II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1243 

To require that certain Federal job training and career education programs 

give priority to programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21 (legislative day, JUNE 16), 2011 

Mrs. HAGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require that certain Federal job training and career education programs give priority to programs that provide 

an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. 

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 ‘‘American Manufac5 turing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration 

6 Achievement Works Act’’ or the ‘‘AMERICA Works Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AND NATIONALLY PORT2 ABLE CREDENTIALS FOR JOB TRAINING PRO3 GRAMS. 

4 (a) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998.— 

5 (1) GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING AC6 TIVITIES.—Section 134(d)(4)(F) of the Workforce 

7 Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(4)(F)) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(iv) PRIORITY FOR PROGRAMS THAT

10 PROVIDE AN INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AND

11 NATIONALLY PORTABLE CREDENTIAL.—In 

12 selecting and approving training services, 

13 or programs of training services, under 

14 this section, a one-stop operator and em15 ployees of a one-stop center referred to in 

16 subsection (c) shall give priority consider17 ation to services and programs (approved 

18 by the appropriate State agency and local 

19 board in conjunction with section 122) that 

20 lead to a credential that is in demand in 

21 the local area served and listed in the reg22 istry described in section 3(b) of the 

23 AMERICA Works Act.’’. 

24 (2) YOUTH ACTIVITIES.—Section 129(c)(1)(C) 

25 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

26 2854(c)(1)(C)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by redesignating clauses (ii) through 

2 (iv) as clauses (iii) through (v), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (B) inserting after clause (i) the following: 

5 ‘‘(ii) training (with priority consider6 ation given to programs that lead to a cre7 dential that is in demand in the local area 

8 served and listed in the registry described 

9 in section 3(b) of the AMERICA Works 

10 Act, if the local board determines that 

11 such programs are available and appro12 priate);’’. 

13 (b) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.— 

14 (1) STATE PLAN.—Section 122(c)(1)(B) of the 

15 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

16 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)(B)) is amended 

17 by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting 

18 the following: ‘‘and, with respect to programs of 

19 study leading to an industry-recognized credential or 

20 certificate, will give priority consideration to pro21 grams of study that— 

22 ‘‘(i) lead to an appropriate (as deter23 mined by the eligible agency) skills creden24 tial (which may be a certificate) that is in 

25 demand in the area served and listed in 


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1 the registry described in section 3(b) of the 

2 AMERICA Works Act; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) may provide a basis for addi4 tional credentials, certificates, or degrees;’’. 

5 (2) USE OF LOCAL FUNDS.—Section 134(b) of 

6 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

7 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2354(b)) is amended— 

8 (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

9 and inserting a semicolon; 

10 (B) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the 

11 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(13) describe the career and technical edu14 cation activities supporting the attainment of indus15 try-recognized credentials or certificates, and how 

16 the eligible recipient, in selecting such activities, 

17 gave priority consideration to activities supporting 

18 in-demand registry skill credentials described in sec19 tion 122(c)(1)(B)(i).’’. 

20 (3) TECH-PREP PROGRAMS.—Section 

21 203(c)(2)(E) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

22 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

23 2373(c)(2)(E)) is amended by striking ‘‘industry24 recognized credential, a certificate,’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘industry-recognized credential or certificate (such 


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1 as an in-demand registry skill credential described in 

2 section 122(c)(1)(B)(i)),’’. 

3 (c) TRAINING PROGRAMS UNDER TAA.—Section 

4 236(a)(5) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

5 2296(a)(5)) is amended by inserting after the sentence 

6 that follows subparagraph (H)(ii) the following: ‘‘In ap7 proving training programs under paragraph (1), the Sec8 retary shall give priority consideration to programs that 

9 lead to a credential that is in demand in the local area 

10 (defined for purposes of title I of the Workforce Invest11 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.)) served by 

12 the corresponding one-stop delivery system under that title 

13 for the training programs, and that is listed in the registry 

14 described in section 3(b) of the AMERICA Works Act.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. SKILL CREDENTIAL REGISTRY. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) COVERED PROVISION.—The term ‘‘covered 

18 provision’’ means any of sections 129 and 134 of the 

19 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2854, 

20 2864), section 122(c)(1)(B) of the Carl D. Perkins 

21 Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

22 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)(B)), and section 236 of the Trade 

23 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296). 


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1 (2) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED.—The term ‘‘indus2 try-recognized’’, used with respect to a credential, 

3 means a credential that— 

4 (A) is sought or accepted by companies 

5 within the industry sector involved as recog6 nized, preferred, or required for recruitment, 

7 screening, or hiring; and 

8 (B) is endorsed by a nationally recognized 

9 trade association or organization representing a 

10 significant part of the industry sector. 

11 (3) NATIONALLY PORTABLE.—The term ‘‘na12 tionally portable’’, used with respect to a credential, 

13 means a credential that is sought or accepted by 

14 companies within the industry sector involved, across 

15 multiple States, as recognized, preferred, or required 

16 for recruitment, screening, or hiring. 

17 (4) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

18 The term ‘‘workforce investment activities’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Work20 force Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801). 

21 (b) REGISTRY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of Labor (referred to in this section as the 

25 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall create a registry of skill credenVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:54 Jun 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243

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1 tials (which may be certificates), for purposes of en2 abling programs that lead to such a credential to re3 ceive priority under a covered provision. 

4 (2) REGISTRY.—The Secretary shall— 

5 (A) list a credential in the registry if the 

6 credential is— 

7 (i) required by Federal law for an oc8 cupation; or 

9 (ii) required by State law for an occu10 pation (such as a credential required by 

11 State law regarding qualifications for a 

12 health care occupation) and submitted to 

13 the Secretary by a State or appropriate en14 tities within a State pursuant to a request 

15 made by the Secretary, no less frequently 

16 than biennially, for the identification of 

17 such a credential; 

18 (B) list the credential in the registry if the 

19 credential is a credential from the Manufac20 turing Institute-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills 

21 Certification System; and 

22 (C) list the credential, and list an updated 

23 credential, in the registry if the credential in24 volved is an industry-recognized, nationally 

25 portable credential that is consistent with the 


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1 Secretary’s established industry competency 

2 models and is consistently updated to reflect 

3 changing industry competencies. 

4 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

5 shall be construed to require an entity with responsibility 

6 for selecting or approving an education, training, or work7 force investment activities program with regard to a cov8 ered provision, to select a program with a credential listed 

9 in the registry described in subsection (b). 

10 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, take 

12 effect 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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