I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3611 

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to increase business engagement and improve training opportunities for occupations that are indemand in order to get Americans back to work. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

Mr. HECK (for himself, Ms. FOXX, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. HANNA, Mr. 

GOWDY, and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to increase 

business engagement and improve training opportunities 

for occupations that are in-demand in order to get Americans back to work. 

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 ‘‘Local Job Opportuni5 ties and Business Success Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNER2 SHIP. 

3 Section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

4 (29 U.S.C. 2801) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (18) through 

6 (53) as paragraphs (19) through (54), respectively; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (17) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(18) INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP.— 

11 The term ‘industry or sector partnership’ means a 

12 partnership of a State or local board and one or 

13 more industries and other entities that can help de14 termine the immediate and long-term skilled work15 force needs of in-demand industries and other occu16 pations important to the State or local economy.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL BOARD. 

18 Section 117 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

19 (29 U.S.C. 2832) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph 

22 (2)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘include—’’ and all 

24 that follows through ‘‘representatives’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘include representatives’’; 


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1 (ii) by striking clauses (ii) through 

2 (vi); 

3 (iii) by redesignating subclauses (I) 

4 through (III) as clauses (i) through (iii), 

5 respectively; 

6 (iv) by striking clause (ii) (as so re7 designated) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(ii) represent businesses, including 

9 large and small businesses, with immediate 

10 and long-term employment opportunities in 

11 in-demand industries and other occupa12 tions important to the local economy; 

13 and’’; and 

14 (v) by striking the semicolon at the 

15 end of clause (iii) (as so redesignated) and 

16 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘A majority’’ and inserting ‘‘A 2 18 ⁄3 majority’’; 

19 (2) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(d) FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL BOARD.—The functions 

22 of the local board shall include the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) LOCAL PLAN.—Consistent with section 

24 118, each local board, in partnership with the chief 


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1 elected official for the local area involved, shall de2 velop and submit a local plan to the Governor. 

3 ‘‘(2) WORKFORCE RESEARCH AND REGIONAL

4 LABOR MARKET ANALYSIS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The local board 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) conduct, and regularly update, an 

8 analysis of— 

9 ‘‘(I) the economic conditions in 

10 the local area; 

11 ‘‘(II) the immediate and long12 term skilled workforce needs of in-de13 mand industries and other occupa14 tions important to the local economy; 

15 ‘‘(III) the knowledge and skills of 

16 the workforce in the local area; and 

17 ‘‘(IV) workforce development ac18 tivities (including education and train19 ing) in the local area; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) assist the Governor in developing 

21 the statewide workforce and labor market 

22 information system described in section 

23 15(e) of the Wagner-Peyser Act. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXISTING ANALYSIS.—A local board 

25 may use existing analysis by the local economic 


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1 development agency or related entity in order to 

2 carry out requirements of subparagraph (A)(i). 

3 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT.—The local 

4 board shall lead efforts to engage employers in the 

5 local area, including small employers and employers 

6 in in-demand industries and occupations important 

7 to the local economy, including by— 

8 ‘‘(A) ensuring that workforce investment 

9 activities meet the needs of employers and sup10 port economic growth in the local area, by en11 hancing communication, coordination, and col12 laboration among employers, economic develop13 ment entities, and service providers; 

14 ‘‘(B) developing effective linkages (includ15 ing the use of intermediaries) with employers in 

16 the local area to support employer utilization of 

17 the local workforce development system and to 

18 support local workforce investment activities; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing industry 

21 or sector partnerships that lead to collaborative 

22 planning, resource alignment, and training ef23 forts across multiple firms to address the imme24 diate and long-term skilled workforce needs of 

25 in-demand industries and other occupations imVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:56 Dec 14, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3611.IH H3611

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1 portant to the local economy and to address 

2 critical skill gaps within and across industries. 

3 ‘‘(4) BUDGET AND ADMINISTRATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) BUDGET.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The local board 

6 shall develop a budget for the activities of 

7 the local board in the local area, consistent 

8 with the requirements of this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(ii) TRAINING RESERVATION.—In de10 veloping a budget under clause (i), the 

11 local board shall reserve a percentage of 

12 funds to carry out the activities specified 

13 in section 134(d)(4). The local board shall 

14 use the analysis conducted under para15 graph (2)(A)(i) to determine the appro16 priate percentage to reserve under this 

17 clause. 

18 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 ‘‘(i) GRANT RECIPIENT.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The chief 

21 elected official in a local area shall 

22 serve as the local grant recipient for, 

23 and shall be liable for any misuse of, 

24 the grant funds allocated to the local 

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1 less the chief elected official reaches 

2 an agreement with the Governor for 

3 the Governor to act as the local grant 

4 recipient and bear such liability. 

5 ‘‘(II) DESIGNATION.—In order to 

6 assist in administration of the grant 

7 funds, the chief elected official or the 

8 Governor, where the Governor serves 

9 as the local grant recipient for a local 

10 area, may designate an entity to serve 

11 as a local grant subrecipient for such 

12 funds or as a local fiscal agent. Such 

13 designation shall not relieve the chief 

14 elected official or the Governor of the 

15 liability for any misuse of grant funds 

16 as described in subclause (I). 

17 ‘‘(III) DISBURSAL.—The local 

18 grant recipient or an entity designated 

19 under subclause (II) shall disburse the 

20 grant funds for workforce investment 

21 activities at the direction of the local 

22 board, pursuant to the requirements 

23 of this title. The local grant recipient 

24 or entity designated under subclause 

25 (II) shall disburse the funds immeVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:56 Dec 14, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3611.IH H3611

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1 diately on receiving such direction 

2 from the local board. 

