II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4730 

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 

Act of 1977 to establish a pilot program to provide competitive grants 

to land-grant colleges and universities to facilitate research and rapid 

workforce development and promote entrepreneurship and other benefits 

to communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2022 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 

Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 

and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to establish a pilot 

program to provide competitive grants to land-grant colleges and universities to facilitate research and rapid 

workforce development and promote entrepreneurship 

and other benefits to communities, 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 ‘‘National Innovation 

3 and Modern Skills Training Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INNOVATION AND MODERN SKILLS 

5 TRAINING COMPETITIVE GRANT PILOT PRO6 GRAM. 

7 The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

8 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 is amended by inserting after 

9 section 1418 (7 U.S.C. 3153) the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 1419. NATIONAL INNOVATION AND MODERN SKILLS 

11 TRAINING COMPETITIVE GRANT PILOT PRO12 GRAM. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OR

14 UNIVERSITY.—In this section, the term ‘land-grant college 

15 or university’ includes a 1994 Institution (as defined in 

16 section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta17 tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 103– 

18 382)). 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a pilot program (referred to in this section as the 

21 ‘pilot program’) to award competitive grants to land-grant 

22 colleges and universities to carry out activities described 

23 in subsection (c). 

24 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A land-grant college or uni26 versity that receives a grant under the pilot program 


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1 shall use the grant funds to establish a statewide 

2 program, in cooperation with cooperative extension 

3 services and industry experts, to facilitate research 

4 and rapid workforce development and promote entre5 preneurship and other benefits to communities 

6 across the applicable State. 

7 ‘‘(2) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, 

8 AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A statewide program 

10 established under paragraph (1) shall be com11 posed of 1 or more workforce development, re12 search, or entrepreneurship programs, which 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) be provided through cooperative 

15 extension services, in partnership with 1 or 

16 more colleges or universities in the applica17 ble geographic area; 

18 ‘‘(ii) be administered by the applicable 

19 land-grant college or university; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) confer to a participant a meas21 urable benefit or credential on successful 

22 completion of the program. 

23 ‘‘(B) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PRO24 GRAMS.—A workforce development program es25 tablished under subparagraph (A) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) offer flexible and alternative edu2 cational pathways to promote workforce 

3 development, including— 

4 ‘‘(I) stackable credentials; 

5 ‘‘(II) micro degrees; 

6 ‘‘(III) boot camps; or 

7 ‘‘(IV) credit-by-examination pro8 grams; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) focus on the middle- and high10 skilled jobs needed in the economy, includ11 ing local and remote work opportunities, 

12 with an emphasis on the unemployed and 

13 underemployed, through rapid upskilling, 

14 registered apprenticeships, and mentorship 

15 opportunities. 

16 ‘‘(C) RESEARCH PROGRAMS.—A research 

17 program established under subparagraph (A)— 

18 ‘‘(i) may be tailored to support the 

19 needs of regional attributes, workforce 

20 needs, and economic development goals; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall— 

23 ‘‘(I) immerse participants in 

24 emerging science, technology, engi25 neering, and mathematics fields and 


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1 technologies such as artificial intel2 ligence, cybersecurity, advanced com3 puting, advanced manufacturing, 3D 

4 technology and printing, data man5 agement and use, digital technologies, 

6 biotechnology, health information 

7 technology, agricultural technology, 

8 advanced telecommunications, and ro9 botics; 

10 ‘‘(II) be tailored to support— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the needs of large in12 dustry partners and their innova13 tion pipelines; 

14 ‘‘(bb) regional attributes; or 

15 ‘‘(cc) economic development 

16 goals; 

17 ‘‘(III) consist of research con18 ducted by the land-grant college or 

19 university in partnership with the ap20 plicable community; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) include the provision of 

22 match-funded research grants to local 

23 community members— 

24 ‘‘(aa) to conduct research 

25 led by the land-grant college or 


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1 university under subclause (III); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(bb) to submit to faculty of 

4 the land-grant college or univer5 sity or staff of the cooperative ex6 tension service quarterly reports 

7 describing findings of the re8 search conducted under item 

9 (aa), which may be shared with 

10 private sector providers of 

11 grants. 

