I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1901 

To create and encourage the creation of jobs for youth, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2011 

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and Oversight and Government Reform, 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 create and encourage the creation of jobs for youth, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be referred to as 

5 ‘‘Saving America’s Youth: the Youth Employment Act of 

6 2011’’ or ‘‘SAY YEA’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—PROGRAMS FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF YOUTH AND 

OTHER WORKERS 

Sec. 101. Definition of disconnected youth. 

Sec. 102. New programs for employment of disconnected youth and other workers. 

Sec. 103. National public service employment program. 

Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—TAX INCENTIVES FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF YOUTH 

AND OTHER WORKERS 

Sec. 201. Extension of work opportunity tax credit. 

Sec. 202. Expansion of eligibility for work opportunity tax credit. 

Sec. 203. Extension of empowerment zone designations. 

Sec. 204. Disconnected youth employment credit. 

TITLE III—PREFERENCE FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN FEDERAL 

JOBS AND IN THE PERFORMANCE OF FEDERAL CONTRACTS 

Sec. 301. Preference for hiring youth park and forestry workers. 

Sec. 302. Preference for Federal contracts with employers offering youth apprenticeships. 

3 TITLE I—PROGRAMS FOR THE 

4 EMPLOYMENT OF YOUTH AND 

5 OTHER WORKERS 

6 SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF DISCONNECTED YOUTH. 

7 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Investment Act 

8 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2911 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

9 before section 166 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 165. DEFINITION OF DISCONNECTED YOUTH. 

11 ‘‘For purposes of this subtitle, the term ‘disconnected 

12 youth’ has the meaning given such term by section 

13 51(d)(14)(B)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 


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1 except that subclause (I) of such section shall be applied 

2 by substituting ‘22’ for ‘25’.’’. 

3 SEC. 102. NEW PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF DISCON4 NECTED YOUTH AND OTHER WORKERS. 

5 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Investment Act 

6 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2911 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

7 after section 173A the following new sections: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 173B. SUMMER JOBS FOR DISCONNECTED YOUTH. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allot to 

10 States the amount appropriated under section 174(d) for 

11 the implementation of programs to create summer employ12 ment opportunities for disconnected youth. 

13 ‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT.—An allotment under this section 

14 shall be made on the basis of the relative number of indi15 viduals who satisfy the certification criteria for discon16 nected youth in each State, compared to the total number 

17 of such individuals in all States. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 173C. STATE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

20 program to award grants to States to carry out an employ21 ment program to which the following requirements apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS TO EMPLOYERS.—The State 

23 shall make payments to eligible employers for the 

24 partial reimbursement of wages paid by such emVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:42 May 25, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1901.IH H1901

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1 ployers to each employee hired or rehired under 

2 paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—An em4 ployer shall be eligible for payments under the em5 ployment program if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the employer hires a new employee, 

7 or rehires a former employee, after the date of 

8 enactment of this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the employer is a small business con10 cern (as defined in section 3(a)(1) of the Small 

11 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(1))) or a me12 dium-sized business concern. 

13 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY FOR PAYMENTS.—The State 

14 shall give priority for payments under paragraph (1) 

15 to an eligible employer if the employee hired or re16 hired under paragraph (2)(A) is a disconnected 

17 youth. 

18 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM GRANT.—A grant awarded to a State 

19 under subsection (a) shall not exceed $100,000,000. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 173D. ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FOR DISCONNECTED 

21 YOUTH. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in accord23 ance with subsection (c), make allotments and grants to 

24 States to carry out eligible on-the-job training programs 

25 for disconnected youth. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAM.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec3 tion, an eligible on-the-job training program is an 

4 on-the-job training program under which an em5 ployer is eligible to receive, for each disconnected 

6 youth who is employed and is provided on-the-job 

7 training by the employer on or after the date of en8 actment of this section, a payment of— 

9 ‘‘(A) 25 percent of the total amount in 

10 paragraph (2), after the disconnected youth has 

11 been continuously employed by the employer for 

12 a period of 30 days; and 

13 ‘‘(B) 75 percent of the total amount in 

14 paragraph (2), after the disconnected youth has 

15 been continuously employed by the employer for 

16 a period of 6 months. 

17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The total amount an em18 ployer receives for each disconnected youth under a 

19 program for on-the-job training shall not exceed 

20 $4,000. 

