I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1413 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mr. WENSTRUP (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. FERGUSON, and Mr. 

SMITH of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 

on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, 

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 ‘‘Workforce Opportunity 

5 Realignment Kickstart Act’’ or the ‘‘WORK Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCOUNTABILITY BY MEASURING 

2 WORK OUTCOMES. 

3 Section 407(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 607(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY AND WORK

6 OUTCOMES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

8 is to provide for the establishment of performance 

9 accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of 

10 States in increasing employment, retention, and ad11 vancement among families receiving assistance under 

12 the State program funded under this part. 

13 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a grant 

14 is made under section 403 for a fiscal year shall 

15 achieve the requisite level of performance on an indi16 cator described in paragraph (3)(B) of this sub17 section for the fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(3) MEASURING STATE PERFORMANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, in con20 sultation with the Secretary, shall collect and 

21 submit to the Secretary the information nec22 essary to measure the level of performance of 

23 the State for each indicator described in sub24 paragraph (B), for fiscal year 2021 and each 

25 fiscal year thereafter, and the Secretary shall 

26 use the information collected for fiscal year 


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1 2021 to establish the baseline level of perform2 ance for each State for each such indicator. 

3 ‘‘(B) INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE.— 

4 The indicators described in this subparagraph, 

5 for a fiscal year, are the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) The percentage of individuals who 

7 were work-eligible individuals as of the 

8 time of exit from the program, who are in 

9 unsubsidized employment during the 2nd 

10 quarter after the exit. 

11 ‘‘(ii) The percentage of individuals 

12 who were work-eligible individuals who 

13 were in unsubsidized employment in the 

14 2nd quarter after the exit, who are also in 

15 unsubsidized employment during the 4th 

16 quarter after the exit. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The median earnings of individ18 uals who were work-eligible individuals as 

19 of the time of exit from the program, who 

20 are in unsubsidized employment during the 

21 2nd quarter after the exit. 

22 ‘‘(iv) The percentage of individuals 

23 who have not attained 24 years of age, are 

24 attending high school or enrolled in an 

25 equivalency program, and are work-eligible 


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1 individuals or were work-eligible individ2 uals as of the time of exit from the pro3 gram, who obtain a high school degree or 

4 its recognized equivalent while receiving as5 sistance under the State program funded 

6 under this part or within 1 year after the 

7 exit. 

8 ‘‘(C) LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) AGREEMENT ON REQUISITE PER10 FORMANCE LEVEL FOR EACH INDI11 CATOR.— 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For each 

13 State submitting a State plan pursu14 ant to section 402(a), the Secretary 

15 and the State shall negotiate the req16 uisite level of performance for the 

17 State with respect to each indicator 

18 described in subparagraph (B), for 

19 each of fiscal years 2021 through 

20 2024, and in the case of each of fiscal 

21 years 2022 through 2024, shall do so 

22 before the beginning of the respective 

23 fiscal year. 

24 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS IN ESTAB25 LISHING PERFORMANCE LEVELS.—In 


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1 establishing the requisite levels of per2 formance, the State and the Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(aa) take into account how 

5 the levels involved compare with 

6 the levels established for other 

7 States; and 

8 ‘‘(bb) ensure the levels in9 volved are adjusted, using the ob10 jective statistical model referred 

11 to in clause (iii), based on— 

12 ‘‘(AA) the differences 

13 among States in economic 

14 conditions, including dif15 ferences in unemployment 

16 rates or employment losses 

17 or gains in particular indus18 tries; and 

19 ‘‘(BB) the characteris20 tics of participants on entry 

21 into the program, including 

22 indicators of prior work his23 tory, lack of educational or 

24 occupational skills attain25 ment, or other factors that 


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1 may affect employment and 

2 earnings; and 

3 ‘‘(CC) take into account 

4 the extent to which the lev5 els involved promote contin6 uous improvement in per7 formance by each State. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REVISIONS BASED ON ECONOMIC

