II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1329 

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish a pilot program 

to facilitate the provision of education and training programs in the 

field of advanced manufacturing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 6, 2011 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER 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 Investment Act of 1998 to establish 

a pilot program to facilitate the provision of education 

and training programs in the field of advanced manufacturing. 

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 ‘‘High-Tech Job Oppor5 tunities Between our Shores Act’’ or the ‘‘High-Tech 

6 JOBS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT ADVANCED MANU2 FACTURING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 

3 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

4 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(f) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE DE7 VELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under a plan published 

9 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, through 

10 grants or contracts, carry out demonstration and 

11 pilot projects for the purpose of facilitating the pro12 vision of education and training programs in the 

13 field of advanced manufacturing. Such projects 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) target skills and competency develop16 ment in communities with existing jobs in ad17 vanced manufacturing or expected growth in 

18 advanced manufacturing; 

19 ‘‘(B) provide education and training for 

20 available jobs or job openings that are antici21 pated in advanced manufacturing, that result in 

22 an employer- or industry-recognized and nation23 ally portable credential; 

24 ‘‘(C) educate individuals about opportuni25 ties for career advancement within advanced 

26 manufacturing; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) give priority to incumbent workers, 

2 dislocated workers, and unemployed workers. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re5 ceive a grant or enter into a contract under a 

6 project carried out under paragraph (1), an en7 tity, in any of the States or outlying areas, shall 

8 be any of the following types of entities: 

9 ‘‘(i) An institution of higher education 

10 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), 

12 a postsecondary vocational institution (as 

13 defined in section 102(c) of such Act (20 

14 U.S.C. 1002(c)), or a tribally controlled 

15 college or university (as defined in section 

16 2 of the Tribally Controlled Colleges and 

17 Universities Assistance Act of 1978 (25 

18 U.S.C. 1801)). 

19 ‘‘(ii) A local board, in partnership 

20 with one or more one-stop career centers, 

21 that specifies one or more educational enti22 ties described in clause (i) where education 

23 and training activities will occur. 

24 ‘‘(iii) A nonprofit organization. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Another entity that would serve 

2 educationally underserved communities. 

3 ‘‘(v) A consortium of entities de4 scribed in clauses (i) through (iv). 

5 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give 

6 priority to any entity, or consortium of entities, 

7 described in subparagraph (A) that proposes to 

8 use the funds received under this subsection to 

9 leverage substantial non-Federal funding for 

10 the program involved. 

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

12 grant or enter into a contract under this subsection 

13 an eligible entity described in paragraph (2) shall 

14 submit an application to the Secretary at such time 

15 and in such form and manner as the Secretary shall 

16 determine, including each of the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) A description of each eligible entity 

18 (including, in the case of a consortium, each eli19 gible entity in the consortium), evidence of each 

20 eligible entity’s capacity to carry out the activi21 ties described in paragraph (1), and a descrip22 tion of the expected participation and respon23 sibilities of each eligible entity. 

24 ‘‘(B) A description of education and train25 ing activities to be provided through the eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Jul 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1329.IS S1329

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1 cation and training program, and a description 

2 of how the activities will— 

3 ‘‘(i) develop skills and competencies 

4 demanded by advanced manufacturing 

5 firms; 

6 ‘‘(ii) lead to an employer- or industry7 recognized and nationally portable creden8 tial; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) educate individuals about oppor10 tunities for career advancement and wage 

11 growth within advanced manufacturing. 

12 ‘‘(C) A description of how the economy, of 

13 the State, locality, or outlying area where the 

14 eligible entity submitting the application will 

15 provide the program, would benefit, including a 

16 description of— 

17 ‘‘(i) evidence of existing jobs in ad18 vanced manufacturing or expected growth 

19 in advanced manufacturing in the State, 

20 locality, or outlying area; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the potential to prepare individ22 uals for existing jobs in advanced manufac23 turing or create additional job growth in 

24 advanced manufacturing through the pro25 gram as a result of investments in eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Jul 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1329.IS S1329

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1 cation and training in advanced manufac2 turing; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) how the eligible entity will ex4 pose incumbent workers, dislocated work5 ers, and unemployed workers to new ad6 vanced manufacturing technology skill sets 

7 through the program. 

8 ‘‘(D) A description of how the eligible enti9 ty will employ evidence-based training models 

10 that integrate academic instruction with train11 ing, including on-the-job training, in advanced 

12 manufacturing, to meet the goals described in 

13 paragraph (5). 

14 ‘‘(E) A description of how the eligible enti15 ty will coordinate activities with State boards or 

16 local boards, and State or local economic devel17 opment officials, in carrying out the program. 

