II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1517 

To provide for the creation of jobs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the creation of jobs. 

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 WPA 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra9 tion’’ means the Works Progress Administration es10 tablished under section 3. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENTS.—The term ‘‘eligi2 ble Departments’’ means the Department of Health 

3 and Human Services, the Department of Energy, 

4 the Department of Agriculture, the Department of 

5 the Interior, the Department of Housing and Urban 

6 Development, the Department of Transportation, the 

7 Department of Commerce, the Department of Edu8 cation, the Department of Homeland Security, and 

9 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 individual’’ means an individual who has been unem12 ployed for at least the 60-day period prior to— 

13 (A) in the case of employment under a 

14 work project approved by the Administration 

15 under section 4, the commencement of such 

16 project; 

17 (B) in the case of a fellowship under sec18 tion 5, the commencement of such fellowship; 

19 and 

20 (C) in the case of a grant under section 6, 

21 the hiring of such individual under the grant. 

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Labor. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKS PROGRESS ADMINIS2 TRATION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

4 the Department of Labor a Works Progress Administra5 tion to be headed by the Secretary. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Administration is 

7 to— 

8 (1) receive works project proposals submitted 

9 by Federal departments and agencies under section 

10 4(a)(1); and 

11 (2) select works projects proposals that meet 

12 the criteria under section 4(a)(2), as being eligible 

13 for assistance under this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. WPA PROJECTS. 

15 (a) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 

16 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, and subsequently 

18 at such times as the Administration shall request, 

19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 

20 Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

21 the Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of Housing 

22 and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transpor23 tation, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 

24 Education, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and 

25 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

26 Agency shall submit to the Administration proposals 


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1 for works projects within the jurisdiction of each 

2 such Secretary or Administrator that satisfy the cri3 teria described in paragraph (2). 

4 (2) CRITERIA.—The criteria described in this 

5 paragraph are the following with respect to the work 

6 project involved: 

7 (A) The project would produce a high 

8 number of employee hours per dollar of the 

9 total project cost. 

10 (B) Individuals with the required skills 

11 necessary to carry out the project can be readily 

12 recruited and employed from among the eligible 

13 individuals described in section 2(3). 

14 (C) The project would provide a continuing 

15 contribution to economic growth after the 

16 project is completed. 

17 (D) The project could be staffed by em18 ployees with minimal delay. 

19 (3) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Works projects 

20 under this subsection may include— 

21 (A) residential and commercial building 

22 weatherization projects; 

23 (B) residential and commercial water use 

24 efficiency improvement projects; 


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1 (C) highway, bridge, and rail repair and 

2 maintenance projects; 

3 (D) manufacturing projects; 

4 (E) school, library, and firehouse construc5 tion projects; 

6 (F) soil erosion and pesticide runoff pre7 vention projects; 

8 (G) trail maintenance projects; and 

9 (H) other projects that are proposed by 

10 the eligible departments and determined appro11 priate by the Administration. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Project proposals submitted to 

13 the Administration under subsection (a)(1) shall include— 

14 (1) a description of the project and a full sched15 ule of estimated costs; 

16 (2) an estimate of the number of employment 

17 hours required to complete the project; 

18 (3) a hiring timetable relating to the employ19 ment of various staffing levels under the project; 

20 (4) an estimated project completion date; and 

21 (5) such other information as the eligible de22 partment determines appropriate. 

23 (c) SELECTION OF PROPOSALS.—The Administration 

24 shall approve those proposals submitted under subsection 

25 (a)(1) that meet the criteria under subsection (a)(2) and 


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1 provide funding for such project from amounts appro2 priated under section 8. 

3 (d) PROJECT ADMINISTRATION.—An eligible depart4 ment that has submitted a works project proposal under 

5 subsection (a)(1) shall have primary responsibility for the 

6 administration and completion of the project. 

7 (e) CONTRACTING.—An eligible department shall be 

8 a party to any contract that governs a works project that 

9 is approved and funded in any manner under this Act. 

10 SEC. 5. WPA FELLOWSHIPS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible employer that is un12 able to hire an individual to fill an employment position 

13 that has been vacant for at least 90 days shall be eligible 

14 to enter into an agreement under this section with the Ad15 ministration to provide training to a WPA fellow with re16 spect to such position so that such fellow may become 

17 qualified to be employed by the employer to fill such posi18 tion. 

19 (b) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—To be eligible to enter 

20 into an agreement under subsection (a), an employer shall 

21 submit an application to the Administration at such time, 

22 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

23 Secretary may require, including— 

24 (1) a description of the employment position for 

25 which the employer is seeking a WPA fellow; and 


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1 (2) a certification that the employer has been 

2 unable to fill such position during at least the 90- 

3 day period prior to the date of the application. 

4 (c) FELLOWS.—An eligible individual may submit an 

5 application to the Administration to participate in the 

6 WPA fellowship program. Such application shall include 

7 such information as the Secretary shall require. The Ad8 ministration shall maintain a list of eligible individuals 

9 who have submitted applications under this subsection, 

10 along with a description of the skills of each such indi11 vidual. 

