II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1619 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to develop a strategy report to address 

the skills gap by providing recommendations to increase on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities, increase employer participation in 

education and workforce training, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 30, 2013 

Mr. DONNELLY (for himself and Mr. HELLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to develop a strategy report 

to address the skills gap by providing recommendations 

to increase on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities, increase employer participation in education and 

workforce training, 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 ‘‘Skills Gap Strategy 

5 Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STRATEGY REPORT. 

2 (a) STRATEGY REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

3 shall develop and submit to Congress a strategy report to 

4 address the skills gap by providing analysis and rec5 ommendations to increase on-the-job training and appren6 ticeship opportunities and increase employer participation 

7 in education and workforce training. 

8 (b) GOALS OF THE STRATEGY REPORT.—The strat9 egy report required by subsection (a) shall include specific 

10 recommendations to achieve the following goals: 

11 (1) To increase the aggregate number of em12 ployers and employees participating in on-the-job 

13 training and apprenticeships. 

14 (2) To determine ways in which the Depart15 ment of Labor can increase employer outreach to en16 courage new and expanded employer participation in 

17 education and workforce training. 

18 (3) To identify and prioritize industry-recog19 nized postsecondary credentials that are nationally 

20 portable and aligned with in-demand occupations in 

21 industries such as construction, manufacturing, and 

22 others that are emerging. 

23 (4) To determine ways in which the Depart24 ment of Labor can better address the skills gap by 

25 maximizing existing resources, programs, and per26 sonnel. 


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1 (c) ANALYSIS REQUIRED.—As part of the strategy 

2 report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, at a min3 imum, include the following: 

4 (1) A comparison of United States on-the-job 

5 training and apprenticeship policies and strategies 

6 with the policies and strategies of other countries 

7 where employers play a larger role in education and 

8 workforce training. 

9 (2) An assessment of the Department of La10 bor’s Registered Apprenticeship program to deter11 mine how it can be better utilized to appeal to more 

12 industries and to boost the goals described in sub13 section (b). 

14 (3) An evaluation of any existing or potential 

15 opportunities within the Department of Labor to 

16 refocus or repurpose resources and personnel to bet17 ter support on-the-job training and apprenticeship 

18 goals. 

19 (4) An analysis of the specific barriers pre20 venting the domestic workforce from acquiring the 

21 skills desired by domestic employers, including an 

22 assessment of opportunities to reduce those barriers 

23 by— 


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1 (A) improving coordination between Fed2 eral agencies that administer employment and 

3 training programs; and 

4 (B) modifying Federal employment and 

5 training programs to enable States to better 

6 utilize Federal employment and training funds. 

7 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall in8 clude in the skills gap strategy report required under sub9 section (a) recommendations for achieving the goals in10 cluded in the strategy pursuant to subsection (b). Such 

11 recommendations may include proposals as follows: 

12 (1) Actions that may be taken by the Federal 

13 Government, Congress, State, local and territorial 

14 governments, the private sector, universities, indus15 try associations, and other stakeholders to improve 

16 policies, coordination, and interaction between such 

17 entities, including strategies and best practices to— 

18 (A) boost public-private partnerships and 

19 employer-led partnerships; and 

20 (B) help establish regional industry part21 nerships. 

22 (2) Adoption of strategies that have been imple23 mented and proven successful in key industries and 

24 regions in the United States and in other countries. 


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1 (3) In coordination with the Secretary of Com2 merce and the Secretary of Education, develop plans 

3 that identify strategies— 

4 (A) for increased employer participation in 

5 career and technical education; 

6 (B) to better align career and technical 

7 education curriculums and programs with fast 

8 growing industry sectors; 

9 (C) to encourage more pre-apprenticeship 

10 and college credit courses in secondary schools; 

11 (D) to improve school-to-work transitions 

12 and connections; and 

13 (E) to assist employers in partnering with 

14 K–12 schools, community colleges, and service 

15 providers. 

16 (e) SUBMITTAL OF STRATEGY REPORT.—Not later 

17 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary shall submit to Congress the strategy report 

19 developed under this section. 

20 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may imple21 ment the recommendations under subsection (d) as the 

22 Secretary determines appropriate, if otherwise permitted 

23 under law. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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

3 means a credential that— 

4 (A) is sought or accepted by employers 

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

7 screening, hiring, or advancement; 

8 (B) is endorsed by a recognized trade or 

9 professional association or organization, rep10 resenting a significant part of the industry sec11 tor; and 

12 (C) is a nationally portable credential that 

13 is sought or accepted across multiple States, as 

14 described in subparagraph (A). 

15 (2) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN16 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden17 tial’’ means a credential consisting of an industry18 recognized credential for postsecondary training, a 

19 certificate that meets the requirements of subpara20 graphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) for postsec21 ondary training, a certificate of completion of a post22 secondary apprenticeship through a program de23 scribed in section 122(a)(2)(B) of the Workforce In24 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842(a)(2)(B)), or 

25 an associate degree or baccalaureate degree awarded 


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1 by an institution of higher education (as defined in 

2 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))). 

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

5 the Secretary of Labor. 

6 (4) SKILLS GAP.—The term ‘‘skills gap’’ refers 

7 to the difference, or gap, between the current supply 

8 of labor and skills of the workforce and that which 

9 is desired by employers. 

Æ 


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