I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3862 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to support 

community college and industry partnerships, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2015 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. RUSH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. FOSTER, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CARSON

of Indiana, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ASHFORD, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. BRADY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. WALZ, Mr. TAKAI, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. HINOJOSA, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. LEE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. RANGEL, and 

Mr. RYAN of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

to support community college and industry partnerships, 

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 ‘‘Community College 

5 to Career Fund Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO CAREER FUND. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Workforce Innova3 tion and Opportunity Act is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle F—Community College to 

6 Career Fund 

7 ‘‘SEC. 199. COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND INDUSTRY PARTNER8 SHIPS PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From funds appro10 priated under section 199A, the Secretary of Labor (in 

11 coordination with the Secretary of Education and the Sec12 retary of Commerce) shall award competitive grants to eli13 gible entities described in subsection (b) for the purpose 

14 of developing, offering, improving, and providing edu15 cational or career training programs for workers. 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PARTNERSHIPS WITH EMPLOYERS OR AN

18 EMPLOYER OR INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP.— 

19 ‘‘(A) GENERAL DEFINITION.—For pur20 poses of this section, an ‘eligible entity’ means 

21 any of the entities described in subparagraph 

22 (B) (or a consortium of any of such entities) in 

23 partnership with employers or an employer or 

24 industry partnership representing multiple em25 ployers. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF ENTITIES.—The en2 tities described in this subparagraph are— 

3 ‘‘(i) a community college; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a 4-year public institution of 

5 higher education (as defined in section 

6 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))) that offers 2- 

8 year degrees, and that will use funds pro9 vided under this section for activities at 

10 the certificate and associate degree levels; 

11 ‘‘(iii) a Tribal College or University 

12 (as defined in section 316(b) of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 1059c(b))); or 

15 ‘‘(iv) a private or nonprofit, 2-year in16 stitution of higher education (as defined in 

17 section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

18 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) in the Com19 monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the 

20 United States Virgin Islands, American 

21 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the North22 ern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the 

23 Marshall Islands, the Federated States of 

24 Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau. 

25 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PARTNERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL

2 PARTNERS.—In addition to partnering with em3 ployers or an employer or industry partnership 

4 representing multiple employers as described in 

5 paragraph (1)(A), an entity described in para6 graph (1) may include in the partnership de7 scribed in paragraph (1) one or more of the or8 ganizations described in subparagraph (B). 

9 Each eligible entity that includes one or more 

10 such organizations shall collaborate with the 

11 State or local board in the area served by the 

12 eligible entity. 

13 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONS.—The organizations 

14 described in this subparagraph are as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) A provider of adult education (as 

16 defined in section 203) or an institution of 

17 higher education (as defined in section 101 

18 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 1001)). 

20 ‘‘(ii) A community-based organization. 

21 ‘‘(iii) A joint labor-management part22 nership. 

23 ‘‘(iv) A State or local board. 

24 ‘‘(v) Any other organization that the 

25 Secretaries consider appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(c) EDUCATIONAL OR CAREER TRAINING PRO2 GRAM.—For purposes of this section, the Governor of the 

3 State in which at least one of the entities described in sub4 section (b)(1)(B) of an eligible entity is located shall es5 tablish criteria for an educational or career training pro6 gram leading to a recognized postsecondary credential for 

7 which an eligible entity submits a grant proposal under 

8 subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a 

10 grant under this section shall submit an application con11 taining a grant proposal, for an educational or career 

12 training program leading to a recognized postsecondary 

13 credential, to the Secretaries at such time and containing 

14 such information as the Secretaries determine is required, 

15 including a detailed description of— 

16 ‘‘(1) the extent to which the educational or ca17 reer training program described in the grant pro18 posal fits within an overall strategic plan consisting 

19 of— 

20 ‘‘(A) the State plan described in section 

21 102 or 103, for the State involved; 

22 ‘‘(B) the local plan described in section 

23 108, for each local area that comprises a sig24 nificant portion of the area to be served by the 

25 eligible entity; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a strategic plan developed by the eli2 gible entity; 

3 ‘‘(2) the extent to which the program will meet 

4 the needs of employers in the area for skilled work5 ers in in-demand industry sectors and occupations; 

6 ‘‘(3) the extent to which the program will meet 

7 the educational or career training needs of workers 

8 in the area; 

9 ‘‘(4) the specific educational or career training 

10 program and how the program meets the criteria es11 tablished under subsection (e), including the manner 

12 in which the grant will be used to develop, offer, im13 prove, and provide the educational or career training 

14 program; 

15 ‘‘(5) any previous experience of the eligible enti16 ty in providing educational or career training pro17 grams, the absence of which shall not automatically 

18 disqualify an eligible institution from receiving a 

19 grant under this section; and 

20 ‘‘(6) how the program leading to the credential 

21 meets the criteria described in subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR AWARD.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants under this section 

24 shall be awarded based on criteria established by the 

25 Secretaries, that include the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) A determination of the merits of the 

2 grant proposal submitted by the eligible entity 

3 involved to develop, offer, improve, and provide 

4 an educational or career training program to be 

5 made available to workers. 

6 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the likely employ7 ment opportunities available in the area to indi8 viduals who complete an educational or career 

9 training program that the eligible entity pro10 poses to develop, offer, improve, and provide. 

