I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5285 

To provide competitive grants for training court reporters and closed 

captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2019 

Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide competitive grants for training court reporters 

and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime 

writers under the Communications Act of 1934, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Training for Realtime 

5 Writers Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) As directed by Congress in section 713 of 

2 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613), 

3 as added by section 305 of the Telecommunications 

4 Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 126), 

5 the Federal Communications Commission began en6 forcing rules requiring full closed captioning of most 

7 English television programming on January 1, 2006. 

8 (2) The Federal Communications Commission 

9 rules also require that video programming be fully 

10 captioned in Spanish by 2010. 

11 (3) More than 37,500,000 Americans are con12 sidered deaf or hard of hearing, and many require 

13 captioning services to participate in mainstream ac14 tivities. 

15 (4) The National Institute on Deafness and 

16 other Communication Disorders estimates that one 

17 in 3 Americans over the age of 60 has already expe18 rienced hearing loss. The 79,000,000 Americans who 

19 are identified as ‘‘baby boomers’’ represent 39 per20 cent of the population of the United States and most 

21 baby boomers began to reach age 60 just in the last 

22 few years. 

23 (5) Closed captioning is a continuous source of 

24 emergency information for people in mass transit 

25 and other congregate settings. 


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1 (6) Empirical research studies since 1988 dem2 onstrate that captions improve the performance of 

3 individuals learning to read English. 

4 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM TO PRO5 MOTE TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT OF 

6 REALTIME WRITERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

8 make competitive grants to eligible entities under sub9 section (b) to promote training and placement of individ10 uals, including individuals who have completed a court re11 porting training program, as realtime writers in order to 

12 meet the requirements for closed captioning of video pro13 gramming set forth in section 713 of the Communications 

14 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) and the rules prescribed 

15 thereunder. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this Act, 

17 an eligible entity is a court reporting program that— 

18 (1) can document and demonstrate to the Sec19 retary of Education that it meets minimum stand20 ards of educational and financial accountability, with 

21 a curriculum capable of training realtime writers 

22 qualified to provide captioning services; 

23 (2) is accredited by an accrediting agency or as24 sociation recognized by the Secretary of Education 


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1 under section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 

2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b); and 

3 (3) is participating in programs under title IV 

4 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1070 et seq.). 

6 (c) PRIORITY IN GRANTS.—In determining whether 

7 to make grants under this section, the Secretary of Edu8 cation shall give a priority to eligible entities that, as de9 termined by the Secretary— 

10 (1) possess the most substantial capability to 

11 increase their capacity to train realtime writers; 

12 (2) demonstrate the most promising collabora13 tion with local educational institutions, businesses, 

14 labor organizations, or other community groups hav15 ing the potential to train or provide job placement 

16 assistance to realtime writers; or 

17 (3) propose the most promising and innovative 

18 approaches for initiating or expanding training or 

19 job placement assistance efforts with respect to 

20 realtime writers. 

21 (d) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec22 tion shall be for a period of 5 years. 

23 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

24 a grant provided under subsection (a) to an entity eligible 


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1 may not exceed $1,500,000 for the 5-year period of the 

2 grant under subsection (d). 

3 SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under section 

5 3, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Sec6 retary of Education at such time and in such manner as 

7 the Secretary may require. The application shall contain 

8 the information set forth under subsection (b). 

9 (b) INFORMATION.—Information in the application of 

10 an eligible entity under subsection (a) for a grant under 

11 section 3 shall include the following: 

12 (1) A description of the training and assistance 

13 to be funded using the grant amount, including how 

14 such training and assistance will increase the num15 ber of realtime writers. 

16 (2) A description of performance measures to 

17 be utilized to evaluate the progress of individuals re18 ceiving such training and assistance in matters relat19 ing to enrollment, completion of training, and job 

20 placement and retention. 

21 (3) A description of the manner in which the el22 igible entity will ensure that recipients of scholar23 ships, if any, funded by the grant will be employed 

24 and retained as realtime writers. 


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1 (4) A description of the manner in which the el2 igible entity intends to continue providing the train3 ing and assistance to be funded by the grant after 

4 the end of the grant period, including any partner5 ships or arrangements established for that purpose. 