12 ‘‘(D) ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS.— 

13 An entrepreneurship program established under 

14 subparagraph (A)— 

15 ‘‘(i) shall focus on— 

16 ‘‘(I) the strengths of local histor17 ical industries; 

18 ‘‘(II) the modern globalized 

19 versions of those industries; 

20 ‘‘(III) the innovation opportuni21 ties within those industries; 

22 ‘‘(IV) the needs of the commu23 nity; and 

24 ‘‘(V) the variety of localized in25 dustries in the region; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) may focus on creating an entre2 preneurial environment, professional net3 work, mentoring, and other resources to 

4 develop strong entrepreneurial ecosystems 

5 and small businesses— 

6 ‘‘(I) to spur economic develop7 ment in underrepresented commu8 nities; and 

9 ‘‘(II) to develop the next genera10 tion of entrepreneurs across the 

11 United States. 

12 ‘‘(E) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out a 

13 workforce development, research, or entrepre14 neurship program under this paragraph, a land15 grant college or university is encouraged to col16 laborate with private-sector partners, workforce 

17 development boards, other institutions of higher 

18 education, and local leaders to develop pro19 grams that— 

20 ‘‘(i) meet the professional and social 

21 needs of the applicable community; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) address areas of national impor23 tance or need. 

24 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 

25 the pilot program, a land-grant college or university— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall submit to the Secretary an applica2 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

3 such information as the Secretary may require, in4 cluding— 

5 ‘‘(A) a demonstration of the availability of 

6 matching funding from the private sector equal 

7 to the amount of the grant to carry out activi8 ties under the pilot program; 

9 ‘‘(B) a 12-month plan that defines out10 come goals under the pilot program for work11 force, entrepreneurship, and research focuses; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(C) a demonstration of community en14 gagement or community partners; 

15 ‘‘(2) may submit an application under para16 graph (1) jointly with 1 or more other land-grant 

17 colleges or universities in the same State; and 

18 ‘‘(3) shall be subject to an evaluation, including 

19 metrics, relating to the performance of the land20 grant college or university under the pilot program. 

21 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary 

22 shall provide grants under the pilot program— 

23 ‘‘(1) to land-grant colleges or universities in 10 

24 States, including not more than 1 land-grant college 

25 or university in any State, unless 2 or more landVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Aug 06, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4730.IS S4730

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1 grant colleges or universities in a State submit a 

2 joint application in accordance with subsection 

3 (d)(2); and 

4 ‘‘(2) taking into consideration— 

5 ‘‘(A) regional and geographic diversity; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the capacity of a land-grant college or 

7 university to engage industry, the workforce, 

8 and other organizations. 

9 ‘‘(f) AMOUNT AND DURATION.—A grant under the 

10 pilot program shall be— 

11 ‘‘(1) in the amount of $5,000,000; and 

12 ‘‘(2) provided over a 3-year period. 

13 ‘‘(g) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR.— 

14 The Secretary may appoint an Economic Development Co15 ordinator— 

16 ‘‘(1) to work with recipients of grants under 

17 this section; and 

18 ‘‘(2) to coordinate efforts with cooperative ex19 tension services. 

20 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pilot pro21 gram, the Secretary shall coordinate with— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Commerce; 

23 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Labor; 

24 ‘‘(3) the Secretary of Education; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the Administrator of the Small Business 

2 Administration; and 

3 ‘‘(5) the Director of the National Science Foun4 dation. 

5 ‘‘(i) REPORTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORTS.—Not later 

7 than 180 days after the end of the period of a grant 

8 under the pilot program, the recipient of the grant 

9 shall submit to the Secretary a report describing the 

10 economic impacts of activities carried out using the 

11 grant. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

13 180 days after the Secretary receives the report 

14 under paragraph (1) from the last recipient of a 

15 grant under the pilot program, the Secretary shall 

16 submit to Congress a report describing the economic 

17 impacts of activities carried out using grants under 

18 the pilot program, based on the reports submitted to 

19 the Secretary under paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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