II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5401 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a 

grant program for a workforce data quality initiative, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

to establish a grant program for a workforce data quality 

initiative, 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 ‘‘Workforce Data En5 hancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION 

2 AND OPPORTUNITY ACT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 169 of the Workforce In4 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3224) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) WORKFORCE DATA QUALITY INITIATIVE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall 

8 use not more than 10 percent of the total amount 

9 made available pursuant to section 132(a)(2)(A) for 

10 any program year, and may use amounts otherwise 

11 made available for purposes of carrying out this sec12 tion, to competitively award grants to eligible enti13 ties to design, develop, implement, improve, or align 

14 a statewide longitudinal data system for the pur15 poses of integrating data from education and work16 force development systems, labor market outcomes, 

17 and other data sources toward strengthening pro18 gram quality, building State capacity to produce evi19 dence for decision making, meeting performance re20 porting requirements, promoting individual privacy 

21 and data security, improving transparency, moving 

22 toward improved workforce data standardization, 

23 and improving worker and employer capacity to 

24 identify and address skill needs. 

25 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this subsection, the 

26 term ‘eligible entity’ means a State agency or conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5401.IS S5401

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1 sortium of State agencies, including a multistate 

2 data collaborative, that is or includes the State agen3 cy responsible for— 

4 ‘‘(A) State employer wage records used by 

5 the State’s unemployment insurance programs 

6 in labor market information reporting and anal7 ysis and for fulfilling the reporting require8 ments of this Act; 

9 ‘‘(B) the production of labor market infor10 mation; and 

11 ‘‘(C) the direct administration of a core 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 

15 submit an application to the Secretary at such time 

16 and in such manner as the Secretary may require, 

17 which shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed activi19 ties that will be conducted by the eligible entity, 

20 including a description of the need for such ac21 tivities and a detailed budget for such activities; 

22 ‘‘(B) a description of the expected out23 comes and outputs that will result from the 

24 proposed activities and the proposed uses of 

25 such outputs; 


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1 ‘‘(C) a description of how the proposed ac2 tivities will— 

3 ‘‘(i) support the reporting of perform4 ance data, including employment and earn5 ings outcomes, for the performance ac6 countability requirements under section 

7 116, including outcomes for eligible train8 ing providers; 

9 ‘‘(ii) improve workforce data stand10 ardization; 

11 ‘‘(iii) leverage public-private partner12 ships to achieve intended goals of the ac13 tivities; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) improve the collection, accuracy, 

15 timeliness, and usability of real-time, econ16 omy-wide data on new and emerging skills 

17 and in-demand occupational roles; 

18 ‘‘(D) a description of the methods and pro19 cedures the eligible entity will use to promote 

20 individual privacy and data security in the col21 lection, storage, and use of all data involved in 

22 the systems and resources supported through 

23 the grant, in accordance with Federal and State 

24 privacy laws; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) a plan for how the eligible entity will 

2 continue the activities or sustain the use of the 

3 outputs created with the grant funds after the 

4 grant period ends. 

5 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

6 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to— 

7 ‘‘(A) any eligible entity that is a consor8 tium comprised of State agencies from multiple 

9 States (including at least one State agency that 

10 has not previously received a grant from the 

11 Secretary for the purposes of this subsection 

12 and demonstrates a substantial need to improve 

13 its data infrastructure) and has the capacity to 

14 make significant contributions toward building 

15 interoperable, cross-State data infrastructure 

16 and leveraging public-private partnerships to 

17 provide participating States the ability to better 

18 understand— 

19 ‘‘(i) earnings and employment out20 comes of individuals who work out-of21 State; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) cross-State earnings and employ23 ment trends, including new and emerging 

24 skills and in-demand occupational roles; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any eligible entity that will use grant 

2 funds to— 

3 ‘‘(i) expand the adoption and use of 

4 linked, open, and interoperable data on 

5 skills and credentials, including through 

6 the development of a credential registry or 

7 other tools and services designed to help 

8 learners and workers make informed deci9 sions; 

10 ‘‘(ii) enhance collaboration and part11 nerships with private sector workforce and 

