II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2722 

To address the needs of workers in industries likely to be impacted by 

rapidly evolving technologies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, and Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To address the needs of workers in industries likely to be 

impacted by rapidly evolving technologies. 

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 ‘‘Investing in Tomor5 row’s Workforce Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) A 2019 Government Accountability Office 

9 report found that while there are many Federal em10 ployment and training programs, their total funding 


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1 levels remain at nearly $20,000,000,000, or less 

2 than 0.1 percent of the gross domestic product of 

3 the United States. 

4 (2) The number of workers receiving federally 

5 supported training has declined in the past 3 dec6 ades as advances in technology have simultaneously 

7 shifted labor market demand over time. 

8 (3) Job losses from automation are more likely 

9 to impact women, people of color, and workers mak10 ing less than $40,000 annually. 

11 (4) The COVID–19 pandemic accelerated 

12 trends in automation, with 43 percent of businesses 

13 in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs sur14 vey indicating they plan to reduce their workforce as 

15 a result of technology integration. 

16 (5) Strong Federal investment in expanding 

17 training services for workers whose jobs may be lost 

18 due to automation could prepare the United States 

19 workforce to better adapt to changes in the labor 

20 market and enter into skilled positions in techno21 logically oriented occupations and industries. 

22 (6) A focus on preparing the workforce of the 

23 United States for jobs that utilize advanced tech24 nologies and require digital literacy could grow 


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1 wages, increase economic productivity, and boost the 

2 competitiveness of the United States. 

3 (7) Studies show that the United States would 

4 need to invest $72,000,000,000 more annually just 

5 to reach the average investment in workforce policies 

6 of other industrial countries. For training alone, the 

7 United States would need to invest nearly 

8 $8,500,000,000 just to reach the average amount in9 vested by member countries of the Organisation on 

10 Economic Co-operation and Development. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) AUTOMATION.—The term ‘‘automation’’ 

14 means a device, process, or system that functions 

15 without continuous input from an operator, includ16 ing— 

17 (A) advanced technologies, such as— 

18 (i) data collection, classification proc19 essing, and analytics; and 

20 (ii) 3-D printing, digital design and 

21 simulation, and digital manufacturing; 

22 (B) robotics, including collaborative robot23 ics, and worker augmentation technology; 

24 (C) autonomous vehicle technology; or 

25 (D) autonomous machinery technology. 


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1 (2) COVERED POPULATION.—The term ‘‘cov2 ered population’’ means a population of individuals 

3 with a barrier to employment described in subpara4 graphs (A) through (N) of section 3(24) of the 

5 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

6 U.S.C. 3102(24)). 

7 (3) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The term ‘‘digital lit8 eracy’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

9 60301 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 

10 Act (47 U.S.C. 1721). 

11 (4) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘‘dis12 located worker’’ has the meaning given the term in 

13 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor14 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

15 (5) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term eligible 

16 partnership means an industry or sector partnership, 

17 as defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 

18 and Opportunity Act, except that— 

19 (A) for purposes of applying paragraph 

20 (26)(A)(iii) of that section, the term ‘‘institu21 tion of higher education’’ has the meaning given 

22 the term in section 101 of the Higher Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 

24 (B) the partnership shall include, in addi25 tion to the representatives described in clauses 


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1 (i) through (iii) of section 3(26)(A) of the 

2 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, 

3 representatives of— 

4 (i) a State workforce development 

5 board or a local workforce development 

6 board; and 

7 (ii) an economic development organi8 zation. 

9 (6) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTOR OR OCCUPA10 TION.—The term ‘‘in-demand industry sector or oc11 cupation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

13 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

14 (7) INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAINING.— 

15 The term ‘‘integrated education and training’’ has 

16 the meaning given the term in section 203 of the 

17 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

18 U.S.C. 3272). 

19 (8) LOCAL AND STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOP20 MENT BOARDS.—The terms ‘‘local workforce devel21 opment board’’ and ‘‘State workforce development 

22 board’’ have the meanings given the terms ‘‘local 

23 board’’ and ‘‘State board’’, respectively, in section 3 

24 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

25 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 


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1 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Labor. 

3 (10) TRAINING SERVICES.—The term ‘‘training 

4 services’’ means training services described in sec5 tion 134(c)(3)(D) of the Workforce Innovation and 

6 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(D)) and 

7 may include digital literacy skills. 

8 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO IMPROVE TRAINING FOR WORKERS IM9 PACTED BY AUTOMATION. 

10 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro12 priated under subsection (g) and beginning in fiscal 

13 year 2024, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 

14 competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to support 

15 demonstration and pilot projects relating to the 

16 training needs of workers who are, or are likely to 

17 become, dislocated workers as a result of automa18 tion. 

19 (2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

20 section shall be for a period not to exceed 4 years. 