18 ‘‘(F) A description of how the eligible enti19 ty will enter into a partnership with— 

20 ‘‘(i) a manufacturer who employs indi21 viduals with advanced manufacturing 

22 skills; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a labor organization whose mem24 bers are employed in advanced manufacVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Jul 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1329.IS S1329

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1 turing industries, where such a labor orga2 nization exists. 

3 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES.—Activities to be carried out 

4 under a program funded under paragraph (1) may 

5 include— 

6 ‘‘(A) classroom and on-site experiential 

7 learning; 

8 ‘‘(B) on-the-job training; 

9 ‘‘(C) training that leads to an employer- or 

10 industry-recognized competency and nationally 

11 portable credential for advanced manufacturing; 

12 ‘‘(D) development and implementation of 

13 registered apprenticeship programs, and 

14 preapprenticeship programs leading to reg15 istered apprenticeship programs; 

16 ‘‘(E) coordination with local boards imple17 menting and utilizing articulation agreements 

18 with educational entities described in paragraph 

19 (2)(A)(i) and other educational partners; 

20 ‘‘(F) distance learning; and 

21 ‘‘(G) any other activity the Secretary con22 siders appropriate for training in advanced 

23 manufacturing. 

24 ‘‘(5) GOALS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) GOALS.—The goals of the activities 

2 described in paragraph (4) shall be to— 

3 ‘‘(i) enhance the skill sets of incum4 bent workers, dislocated workers, and un5 employed workers who live in communities 

6 with existing jobs in advanced manufac7 turing or expected growth in advanced 

8 manufacturing, and enable such workers to 

9 obtain an employer- or industry-recognized 

10 and nationally portable credential; 

11 ‘‘(ii) enable individuals with limited 

12 experience to develop competencies in ad13 vanced manufacturing; 

14 ‘‘(iii) in an effort to meet the needs of 

15 advanced manufacturing businesses for 

16 adaptability in education and training of 

17 incumbent workers, strengthen partner18 ships of eligible entities described in para19 graph (2) with— 

20 ‘‘(I) manufacturers described in 

21 paragraph (3)(F); and 

22 ‘‘(II) labor organizations de23 scribed in paragraph (3)(F), where 

24 such labor organizations exist; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) help incumbent workers, dis2 located workers, and unemployed workers 

3 develop skills in advanced manufacturing 

4 that lead to employment or greater earn5 ings than would otherwise be available 

6 without those skills. 

7 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The 

8 Secretary shall negotiate, and reach agreement, 

9 with each eligible entity that receives a grant or 

10 enters into a contract under this subsection, on 

11 measures that will be used to evaluate the per12 formance of the eligible entity in carrying out 

13 the activities described in paragraph (4) and 

14 meeting the goals described in subparagraph 

15 (A). Such performance measures shall consist 

16 of indicators of performance, and, at a min17 imum, shall include— 

18 ‘‘(i) the number of workers, including 

19 incumbent workers, dislocated workers and 

20 unemployed workers, who are participants 

21 in the program involved, that receive 

22 employer- or industry-recognized and na23 tionally portable credentials; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the number of such participants, 

25 including dislocated workers and unemVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Jul 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1329.IS S1329

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1 ployed workers, that attain 1 or more basic 

2 skills that are required for an employer- or 

3 industry-recognized and nationally portable 

4 credential for advanced manufacturing; 

5 ‘‘(iii) the number of such incumbent 

6 workers who obtain skills, through edu7 cation and training, that meet the skill 

8 needs of employers to enhance operations; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the earnings growth of such par10 ticipants as a result of education and 

11 training provided through the program; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(v) other indicators the Secretary de14 termines to be necessary to evaluate the 

15 performance of the eligible entity in car16 rying out the activities described in para17 graph (4) and meeting the goals described 

18 in subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.—Beginning not later than 1 

20 year after the date of the first disbursement of 

21 funds under this subsection, the Secretary shall pro22 vide for the continuing evaluation of the programs 

23 funded under this subsection, as required by section 

24 172, and shall transmit a report of the evaluation to 


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1 Congress not later than 2 years after such date and 

2 every 2 years thereafter.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

5 (29 U.S.C. 2801) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(54) EMPLOYER- OR INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED

8 AND NATIONALLY PORTABLE CREDENTIAL.—The 

9 term ‘employer- or industry-recognized and nation10 ally portable’, used with respect to a credential, in11 cludes an educational certificate or degree, an occu12 pational license, an industry-sponsored certificate or 

13 certification, or a certificate or degree from a reg14 istered apprenticeship program.’’. 

Æ 


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