9 CONDITIONS AND INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING

10 ASSISTANCE DURING THE FISCAL YEAR.— 

11 The Secretary shall, in accordance with the 

12 objective statistical model referred to in 

13 clause (iii), revise the requisite levels of 

14 performance for a State and a fiscal year 

15 to reflect the economic conditions and 

16 characteristics of the relevant individuals 

17 in the State during the fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(iii) STATISTICAL ADJUSTMENT

19 MODEL.—The Secretary shall use an objec20 tive statistical model to make adjustments 

21 to the requisite levels of performance for 

22 the economic conditions and characteristics 

23 of the relevant individuals, and shall con24 sult with the Secretary of Labor to develop 

25 a model that is the same as or similar to 


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1 the model described in section 

2 116(b)(3)(A)(viii) of the Workforce Inno3 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

4 3141(b)(3)(A)(viii)). 

5 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF EXIT.—In this 

6 subsection, the term ‘exit’ means, with re7 spect to a State program funded under 

8 this part, ceases to a receive a benefit 

9 under the program. 

10 ‘‘(D) STATE OPTION TO ESTABLISH COM11 MON EXIT MEASURES.—Notwithstanding sub12 paragraph (C)(iv) of this paragraph, a State 

13 that has not provided the notification under 

14 section 121(b)(1)(C)(ii) of the Workforce Inno15 vation and Opportunity Act to exclude the State 

16 program funded under this part as a mandatory 

17 one-stop partner may adopt an alternative defi18 nition of ‘exit’ for the purpose of creating com19 mon exit measures to improve alignment with 

20 workforce programs operated under title I of 

21 such Act. 

22 ‘‘(E) REGULATIONS.—In order to ensure 

23 nationwide comparability of data, the Secretary, 

24 after consultation the Secretary of Labor and 

25 with States, shall issue regulations governing 


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1 the establishment of the performance account2 ability system under this subsection and a tem3 plate for performance reports to be used by all 

4 States consistent with subsection (b).’’. 

5 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER FUNDS 

6 TO OTHER PROGRAMS. 

7 Section 404(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 604(d)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) Title I of the Workforce Innovation 

14 and Opportunity Act.’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(C) FUNDS TRANSFERRED TO THE

18 WIOA.—In the case of funds transferred under 

19 paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection— 

20 ‘‘(i) all of the funds will be used to 

21 support families eligible for assistance 

22 under the State program funded under this 

23 part; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) not more than 15 percent of the 

25 funds will be reserved for statewide workVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1413.IH H1413

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1 force investment activities referred to in 

2 section 128(a)(1) of the Workforce Innova3 tion and Opportunity Act.’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(4) EXCLUSION OF STATES EXCLUDING THE

6 STATE JOBS PROGRAM AS A MANDATORY ONE-STOP

7 PARTNER UNDER THE WIOA.—The authority pro8 vided by this subsection may not be exercised by a 

9 State that has provided the notification referred to 

10 in section 407(a)(3)(D).’’. 

11 SEC. 4. MODIFICATIONS TO STATE PLANS. 

12 Section 402 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 602) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘(ix) Describe coordination with other 

17 programs, including whether the State in18 tends to exercise authority provided by sec19 tion 404(d) of this Act to transfer any 

20 funds paid to the State under this part, 

21 provide assurance that, in the case of a 

22 transfer to carry out a program under title 

23 I of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor24 tunity Act, the State will comply with sec25 tion 404(d)(3)(C) of this Act and coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1413.IH H1413

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1 nate with the one-stop delivery system 

2 under the Workforce Innovation and Op3 portunity Act, and describe how the State 

4 will coordinate with the programs involved 

5 to provide services to families receiving as6 sistance under the program referred to in 

7 clause (i) of this subparagraph.’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(d) 2-YEAR PLAN.—A plan submitted pursuant to 

10 this section shall be designed to be implemented during 

11 a 2-year period. 

12 ‘‘(e) COMBINED PLAN ALLOWED.—A State may sub13 mit to the Secretary and the Secretary of Labor a com14 bined State plan that meets the requirements of sub15 sections (a) and (d) and that is for programs and activities 

16 under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

19 on October 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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