21 ‘‘(3) COVERED EMPLOYERS.—Under an eligible 

22 on-the-job training program, an employer that re23 ceives a payment under paragraph (1) may in24 clude— 

25 ‘‘(A) a faith-based organization; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a public sector organization; or 

2 ‘‘(C) a private employer. 

3 ‘‘(c) ALLOTMENTS AND GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS FOR

4 ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In making allotments 

7 and grants to States under subsection (a), the 

8 Secretary shall apply rules similar to the rules 

9 of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 

10 127(b)(1), except that— 

11 ‘‘(i) references in such subparagraphs 

12 (B) and (C) to youth activities and state13 wide enforcement activities shall be treated 

14 as references to eligible programs for on15 the-job training; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) references in such subparagraph 

17 (C) to disadvantaged youth shall be treated 

18 as references to individuals who satisfy the 

19 certification criteria for disconnected 

20 youth. 

21 ‘‘(B) REALLOTMENT OF UNUSED

22 AMOUNTS.—Allotments and grants made to 

23 States under subsection (a) may be reallotted. 

24 For purposes of the preceding sentence, rules 

25 similar to the rules of subsection (c) of section 


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1 127 shall apply, except that references in para2 graph (1) of such subsection— 

3 ‘‘(i) to such section, shall be treated 

4 as references to subsection (a) of this sec5 tion; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) to youth activities and statewide 

7 enforcement activities, shall be treated as 

8 references to eligible programs for on-the9 job training. 

10 ‘‘(2) WITHIN STATE ALLOCATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Allotments and grants 

12 made to States under subsection (a) shall be al13 located by the States to local areas to carry out 

14 programs for on-the-job training. For purposes 

15 of the preceding sentence, rules similar to the 

16 rules of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 

17 128(b) shall apply, except that references in 

18 such paragraphs to disadvantaged youth shall 

19 be considered to be references to individuals 

20 who satisfy the certification criteria for discon21 nected youth. 

22 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION OF UNUSED

23 AMOUNTS.—States may reallocate allotments 

24 and grants allocated under subparagraph (A). 

25 For purposes of the preceding sentence, rules 


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1 similar to the rules of section 128(c) shall 

2 apply, except that— 

3 ‘‘(i) references to paragraphs (2)(A) 

4 or (3) of section 128(b) shall be treated as 

5 references to subparagraph (A) of this 

6 paragraph; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) references to youth activities 

8 shall be treated as references to eligible 

9 programs for on-the-job training.’’. 

10 SEC. 103. NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT PRO11 GRAM. 

12 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Investment Act 

13 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2911 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

14 after section 173D (as added by section 102 of this Act) 

15 the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 173E. NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish a 

19 public service employment program to employ individuals 

20 to carry out works of a public nature in connection with— 

21 ‘‘(1) parks; 

22 ‘‘(2) roads; and 

23 ‘‘(3) education, including— 

24 ‘‘(A) schools; and 

25 ‘‘(B) after-school programs. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—Priority for jobs under this section 

2 shall be given to— 

3 ‘‘(1) disconnected youth; 

4 ‘‘(2) low-income individuals; and 

5 ‘‘(3) the long-term unemployed. 

6 ‘‘(c) OPERATION.—To operate the program estab7 lished under subsection (a), the President may utilize ex8 isting Federal departments and agencies, including the 

9 Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, the 

10 National Guard Bureau, the Department of Interior, the 

11 Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, 

12 the Department of Transportation, the Department of En13 ergy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Federal 

14 governmental corporations.’’. 

15 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 Section 174 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

17 (29 U.S.C. 2919) is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following new subsections: 

19 ‘‘(d) SUMMER JOBS FOR DISCONNECTED YOUTH.— 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, 

21 in addition to any other amount authorized to be appro22 priated by this Act, $2,000,000,000 to carry out section 

23 173B. 

24 ‘‘(e) STATE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.—There is au25 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, in addition 


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1 to any other amount authorized to be appropriated by this 

2 Act, $1,000,000,000 to carry out section 173C. 

3 ‘‘(f) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FOR DISCONNECTED

4 YOUTH.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

5 Secretary, in addition to any other amount authorized to 

6 be appropriated by this Act, $500,000,000 to carry out 

7 section 173D. 

8 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT

9 PROGRAM.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

10 President $3,000,000,000 to carry out section 173E.’’. 

11 TITLE II—TAX INCENTIVES FOR 

12 THE EMPLOYMENT OF YOUTH 

13 AND OTHER WORKERS 

14 SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT. 

15 Subparagraph (B) of section 51(c)(4) of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘December 

17 31, 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2016’’. 

