I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3276

To establish an emergency program to provide immediate education assistance 

for unemployed workers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2003

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, and Mr. KUCINICH) introduced 

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

the Workforce 

A BILL

To establish an emergency program to provide immediate 

education assistance for unemployed workers, 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 ‘‘21st Century Job Op5 portunities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Since the beginning of 2001, the private 

2 sector has lost more than 3 million jobs. 

3 (2) The number of unemployed has risen in 49 

4 states and national unemployment levels are over 6 

5 percent, the highest in nearly a decade. 

6 (3) Today, 9.4 million people are out of work 

7 and an additional 4.5 million people work part-time 

8 because they are unable to find a full-time job. 

9 (4) In addition, by the year 2010 there will be 

10 an estimated shortage of 12 million workers with at 

11 least some college education. 

12 (5) Sixty-eight percent of the fastest growing 

13 jobs require at least some college education. 

14 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab15 lish a temporary emergency program to assist workers who 

16 have been laid off and who require immediate education 

17 and training to successfully re-enter the workforce. 

18 SEC. 3. POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS FOR DIS19 LOCATED WORKERS. 

20 Subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu21 cation Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 

22 401 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 401A. JOB OPPORTUNITY GRANTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

3 term ‘eligible unemployed individual’ means an individual 

4 who—

5 ‘‘(1) was, on or after March 1, 2001, employed 

6 full-time or part-time; 

7 ‘‘(2) became unemployed after such date; and 

8 ‘‘(3) on the date of application for a grant 

9 under this section, has been unemployed for at least 

10 3 months in the preceding 6 months. 

11 ‘‘(b) BENEFITS AUTHORIZED.—

12 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORITY AND METHOD OF

13 DISTRIBUTION.—For each fiscal year through fiscal 

14 year 2009, the Secretary shall pay to each eligible 

15 institution such sums as may be necessary to pay to 

16 each eligible unemployed individual for each aca17 demic year during which that individual is in attend18 ance at an institution of higher education, as an un19 dergraduate, a Job Assistance Grant in the amount 

20 for which that individual is eligible, as determined 

21 pursuant to subsection (c). Not less than 85 percent 

22 of such sums shall be advanced to eligible institu23 tions prior to the start of each payment period and 

24 shall be based upon an amount requested by the in25 stitution as needed to pay eligible unemployed indi26 viduals until such time as the Secretary determines 
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1 and publishes in the Federal Register with an oppor2 tunity for comment, an alternative payment system 

3 that provides payments to institutions in an accurate 

4 and timely manner, except that this sentence shall 

5 not be construed to limit the authority of the Sec6 retary to place an institution on a reimbursement 

7 system of payment. 

8 ‘‘(2) DIRECT PAYMENTS PERMITTED.—Nothing 

9 in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit the 

10 Secretary from paying directly to eligible unem11 ployed individuals, in advance of the beginning of 

12 the academic term, an amount for which they are el13 igible, in cases where the eligible institution elects 

14 not to participate in the disbursement system re15 quired by paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(3) NAME OF GRANTS.—Grants made under 

17 this section shall be known as ‘Job Opportunities 

18 Grants’. 

19 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE AND AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—

20 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The Jobs Opportunities 

21 Grants program is a temporary emergency program 

22 established to assist American workers who have 

23 been laid off and who require additional education 

24 and training to successfully re-enter the workforce. 

25 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM GRANTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the 

2 Job Assistance Grant for an eligible unem3 ployed individual under this section shall be the 

4 sum of the individual’s tuition and fees not to 

5 exceed for any award year the maximum Pell 

6 Grant under section 401(b)(2)(A) of the Higher 

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

8 1070a(b)(2)(A)) for such award year. 