3 ‘‘(ii) STAFF.—The local board may 

4 employ staff to assist in carrying out the 

5 functions described in this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(iii) GRANTS AND DONATIONS.—The 

7 local board may solicit and accept grants 

8 and donations from sources other than 

9 Federal funds made available under this 

10 Act. 

11 ‘‘(5) SELECTION OF OPERATORS AND PRO12 VIDERS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) SELECTION OF ONE-STOP OPERA14 TORS.—Consistent with section 121(d), the 

15 local board, with the agreement of the chief 

16 elected official— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall designate or certify one-stop 

18 operators as described in section 

19 121(d)(2)(A); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) may terminate for cause the eli21 gibility of such operators. 

22 ‘‘(B) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE SERV23 ICE PROVIDERS.—Consistent with this subtitle, 

24 the local board shall identify eligible service 


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1 providers, including providers of services de2 scribed in section 134(d)(4), in the local area. 

3 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.—The local board, 

4 in partnership with the chief elected official, shall be 

5 responsible for— 

6 ‘‘(A) conducting oversight for local employ7 ment and training activities authorized under 

8 section 134(d); 

9 ‘‘(B) conducting oversight of the one-stop 

10 delivery system in the local area authorized 

11 under section 121; and 

12 ‘‘(C) ensuring the appropriate use and 

13 management of the funds provided for such ac14 tivities under this title. 

15 ‘‘(7) NEGOTIATION OF LOCAL PERFORMANCE

16 MEASURES.—The local board, the chief elected offi17 cial, and the Governor shall negotiate and reach 

18 agreement on local performance measures as de19 scribed in section 136(c). 

20 ‘‘(8) TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The local 

21 board shall develop strategies for technology im22 provements to facilitate access to services authorized 

23 under this subtitle and carried out in the local area, 

24 including in remote areas.’’; 

25 (3) in subsection (e)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘electronic means and’’ 

2 after ‘‘regular basis through’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘and the award of grants 

4 or contracts to eligible providers of youth activi5 ties,’’; 

6 (4) by striking subsection (h) and redesignating 

7 subsection (i) as subsection (h); and 

8 (5) in subsection (i) (as so redesignated), by 

9 striking ‘‘and paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 

10 (h)’’ each place it appears. 

11 SEC. 4. CONTENTS OF THE LOCAL PLAN. 

12 Section 118(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of 

13 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The local plan shall include— 

15 ‘‘(1) a description of the analysis of the local 

16 area’s economic and workforce conditions conducted 

17 under section 117(d)(2)(A)(i), and an assurance 

18 that the local board will use such analysis to carry 

19 out the activities under this subtitle; 

20 ‘‘(2) a description of the one-stop delivery sys21 tem in the local area, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) a description of how the local board 

23 will ensure the continuous improvement of eligi24 ble providers of services through the system and 

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1 ment needs of local employers and participants; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) a description of how the local board 

4 will facilitate access to services provided 

5 through the one-stop delivery system consistent 

6 with section 117(d)(8); 

7 ‘‘(3) a description of the strategies and services 

8 that will be used in the local area— 

9 ‘‘(A) to more fully engage employers, in10 cluding small employers and employers in in-de11 mand industries and occupations important to 

12 the local economy; 

13 ‘‘(B) to meet the needs of businesses in the 

14 local area; and 

15 ‘‘(C) to better coordinate workforce devel16 opment programs with economic development; 

17 ‘‘(4) a description of how the local board will 

18 convene (or help to convene) industry or sector part19 nerships that lead to collaborative planning, resource 

20 alignment, and training efforts across multiple firms 

21 for a range of workers employed or potentially em22 ployed by a targeted industry cluster— 

23 ‘‘(A) to encourage industry growth and 

24 competitiveness and to improve worker training, 


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1 retention, and advancement in targeted indus2 try clusters; 

3 ‘‘(B) to address the immediate and long4 term skilled workforce needs of in-demand in5 dustries and other occupations important to the 

6 local economy, and 

7 ‘‘(C) to address critical skill gaps within 

8 and across industries; 

9 ‘‘(5) a description of how the funds reserved 

10 under section 117(d)(4)(A)(ii) will be used to carry 

11 out activities described in section 134(d)(4); 

12 ‘‘(6) a description of how the local board will 

13 coordinate workforce investment activities carried 

14 out in the local area with statewide activities, as ap15 propriate; 

16 ‘‘(7) a description of how the local area will— 

17 ‘‘(A) coordinate activities with the local 

18 area’s disability community to make available 

19 comprehensive, high-quality services to individ20 uals with disabilities; 

21 ‘‘(B) consistent with section 188 and Exec22 utive Order 13217 (42 U.S.C. 12131 note), 

23 serve the employment and training needs of in24 dividuals with disabilities; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) consistent with sections 504 and 508 

2 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, include the 

3 provision of outreach, intake, assessments, and 

4 service delivery, the development of perform5 ance measures, the training of staff, and other 

6 aspects of accessibility to programs and services 

7 under this subtitle; 

8 ‘‘(8) a description of the local levels of perform9 ance negotiated with the Governor and chief elected 

10 official pursuant to section 136(c), to be— 

11 ‘‘(A) used to measure the performance of 

12 the local area; and 

13 ‘‘(B) used by the local board for measuring 

14 performance of the local fiscal agent (where ap15 propriate), eligible providers, and the one-stop 

16 delivery system, in the local area; 

17 ‘‘(9) a description of the process used by the 

18 local board, consistent with subsection (c), to provide 

19 an opportunity for public comment prior to submis20 sion of the plan; 

21 ‘‘(10) an identification of the entity responsible 

22 for the disbursal of grant funds described in sub23 clause (III) of section 117(d)(4)(B)(i), as deter24 mined by the chief elected official or the Governor 

25 under such section; and 


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1 ‘‘(11) such other information as the Governor 

2 may require.’’. 

Æ 


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