6 (5) A description of how the eligible entity will 

7 work with local workforce investment boards to en8 sure that training and assistance to be funded with 

9 the grant will further local workforce goals, includ10 ing the creation of educational opportunities for in11 dividuals who are from economically disadvantaged 

12 backgrounds or are displaced workers. 

13 (6) Additional information, if any, of the eligi14 bility of the eligible entity for priority in the making 

15 of grants under section 3(c). 

16 (7) Such other information as the Secretary 

17 may require. 

18 SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 

20 grant under section 3 shall use the grant amount for pur21 poses relating to the recruitment, training and assistance, 

22 and job placement of individuals, including individuals 

23 who have completed a court reporting training program, 

24 as realtime writers, including— 

25 (1) recruitment; 


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1 (2) subject to subsection (b), the provision of 

2 scholarships; 

3 (3) distance learning; 

4 (4) further developing and implementing both 

5 English and Spanish curriculum to more effectively 

6 train realtime writing skills, and education in the 

7 knowledge necessary for the delivery of high-quality 

8 closed captioning services; 

9 (5) mentoring students to ensure successful 

10 completion of the realtime writing training and pro11 vide assistance in job placement; 

12 (6) encouraging individuals with disabilities to 

13 pursue a career in realtime writing; and 

14 (7) the employment and payment of personnel 

15 for all such purposes. 

16 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

17 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of a scholarship 

18 under subsection (a)(2) shall be based on the 

19 amount of need of the recipient of the scholarship 

20 for financial assistance, as determined in accordance 

21 with part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

22 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.). 

23 (2) AGREEMENT.—Each recipient of a scholar24 ship under subsection (a)(2) shall enter into an 

25 agreement with the school in which the recipient is 


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1 enrolled to provide realtime writing services for a pe2 riod of time appropriate (as determined by the Sec3 retary of Education or the Secretary’s designee) for 

4 the amount of the scholarship received. 

5 (3) COURSEWORK AND EMPLOYMENT.—The 

6 Secretary of Education or the Secretary’s designee 

7 shall establish requirements for coursework and em8 ployment for recipients of scholarships under sub9 section (a)(2), including requirements for repayment 

10 of scholarship amounts in the event of failure to 

11 meet such requirements for coursework and employ12 ment. Requirements for repayment of scholarship 

13 amounts shall take into account the effect of eco14 nomic conditions on the capacity of scholarship re15 cipients to find work as realtime writers. 

16 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The recipient of a 

17 grant under section 3 may not use more than 5 percent 

18 of the grant amount to pay administrative costs associated 

19 with activities funded by the grant. The Secretary shall 

20 use not more than 5 percent of the amount available for 

21 grants under this Act in any fiscal year for administrative 

22 costs of the program. 

23 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grants amounts 

24 under this Act shall supplement and not supplant other 

25 Federal or non-Federal funds of the grant recipient for 


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1 purposes of promoting the training and placement of indi2 viduals as realtime writers. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

4 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Each eligible entity receiv5 ing a grant under section 3 shall submit to the Secretary 

6 of Education, at the end of each year of the grant period, 

7 a report on the activities of such entity with respect to 

8 the use of grant amounts during such year. 

9 (b) REPORT INFORMATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report of an entity for 

11 a year under subsection (a) shall include a descrip12 tion of the use of grant amounts by the entity dur13 ing such year, including an assessment by the entity 

14 of the effectiveness of activities carried out using 

15 such funds in increasing the number of realtime 

16 writers. The assessment shall utilize the performance 

17 measures submitted by the entity in the application 

18 for the grant under section 4(b). 

19 (2) FINAL REPORT.—The final report of an en20 tity on a grant under subsection (a) shall include a 

21 description of the best practices identified by the en22 tity as a result of the grant for increasing the num23 ber of individuals who are trained, employed, and re24 tained in employment as realtime writers. 


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1 (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Inspector General of the 

2 Department of Education shall conduct an annual review 

3 of the management, efficiency, and effectiveness of the 

4 grants made under this Act. 

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary of Education to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for 

8 each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

9 SEC. 8. SUNSET. 

10 This Act is repealed effective the last day of the fifth 

11 fiscal year in which funds are appropriated to carry out 

12 this Act. 

Æ 


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