9 ‘‘(B) PART TIME ATTENDANCE.—In any 

10 case where an eligible unemployed individual at11 tends an institution of higher education on less 

12 than a full-time basis (including an individual 

13 who attends an institution of higher education 

14 on less than a half-time basis) during any aca15 demic year, the amount of the Job Assistance 

16 Grant to which that student is entitled shall be 

17 reduced in proportion to the degree to which 

18 that student is not so attending on a full-time 

19 basis, in accordance with a schedule of reduc20 tions established by the Secretary for the pur21 poses of this division, computed in accordance 

22 with this section. Such schedule of reductions 

23 shall be established by regulation and published 

24 in the Federal Register. 
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1 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM GRANT.—No Job Assistance 

2 Grant shall be awarded to an individual under this 

3 section if the amount of that grant for that student 

4 as determined under this subsection for any aca5 demic year is less than $400, except that an indi6 vidual who is eligible for a Job Assistance Grant 

7 that is equal to or greater than $200 but less than 

8 $400 shall be awarded a Job Assistance Grant of 

9 $400. 

10 ‘‘(4) MULTIPLE GRANTS.—

11 ‘‘(A) The Secretary may allow, on a case12 by-case basis, an individual to receive 2 Job Op13 portunities Grants during a single award year, 

14 if—

15 ‘‘(i) the student is enrolled full-time in 

16 an associate or baccalaureate degree pro17 gram of study that is 2 years or longer at 

18 an eligible institution that is computed in 

19 credit hours; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the student completes course 

21 work toward completion of an associate or 

22 baccalaureate degree that exceeds the re23 quirements for a full academic year as de24 fined by the institution. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall promulgate regu2 lations implementing this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The period during which 

5 an individual may receive Job Opportunities Grants 

6 shall be the 5 academic years. 

7 ‘‘(2) MULTIPLE INSTITUTION GRANTS PROHIB8 ITED.—No student is entitled to receive Job Assist9 ance Grant payments concurrently from more than 

10 one institution or from the Secretary and an institu11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.—The Secretary 

13 shall from time to time set dates by which eligible unem14 ployed individuals shall file applications for Job Opportu15 nities Grants under this section. Each such individual de16 siring a Job Assistance Grant for any year shall file an 

17 application therefor containing such information and as18 surances as the Secretary may deem necessary to enable 

19 the Secretary to carry out the functions and responsibil20 ities of this section. The Secretary shall grant or deny an 

21 application for a Job Assistance Grant within 3 months 

22 after the date on which it is submitted. 

23 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS TO STUDENTS.—

24 Payments under this section shall be made in accordance 

25 with regulations promulgated by the Secretary for such 
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1 purpose, in such manner as will best accomplish the pur2 pose of this section. Any disbursement allowed to be made 

3 by crediting the eligible unemployed individual’s account 

4 shall be limited to tuition and fees and, in the case of insti5 tutionally owned housing, room and board. The student 

6 may elect to have the institution provide other such goods 

7 and services by crediting the student’s account. 

8 ‘‘(g) INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIATIONS.—If, for any 

9 fiscal year, the funds appropriated for payments under 

10 this section are insufficient to satisfy fully all entitlements, 

11 as calculated under subsection (c) (but at the maximum 

12 grant level specified in such appropriation), the Secretary 

13 shall promptly transmit a notice of such insufficiency to 

14 each House of the Congress, and identify in such notice 

15 the additional amount that would be required to be appro16 priated to satisfy fully all entitlements (as so calculated 

17 at such maximum grant level). 

18 ‘‘(h) USE OF EXCESS FUNDS.—

19 ‘‘(1) If, at the end of a fiscal year, the funds 

20 available for making payments under this section ex21 ceed the amount necessary to make the payments re22 quired under this section to eligible students by 15 

23 percent or less, then all of the excess funds shall re24 main available for making payments under this sec25 tion during the next succeeding fiscal year. 
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1 ‘‘(2) If, at the end of a fiscal year, the funds 

2 available for making payments under this section ex3 ceed the amount necessary to make the payments re4 quired under this section to eligible students by 

5 more than 15 percent, then all of such funds shall 

6 remain available for making such payments but pay7 ments may be made under this paragraph only with 

8 respect to entitlements for that fiscal year.’’.

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