I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7291 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the 

Secretary of Labor to award grants to train workers for broadband careers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2024 

Mr. MOLINARO (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, and Mr. NICKEL) 

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 direct the Secretary of Labor to award grants to 

train workers for broadband careers. 

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 ‘‘Broadband Industry 

5 Development Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BROADBAND INDUSTRY TRAINING GRANTS. 

7 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and 

8 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 172 as section 173; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 171 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 172. BROADBAND INDUSTRY TRAINING GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

6 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to pro7 vide training programs (including pre-apprenticeship pro8 grams) to prepare workers for careers in the broadband 

9 industry. 

10 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible 

11 to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity 

12 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

13 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

14 Secretary may require. 

15 ‘‘(c) MATCHING FUNDS.—Each eligible entity that 

16 receives a grant under this section shall provide, from non17 Federal sources, an amount equal to 25 percent of the 

18 amount of the grant (which may be provided in cash or 

19 in kind) to carry out the activities supported by the grant. 

20 ‘‘(d) NO NEW FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—Amounts au21 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this section shall 

22 be derived solely from amounts otherwise appropriated for 

23 the Department of Labor. 

24 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘apprenticeship program’ means an apprenticeship 

3 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com4 monly known as the ‘National Apprenticeship Act’; 

5 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

6 ‘‘(2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘broadband’ has 

7 the meaning given the term ‘broadband internet ac8 cess service’ in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of 

9 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

10 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) an eligible provider of training serv13 ices identified under section 122 (or a consor14 tium of such providers); 

15 ‘‘(B) a labor organization or joint labor16 management organization; 

17 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit entity (such as a commu18 nity-based organization that assists program 

19 participants in accessing supportive services); 

20 ‘‘(D) a private business; 

21 ‘‘(E) an industry association; or 

22 ‘‘(F) an institution of higher education 

23 (such as a community college). 


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1 ‘‘(4) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The 

2 term ‘pre-apprenticeship program’ means a pro3 gram— 

4 ‘‘(A) designed to assist individuals who do 

5 not meet minimum qualifications for an appren6 ticeship program and prepare them to enter 

7 and succeed in such an apprenticeship, includ8 ing by providing the skills and competency at9 tainment needed to enter the apprenticeship; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) that is carried out by a sponsor that 

12 has a written agreement with at least one spon13 sor of an apprenticeship.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE TABLE OF 

15 CONTENTS. 

16 The table of contents of the Workforce Innovation 

17 and Opportunity Act in section 1(b) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking the item relating to section 172; 

19 and 

20 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 171, the following: 

‘‘Sec. 172. Broadband industry training grants. 

‘‘Sec. 173. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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