II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 175 

To evaluate certain skills certification programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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

A BILL 

To evaluate certain skills certification programs, 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 Standards Cer5 tification Evaluation Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Various entities across the United States 

9 have generated skills certification programs based on 

10 local and regional needs. At the same time, some na11 tional groups have engaged in similar efforts. 


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1 (2) As State and local workforce investment 

2 boards, workers, and employers search for a mean3 ingful way to categorize skills, information about ex4 isting skills certification programs and certifications 

5 can be limited, and may lead to the development of 

6 new, duplicative certifications. 

7 (3) As these skill certification programs may 

8 take less time than technical or vocational degrees, 

9 the programs provide important recognition for both 

10 employers and employees. 

11 (4) Nationally available, recognized standards 

12 for skills certification allow employers and employees 

13 the greatest possible flexibility by making the certifi14 cation portable and meaningful. 

15 (5) These standards benefit both incumbent, 

16 highly skilled workers and those workers with less 

17 specialized skills or just starting in the workforce. 

18 (6) Widely recognized standards for skills cer19 tification provide States, regions, communities, and 

20 cities the option and ability to quantify and cat21 egorize their workforce in a meaningful way. 

22 (7) There is a well-documented ‘‘skills gap’’ in 

23 many industries, including manufacturing, that 

24 makes it difficult for employers to find workers. 


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1 (8) In 2005, 90 percent of manufacturing em2 ployers say a shortage of qualified production work3 ers is their top workforce issue. 

4 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

5 The purposes of this Act are— 

6 (1) to periodically evaluate skills certification 

7 programs that certify various employee skills and to 

8 determine which skills certifications are most desired 

9 by employers and employees; and 

10 (2) to make information, and materials if pos11 sible, about skills certification programs available to 

12 eligible entities providing job training. 

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) LOCAL BOARD.—The term ‘‘local board’’ 

16 means a local workforce investment board estab17 lished under section 117 of the Workforce Invest18 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832). 

19 (2) SKILLS CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—The 

20 term ‘‘skills certification program’’ means an indus21 try-led or industry-created program that— 

22 (A) receives Federal funding; 

23 (B) is in existence as of the time that the 

24 evaluation under section 5 is conducted; 


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1 (C) delineates a skill set necessary for a 

2 career in a certain industry; 

3 (D) is not associated with an associate, 

4 baccalaureate, or postbaccalaureate degree pro5 gram, and does not culminate in such a degree; 

6 and 

7 (E) is portable or widely or nationally rec8 ognized. 

9 (3) STATE BOARD.—The term ‘‘State board’’ 

10 means a State workforce investment board estab11 lished under section 111 of the Workforce Invest12 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2821). 

13 SEC. 5. EVALUATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, the 

16 Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Education, 

17 in consultation with each other, shall— 

18 (1) conduct an evaluation of skills certification 

19 programs; 

20 (2)(A) determine best practices models for skills 

21 certification programs; or 

22 (B) rank the skills certification programs avail23 able in an industry, based on the evaluation criteria 

24 described in subsection (b); and 

25 (3) make recommendations on— 


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1 (A) the merits of a unified national ap2 proach to programs of skills certification, as 

3 compared to multiple regional and local skills 

4 certification programs; and 

5 (B) ways to streamline, if possible, duplica6 tive and similar skills certification programs 

7 into a single, widely recognized certification. 

8 (b) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATIONS.—The evaluation of 

9 the skills certification programs conducted under sub10 section (a)(1) shall include the following criteria: 

11 (1) Overall usefulness of the skills certification 

12 program for workers and employers. 

13 (2) The demand from industry for workers with 

14 the skills provided and certified through the skills 

15 certification program. 

16 (3) Industry involvement in the development of 

17 the skill standards included in the skills certification 

18 program. 

19 (4) Industry recognition of the certification 

20 awarded under the skills certification program. 

21 (5) The success of the skills certification pro22 gram, based on criteria including— 

23 (A) how many individuals have successfully 

24 completed the skills certification program; 


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1 (B) how many of such individuals are em2 ployed in a field utilizing the skills provided and 

3 certified through the skills certification pro4 gram; and 

5 (C) the length of time that such individ6 uals have been so employed. 

7 (6) The level of recognition of the skills certifi8 cation program as of the time of the evaluation, in9 cluding an assessment of— 

10 (A) how widespread the skills certification 

11 program is used; 

12 (B) the number of entities, including State 

13 boards, local boards, and institutions of higher 

14 education, that have used the skills certification 

15 program; 

16 (C) the number of States in which the cer17 tification is recognized; and 

18 (D) whether the skills provided and cer19 tified through the skills certification program 

20 are reasonably useful. 

21 (7) Cooperative creation in the development of 

22 the skills certification program, such as whether the 

23 standards of the skills certification program were 

24 created in consultation with relevant partners, in25 cluding business, labor, and community organizaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:49 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175

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1 tions, and whether such partners still support and 

2 use the standards. 

3 (8) The ease of sharing the skills certification 

4 program, including how portable the materials are, 

5 how versatile the materials are, and whether the cer6 tification programs requires the educator to have ac7 cess to specific or extensive materials or equipment 

8 not usually found in a classroom. 

9 (c) OUTREACH.—Not later than 60 days after the 

10 evaluation described in subsection (a) has been completed, 

11 the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, and 

12 the Secretary of Education, in consultation with each 

13 other, shall— 

14 (1) post the results of the evaluation, the rank15 ing of skills certification programs or the best prac16 tices of such programs, and the recommendations, as 

17 described in subsection (a), on the Internet; and 

18 (2) make the information described in para19 graph (1) available in print form to Congress and to 

20 interested parties, including— 

21 (A) technical colleges; 

22 (B) community colleges; 

23 (C) State boards and local boards; 

24 (D) community organizations; and 


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1 (E) other groups providing worker train2 ing, in partnership and cooperation with indus3 try. 

4 (d) UPDATES.—The Secretary of Commerce, the Sec5 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Education, in con6 sultation with each other, shall continue to update the 

7 evaluations, the rankings of skills certification programs 

8 or best practices of such programs, and the recommenda9 tions, as described in subsection (a), as appropriate, but 

10 not less often than once every 2 years. 

11 (e) FUNDING.—Of the amounts appropriated to, and 

12 available at the discretion of, the Secretary of Commerce, 

13 the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Education 

14 for programmatic and administrative expenditures, such 

15 sums as may be necessary shall be used to establish and 

16 carry out the requirements of this Act. 

Æ 


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