PRO6 FESSIONAL RELICENSING COSTS OF ACCOMPANYING

7 SPOUSES.— 

8 (1) EXTENSION.—Paragraph (4) of section 

9 476(p) of title 37, United States Code, is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘December 31, 2022’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘December 31, 2024’’. 

12 (2) EXPANSION OF QUALIFYING RELICENSING

13 COSTS.—Paragraph (5)(A) of that section is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘the original duty station’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘a previous duty station or home of record’’. 

16 (b) EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF MYCAREER

17 ADVANCEMENT ACCOUNT PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) EXPANSION OF GRADES OF MEMBERS

19 WHOSE SPOUSES ARE ELIGIBLE.—The grades of 

20 members of the Armed Forces whose spouses are eli21 gible for the MyCareer Advancement Account 

22 (MyCAA) Program of the Department of Defense 

23 shall include members in the additional grades as 

24 follows: 

25 (A) O–3. 

26 (B) E–6. 


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1 (2) ADDITIONAL BENEFITS.—The benefits 

2 available under the MyCareer Advancement Account 

3 Program shall include scholarships usable by mili4 tary spouses to attend or participate in any of the 

5 following: 

6 (A) Vocational school. 

7 (B) Professional licensure classes or tests. 

8 (C) Clinical supervision hours in connec9 tion with pursuit of a medical or health care de10 gree. 

11 SEC. 6. LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM. 

12 Section 501(d)(3) of the Small Business Investment 

13 Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695(d)(3)) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 

15 (L) as subparagraphs (B) through (M), respectively; 

16 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as re17 designated by paragraph (1), the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) workforce development through work19 based or work-integrated training, which shall 

20 be satisfied by demonstrating that a small busi21 ness concern that is a subject of the project 

22 has— 

23 ‘‘(i) a documented in-house training 

24 program, the duration of which is not 

25 shorter than 12 weeks; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) entered into a contract with an 

2 entity— 

3 ‘‘(I) to provide trained applicants 

4 for any open position of employment 

5 at the small business concern; and 

6 ‘‘(II) that ensures that any appli7 cant provided to the small business 

8 concern under subclause (I) has un9 dergone not fewer than 12 weeks of 

10 training that is relevant to the open 

11 position described in that subclause,’’; 

12 and 

13 (3) in the flush text following subparagraph 

14 (M), as redesignated by paragraph (1), in the second 

15 sentence, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (J) and (K)’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (K) and (L)’’. 

Æ 


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