12 (d) TERMS OF FELLOWSHIP.— 

13 (1) DETAILING TO EMPLOYER.—An eligible in14 dividual who is selected to participate in the WPA 

15 fellowship program under this section shall be an 

16 employee of the Administration who is detailed by 

17 the Secretary to fill the employment position of an 

18 eligible employer under this section. 

19 (2) TRAINING PERIOD.—A WPA fellow that is 

20 detailed to an employer under paragraph (1) shall be 

21 provided with training by such employer with respect 

22 to the employment position for a period of not to ex23 ceed 12 months, except that the employer may at 

24 any time during such 12-month period employ such 

25 fellow to fill such employment position. At the conVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:15 Sep 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517

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1 clusion of such 12-month period, the employer shall 

2 employ such fellow or terminate the services of the 

3 fellow. 

4 SEC. 6. PUBLIC SAFETY HIRING GRANTS. 

5 The Secretary may transfer amounts appropriated 

6 under section 8— 

7 (1) to the Attorney General for use under the 

8 grant program under section 1701 of title I of the 

9 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

10 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) for the hiring of eligible 

11 individuals; and 

12 (2) to the Federal Emergency Management 

13 Agency for use under the Staffing For Adequate 

14 Fire & Emergency Response Grant program under 

15 the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 

16 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2200 et seq.) for the hiring of eligi17 ble individuals. 

18 SEC. 7. REPORTING AND OVERSIGHT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter 

21 (on June 30 and December 31 of each year), the Adminis22 tration shall submit to Congress a report that describes— 

23 (1) the number of works project proposals sub24 mitted to the Administration under section 4; 


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1 (2) the number of works projects approved by 

2 the Administration during the reporting period; 

3 (3) the number of works projects completed by 

4 the date of the report; and 

5 (4) with respect to each approved work project, 

6 a project description that includes information about 

7 whether the project is complete and such other infor8 mation as the Administration determines appro9 priate. 

10 (b) AUDITS.—The Government Accountability Office 

11 shall conduct an annual audit of— 

12 (1) the performance and activities of the Ad13 ministration; 

14 (2) the performance and completion of work 

15 projects; and 

16 (3) the performance of the eligible departments 

17 with respect to such projects. 

18 SEC. 8. APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 Out of funds of the Treasury not otherwise appro20 priated, there is appropriated to carry out this Act, 

21 $250,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2012 

22 through 2013. 

23 SEC. 9. SUNSET. 

24 The authority of the Administration to provide assist25 ance for works projects under this Act shall terminate 


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1 upon the date on which the Secretary certifies that the 

2 national unemployment rate is below 6 percent. 

3 SEC. 10. SURCHARGE ON HIGH INCOME INDIVIDUALS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 1 of the 

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following new part: 

7 ‘‘PART VIII—SURCHARGE ON HIGH INCOME 

8 INDIVIDUALS 

‘‘Sec. 59B. Surcharge on high income individuals. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 59B. SURCHARGE ON HIGH INCOME INDIVIDUALS. 

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of a taxpayer 

11 other than a corporation, there is hereby imposed (in addi12 tion to any other tax imposed by this subtitle) a tax equal 

13 to 5.4 percent of so much of the modified adjusted gross 

14 income of the taxpayer as exceeds $1,000,000 ($2,000,000 

15 in the case of any taxpayer making a joint return under 

16 section 6013). 

17 ‘‘(b) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—For 

18 purposes of this section, the term ‘modified adjusted gross 

19 income’ means adjusted gross income reduced by any de20 duction (not taken into account in determining adjusted 

21 gross income) allowed for investment interest (as defined 

22 in section 163(d)). In the case of an estate or trust, ad23 justed gross income shall be determined as provided in sec24 tion 67(e). 


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1 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) NONRESIDENT ALIEN.—In the case of a 

3 nonresident alien individual, only amounts taken 

4 into account in connection with the tax imposed 

5 under section 871(b) shall be taken into account 

6 under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS LIVING

8 ABROAD.—The dollar amount in effect under sub9 section (a) shall be decreased by the excess of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the amounts excluded from the tax11 payer’s gross income under section 911, over 

12 ‘‘(B) the amounts of any deductions or ex13 clusions disallowed under section 911(d)(6) 

14 with respect to the amounts described in sub15 paragraph (A). 

16 ‘‘(3) CHARITABLE TRUSTS.—Subsection (a) 

17 shall not apply to a trust all the unexpired interests 

18 in which are devoted to one or more of the purposes 

19 described in section 170(c)(2)(B). 

20 ‘‘(4) NOT TREATED AS TAX IMPOSED BY THIS

21 CHAPTER FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—The tax im22 posed under this section shall not be treated as tax 

23 imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining 

24 the amount of any credit under this chapter or for 

25 purposes of section 55. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Amounts collected 

2 under this section shall be used to reduce the Federal def3 icit.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for 

5 subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 

6 of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new item: 

‘‘PART VIII. SURCHARGE ON HIGH INCOME INDIVIDUALS.’’. 

8 (c) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—The amendment 

9 made by subsection (a) shall not be treated as a change 

10 in a rate of tax for purposes of section 15 of the Internal 

11 Revenue Code of 1986. 

12 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2011. 

Æ 


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