21 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

23 grant under this section, an eligible partnership shall 

24 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 


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1 in such manner, and containing such information as 

2 the Secretary shall reasonably require. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 

5 the demonstration or pilot project to be completed 

6 with the grant funds, which description shall in7 clude— 

8 (A) a description of the members of the el9 igible partnership who will be involved in the 

10 demonstration or pilot project and the services 

11 each member will provide; 

12 (B) a description of the training services 

13 that will be available to individuals participating 

14 in the demonstration or pilot project, which 

15 may include— 

16 (i) a plan to train dislocated workers 

17 from industries likely to be impacted by 

18 automation and transition the workers into 

19 regionally in-demand industry sectors or 

20 occupations; and 

21 (ii) a plan to partner with local busi22 nesses to retrain, upskill, and re-deploy 

23 workers within an industry as an alter24 native to layoffs; 


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1 (C) a plan to provide workers with tech2 nology-based skills training, which may include 

3 training to provide skills related to coding, sys4 tems engineering, or information technology se5 curity, in addition to other skills; 

6 (D) a description of the goals that the eli7 gible partnership intends to achieve to upskill 

8 workers and prepare them for in-demand indus9 try sectors or occupations; and 

10 (E) a description of how and which covered 

11 populations within the area will be supported 

12 through this grant, including a plan for stake13 holder engagement. 

14 (c) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this sec15 tion, the Secretary shall— 

16 (1) first give priority to eligible partnerships 

17 that are located in areas with a high percentage of 

18 individuals from covered populations; and 

19 (2) to the extent amounts remain available for 

20 additional grants after carrying out paragraph (1), 

21 give priority to— 

22 (A) eligible partnerships that are located in 

23 an area with a high concentration of— 

24 (i) industries with a higher likelihood 

25 of being impacted by automation; or 


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1 (ii) industries included in in-demand 

2 industry sectors, as determined under sub3 paragraphs (A)(i) and (B) of section 3(23) 

4 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor5 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(23)); 

6 (B) eligible partnerships— 

7 (i) with a plan to provide incumbent 

8 worker training— 

9 (I) to assist workers in obtaining 

10 the skills necessary to retain employ11 ment or avert layoffs; or 

12 (II) that allows a worker working 

13 for an employer to acquire new skills 

14 that allow the worker to obtain a 

15 higher-skilled or higher-paid position 

16 with such employer; and 

17 (ii) that partner with local employers 

18 that intend to backfill the pre-training po19 sitions of the incumbent workers by hiring 

20 new workers to fill those positions; 

21 (C) eligible partnerships that will provide 

22 workers with a transportation stipend, paid sick 

23 leave, paid family and medical leave, access to 

24 child care services, or other employment bene25 fits; or 


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1 (D) eligible partnerships with a plan to de2 velop a shared training curriculum that can be 

3 used across local and regional networks of em4 ployers and training providers. 

5 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership that re6 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 

7 for 1 or more of the following: 

8 (1) Providing training services under the dem9 onstration or pilot project, which may include train10 ing services that prepare workers for in-demand in11 dustry sectors or occupations. 

12 (2) Providing assistance for employers in devel13 oping a staff position for an individual who will be 

14 responsible for supporting training services provided 

15 under the grant. 

16 (3) Purchasing equipment or technology nec17 essary for training services provided under para18 graph (1). 

19 (4) Providing job search and other transitional 

20 assistance to workers in industries with high rates of 

21 job loss. 

22 (5) Providing a training stipend to workers for 

23 training services. 

24 (6) Providing integrated education and train25 ing. 


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1 (e) REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 an eligible partnership’s completion of a demonstra4 tion or pilot project supported under this section, 

5 the eligible partnership shall prepare and submit to 

6 the Secretary a report regarding— 

7 (A) the number of workers who received 

8 training services through the demonstration or 

9 pilot project; 

10 (B) the number of such workers who suc11 cessfully transitioned into a new position fol12 lowing completion of the training services; 

13 (C) the number of individuals who success14 fully transitioned into an in-demand industry 

15 sector or occupation following completion of the 

16 training services; 

17 (D) annual earnings data for individuals 

18 who have completed training services through 

19 the demonstration or pilot project; 

20 (E) the percentage of individuals described 

21 in subparagraph (D) who are in education or 

22 training activities, or in employment, during the 

23 second quarter after exit from the training serv24 ices; 


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1 (F) the percentage of individuals described 

2 in subparagraph (D) who are in education or 

3 training activities, or in employment, during the 

4 fourth quarter after exit from the training serv5 ices; and 

6 (G) any practices used by the partnership 

7 that should be considered best practices with 

8 respect to training workers in industries that 

9 have, or are expected to have, high rates of job 

10 loss as a result of automation. 

11 (2) DISAGGREGATION.—Each eligible partner12 ship shall provide the information required under 

13 subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1) in 

14 the aggregate and disaggregated by type of training 

15 service and by age, gender, and race of the workers. 

16 (f) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible partner17 ship that receives a grant under this section shall use the 

18 grant funds in a manner that is consistent with the labor 

19 standards and protections described in section 181 of the 

20 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

21 3241) and nondiscrimination provisions described in sec22 tion 188 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3248). 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2024 

2 through 2028. 

3 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF WORKER TRAINING SERVICES. 

4 (a) ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER EMPLOY5 MENT AND TRAINING.—Section 134(d)(1)(A) of the 

6 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

7 3174(d)(1)(A)) is amended— 

8 (1) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (2) in clause (xii), by striking the period and in10 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(xiii) training programs for individ13 uals who are, or are likely to become, dis14 located workers as a result of automation, 

15 including activities that prepare the indi16 viduals for occupations in the technology 

17 sector.’’. 

18 (b) NATIONAL DISLOCATED WORKER GRANTS.—Sec19 tion 170 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

20 (29 U.S.C. 3225) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘ad22 vances in automation technology,’’ before ‘‘plant clo23 sures,’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addition 

2 to any funds reserved under section 132(a)(2)(A) to carry 

3 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

4 to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 

5 years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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