11 ‘‘(C) An assessment of prior demand for 

12 training programs by individuals eligible for 

13 training and served by the eligible entity, as 

14 well as availability and capacity of existing (as 

15 of the date of the assessment) training pro16 grams to meet future demand for training pro17 grams. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

19 section, the Secretaries shall give priority to eligible 

20 entities that— 

21 ‘‘(A) include a partnership, with employers 

22 or an employer or industry partnership, that— 

23 ‘‘(i) pays a portion of the costs of 

24 educational or career training programs; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) agrees to hire individuals who 

2 have attained a recognized postsecondary 

3 credential resulting from the educational or 

4 career training program of the eligible en5 tity; 

6 ‘‘(B) enter into a partnership with a labor 

7 organization or labor-management training pro8 gram to provide, through the program, tech9 nical expertise for occupationally specific edu10 cation necessary for a recognized postsecondary 

11 credential leading to a skilled occupation in an 

12 in-demand industry sector; 

13 ‘‘(C) are focused on serving individuals 

14 with barriers to employment, low-income, non15 traditional students, students who are dis16 located workers, students who are veterans, or 

17 students who are long-term unemployed; 

18 ‘‘(D) include any eligible entities serving 

19 areas with high unemployment rates; 

20 ‘‘(E) are eligible entities that include an 

21 institution of higher education eligible for as22 sistance under title III or V of the Higher Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.; 20 

24 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.); and 


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1 ‘‘(F) include a partnership, with employers 

2 or an employer or industry partnership, that in3 creases domestic production of goods. 

4 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 

5 this section shall be used for one or more of the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) The development, offering, improvement, 

7 and provision of educational or career training pro8 grams, that provide relevant job training for skilled 

9 occupations, that lead to recognized postsecondary 

10 credentials, that will meet the needs of employers in 

11 in-demand industry sectors, and that may include 

12 registered apprenticeship programs, on-the-job train13 ing programs, and programs that support employers 

14 in upgrading the skills of their workforce. 

15 ‘‘(2) The development and implementation of 

16 policies and programs to expand opportunities for 

17 students to earn a recognized postsecondary creden18 tial, including a degree, in in-demand industry sec19 tors and occupations, including by— 

20 ‘‘(A) facilitating the transfer of academic 

21 credits between institutions of higher education, 

22 including the transfer of academic credits for 

23 courses in the same field of study; 

24 ‘‘(B) expanding articulation agreements 

25 and policies that guarantee transfers between 


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1 such institutions, including through common 

2 course numbering and use of a general core 

3 curriculum; and 

4 ‘‘(C) developing or enhancing student sup5 port services programs. 

6 ‘‘(3) The creation of career pathway programs 

7 that provide a sequence of education and occupa8 tional training that leads to a recognized postsec9 ondary credential, including a degree, including pro10 grams that— 

11 ‘‘(A) blend basic skills and occupational 

12 training; 

13 ‘‘(B) facilitate means of transitioning par14 ticipants from non-credit occupational, basic 

15 skills, or developmental coursework to for-credit 

16 coursework within and across institutions; 

17 ‘‘(C) build or enhance linkages, including 

18 the development of dual enrollment programs 

19 and early college high schools, between sec20 ondary education or adult education programs 

21 (including programs established under the Carl 

22 D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act 

23 of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) and title II 

24 of this Act); 


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1 ‘‘(D) are innovative programs designed to 

2 increase the provision of training for students, 

3 including students who are members of the Na4 tional Guard or Reserves, to enter skilled occu5 pations in in-demand industry sectors; and 

6 ‘‘(E) support paid internships that will 

7 allow students to simultaneously earn credit for 

8 work-based learning and gain relevant employ9 ment experience in an in-demand industry sec10 tor or occupation, which shall include opportu11 nities that transition individuals into employ12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(4) The development and implementation of— 

14 ‘‘(A) a Pay-for-Performance program that 

15 leads to a recognized postsecondary credential, 

16 for which an eligible entity agrees to be reim17 bursed under the grant primarily on the basis 

18 of achievement of specified performance out19 comes and criteria agreed to by the Secretary; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(B) a Pay-for-Success program that leads 

22 to a recognized postsecondary credential, for 

23 which an eligible entity— 

24 ‘‘(i) enters into a partnership with an 

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1 tion that provides funding for a specific 

2 project to address a clear and measurable 

3 educational or career training need in the 

4 area to be served under the grant; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) agrees to be reimbursed under 

6 the grant only if the project achieves speci7 fied performance outcomes and criteria 

8 agreed to by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 199A. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap11 propriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

12 the program established by section 199. 

13 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE COST.—Not more than 5 per14 cent of the amounts made available under subsection (a) 

15 may be used by the Secretaries to administer the program 

16 described in that subsection, including providing technical 

17 assistance and carrying out evaluations for the program 

18 described in that subsection. 

19 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—The funds appro20 priated pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall 

21 be available for Federal obligation for that fiscal year and 

22 the succeeding 2 fiscal years. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 199B. DEFINITION. 

24 ‘‘For purposes of this subtitle, the term ‘community 

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1 nity college’ in section 312(f) of the Higher Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)).’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

5 is amended by inserting after the items relating to subtitle 

6 E of title I the following: 

‘‘Subtitle F—Community College to Career Fund 

‘‘Sec. 199. Community college and industry partnerships program. 

‘‘Sec. 199A. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘Sec. 199B. Definition.’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act, including the 

8 amendments made by this Act, takes effect as if included 

9 in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

Æ 


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