12 labor market data entities and the end13 users of workforce and labor market data, 

14 including individuals, employers, economic 

15 development agencies, and workforce devel16 opment providers; 

17 ‘‘(iii) improve real-time workforce 

18 data collection and reporting toward equip19 ping employers, workers, and training pro20 viders with accurate information to better 

21 predict workforce demands, including re22 lated to the expanding role of emerging 

23 technology (including artificial intelligence 

24 and machine learning) in the workplace; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) leverage the use of non-Federal 

2 contributions to improve workforce data in3 frastructure, including staff capacity build4 ing; or 

5 ‘‘(v) expand existing statewide longi6 tudinal data systems, including such sys7 tems receiving assistance under section 

8 208 of the Educational Technical Assist9 ance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9607). 

10 ‘‘(5) USE OF FUNDS.—In addition to the activi11 ties described in clauses (i) through (v) of paragraph 

12 (4)(B), an eligible entity awarded a grant under this 

13 subsection may use funds to carry out any of the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(A) Supporting data linkages, including 

16 on skills and emerging skills and in-demand oc17 cupational roles, for data from education and 

18 workforce development systems, labor market 

19 outcomes, and other data sources, which may 

20 include integrating such data with statewide 

21 longitudinal data systems. 

22 ‘‘(B) Accelerating the replication and 

23 adoption of data standards, systems, projects, 

24 products, or practices already in use in a State 

25 to other States. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Research and labor market data im2 provement activities to improve the timeliness, 

3 relevance, and accessibility of such data, which 

4 may include— 

5 ‘‘(i) pilot projects that are developed 

6 locally but designed to scale to other re7 gions or States; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) end-user tools, which may facili9 tate career exploration or related data in10 sights. 

11 ‘‘(D) Establishing, enhancing, or con12 necting to a system of interoperable learning 

13 and employment records that provides individ14 uals who choose to participate in such system 

15 ownership of a verified and secure record of the 

16 credentials earned and skills gained by such in17 dividuals and the ability to share such record 

18 with employers and education providers. 

19 ‘‘(E) Defining policies, guidelines, stand20 ards, or protocols, as appropriate for data col21 lection, storage, data sharing, use, data destruc22 tion, and disclosure avoidance to secure any 

23 personally identifiable information, in accord24 ance with Federal and State privacy laws. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Increasing local board access to and 

2 integration with the State’s statewide longitu3 dinal data system in a secure manner. 

4 ‘‘(G) Establishing or participating in a 

5 data exchange for collecting and using stand6 ards-based jobs, skills, and employment data in7 cluding, at a minimum, job titles or occupation 

8 codes. 

9 ‘‘(H) Improving State and local staff ca10 pacity to understand, use, and analyze data to 

11 improve decision making, improve participant 

12 outcomes, and improve the ability of workers to 

13 adapt to changes in the workplace, including re14 garding emerging technologies (including artifi15 cial intelligence and machine learning tools). 

16 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

18 this subsection may be for a period of not more 

19 than 3 years. 

20 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.— 

21 Funds made available under this subsection 

22 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, 

23 other Federal, State, or local funds used for de24 velopment of State data systems. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Each eligible entity that 

2 receives a grant under this subsection shall sub3 mit a report to the Secretary not later than 180 

4 days after the conclusion of the grant period on 

5 the activities supported through the grant and 

6 any improvements in the use of workforce and 

7 labor market information that have resulted 

8 from such activities. 

9 ‘‘(7) STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYS10 TEMS.—In this subsection, the term ‘statewide longi11 tudinal data systems’ has the same meaning as such 

12 term used in section 153(a)(5) of the Education 

13 Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

14 9543(a)(5)).’’. 

15 (b) SOURCE OF FUNDING.—Section 132(a)(2)(A) of 

16 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

17 3172(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘under sections’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘under section’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘169(c) (relating to dislocated 

21 worker projects)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (c) (re22 lating to dislocated worker projects) and (d) (relat23 ing to a workforce data quality initiative) of section 

24 169’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘and 170’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

2 section 170’’. 

Æ 


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