I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7050 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide 

grants to retrain certain transportation workers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2020 

Ms. JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

program to provide grants to retrain certain transportation workers, 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 ‘‘Transportation Work5 force Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION WORKER RETRAINING GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor9 tation shall establish a program to make grants to eligible 

10 entities to develop a curriculum for and establish transporVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:06 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7050.IH H7050

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1 tation worker training programs in urban and rural areas 

2 to train, upskill, and prepare workers whose jobs may be 

3 changed or worsened by automation, or who have been 

4 separated from their jobs, or have received notice of im5 pending job loss, as a result of being replaced by auto6 mated driving systems. 

7 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities 

8 shall be eligible to receive grants under this section: 

9 (1) Institutions of higher education. 

10 (2) Consortia of institutions of higher edu11 cation. 

12 (3) Trade associations. 

13 (4) Nongovernmental stakeholders. 

14 (5) Organizations with a demonstrated capacity 

15 to develop and provide career ladder programs 

16 through labor-management partnerships and appren17 ticeships on a nationwide basis. 

18 (c) LIMITATION ON AWARDS.—An entity may only 

19 receive one grant per year under this section in an amount 

20 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

21 (d) PARTICIPANTS IN TRANSPORTATION WORKER

22 RETRAINING PROGRAMS.—A grant provided under this 

23 section may be used for participants in transportation 

24 worker retraining programs to pursue a degree or certifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:06 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7050.IH H7050

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1 cation through the coursework or curriculum developed 

2 under the program. 

3 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

4 this section may use grant amounts for studies, pilot pro5 grams, as well as testing new roles for current jobs, includ6 ing mechanical work, diagnostic, and fleet operations man7 agement. 

8 (f) GENERAL SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

9 shall select recipients of grants under this section on the 

10 basis of the following criteria: 

11 (1) Demonstrated research and extension re12 sources available to the applicant for carrying out 

13 this section. 

14 (2) Capability of the applicant to develop cur15 riculum in the training or retraining of individuals 

16 described in subsection (a) as a result of driverless 

17 vehicles. 

18 (3) Demonstrated commitment of the recipient 

19 to carry out a transportation workforce development 

20 program through degree-granting programs or pro21 grams that provide other industry-recognized creden22 tials. 

23 (g) ELIGIBILITY.—An applicant is only eligible for a 

24 grant under this section if such applicant— 

25 (1) has an established transportation program; 


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1 (2) has expertise in solving transportation prob2 lems through research, training, education, and tech3 nology; and 

4 (3) shares information with other programs. 

5 (h) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of a 

7 grant under this section shall be a dollar for dollar 

8 match of the costs of establishing and administering 

9 the retraining program and related activities carried 

10 out by the grant recipient or consortium of grant re11 cipients. 

12 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—For a recipient 

13 of a grant under this section carrying out activities 

14 under such grant in partnership with a public trans15 portation agency that is receiving amounts under 

16 section 5307, 5337, or 5339, not more than 0.5 per17 cent of amounts made available under any such sec18 tion may qualify as the non-Federal share under 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 (i) TRACKING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Not later 

21 than 1 year after a grant award is made under this sec22 tion, the Secretary shall implement a reporting or tracking 

23 mechanism to determine— 

24 (1) from which sectors of the transportation in25 dustry are workers being displaced; 


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1 (2) for what skills and professions are workers 

2 being retrained; 

3 (3) how many workers have benefitted from the 

4 grant award; and 

5 (4) relevant demographic information of im6 pacted workers. 

7 (j) DEFINITION OF INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU8 CATION.—In this Act, the term ‘‘institution of higher edu9 cation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 

10 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

13 appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2021, 2022, and 2023 to carry out this section. 

15 (2) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

16 made available to the Secretary to carry out this sec17 tion shall remain available for obligation by the Sec18 retary for a period of 3 years after the last day of 

19 the fiscal year for which the amounts are authorized. 

20 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States shall conduct a study and submit to 

24 Congress a report on the impact of driverless vehicle adop25 tion on— 


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1 (1) the workforce of the United States; 

2 (2) the trucking, freight, and personal transpor3 tation industries; 

4 (3) wages; 

5 (4) job losses, including the economic impact on 

6 each region of the United States; and 

7 (5) the creation of new jobs and how transpor8 tation sector jobs would change due to driverless ve9 hicle adoption. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION.—The study shall be carried out 

11 in consultation with— 

12 (1) academics; 

13 (2) labor unions; 

14 (3) the Department of Transportation; and 

15 (4) the Department of Labor. 

16 (c) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of Transportation 

17 shall seek to enter into an agreement with an institute 

18 of higher education or nonprofit organization with dem19 onstrated capacity in carrying out research on the subject 

20 of the study required under subsection (a) to conduct such 

21 research. Such agreement shall require the institute or 

22 nonprofit to submit such research to the Comptroller Gen23 eral for inclusion in such study. 

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