18 SEC. 202. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR WORK OPPOR19 TUNITY TAX CREDIT. 

20 (a) DISCONNECTED YOUTH AND VETERANS HIRED

21 AFTER 2010.—Paragraph (14) of section 51(d) of the In22 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

23 (1) in the header by striking ‘‘HIRED IN 2009 OR

24 2010’’; and 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘during 

2 2009 or 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘after December 31, 

3 2008’’. 

4 (b) QUALIFIED TITLE I–B YOUTH SERVICES RECIPI5 ENTS.— 

6 (1) MEMBER OF TARGETED GROUP.—Para7 graph (1) of section 51(d) of such Code is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (H), by 

9 striking the period and adding ‘‘, or’’ at the end of 

10 subparagraph (I), and by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(J) a qualified Title I–B youth services 

13 recipient.’’. 

14 (2) QUALIFIED TITLE I–B YOUTH SERVICES RE15 CIPIENT DEFINED.—Subsection (d) of section 51 of 

16 such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(15) QUALIFIED TITLE I–B YOUTH SERVICES

19 RECIPIENT.—The term ‘qualified Title I–B youth 

20 services recipient’ means any individual who is a 

21 participant (as defined in section 101(34) of the 

22 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

23 2801(34))) who is receiving services under chapter 4 

24 of subtitle B of title I of such Act.’’. 


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1 (c) QUALIFIED EX-OFFENDERS.—Subsection (d) of 

2 section 51 of such Code is amended— 

3 (1) in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) by 

4 striking ‘‘qualified ex-felon’’ and inserting ‘‘qualified 

5 ex-offender’’; and 

6 (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED EX-OFFENDER.—The term 

9 ‘qualified ex-offender’ means any individual who is 

10 certified by the designated local agency as having 

11 been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor under 

12 any statute of the United States or any State, and— 

13 ‘‘(A) as having a hiring date which is not 

14 more than 3 years after the last date on which 

15 such individual was so convicted or was released 

16 from prison, 

17 ‘‘(B) as being on parole or on probation 

18 for such conviction, or 

19 ‘‘(C) as receiving transitional services for 

20 reintegration into the community after being re21 leased from prison.’’. 

22 (d) INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE WAGE BASES.—Sec23 tion 51 of such Code is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) by strik2 ing ‘‘$6,000 per year ($12,000 per year’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘$12,000 per year ($24,000 per year’’; 

4 (2) in clause (ii) of subsection (d)(7)(B) by 

5 striking ‘‘substituting ‘$3,000’ for ‘$6,000’ ’’ and in6 serting ‘‘substituting ‘$6,000’ for ‘$12,000’ ’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (e)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) 

9 by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) 

11 by striking ‘‘substituting ‘$10,000’ for 

12 ‘$6,000’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘substituting ‘$20,000’ 

13 for ‘$12,000’ ’’; and 

14 (C) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) 

15 by striking ‘‘substituting ‘$833.33’ for ‘$500’ ’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘substituting ‘1,666.66’ for 

17 ‘$1,000’ ’’; and 

18 (4) in paragraph (1) of subsection (h)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

20 ‘‘$6,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$12,000’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

22 ‘‘$500’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,000’’. 

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who 


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1 begin work for an employer after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 SEC. 203. EXTENSION OF EMPOWERMENT ZONE DESIGNA4 TIONS. 

5 (a) EXTENSION OF EMPOWERMENT ZONE DESIGNA6 TIONS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 1391(d)(1) of the 

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of an enterprise commu10 nity, the close of the 10th calendar year begin11 ning on or after such date of designation,’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the 

14 amendments made by section 753 of the Tax Relief, Un15 employment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation 

16 Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–312). 

17 SEC. 204. DISCONNECTED YOUTH EMPLOYMENT CREDIT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub19 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 45S. DISCONNECTED YOUTH EMPLOYMENT CREDIT. 

23 ‘‘(a) AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—For purposes of section 

24 38, the amount of the disconnected youth employment 

25 credit determined under this section with respect to any 


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1 employer for any taxable year is an amount equal to the 

2 lesser of— 

3 ‘‘(1) the wages (as defined in subsection (c) of 

4 section 51) paid or incurred by an employer for serv5 ices performed by an employee while such employee 

6 is a qualified employee, and 

7 ‘‘(2) $3,000. 

8 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of this 

9 section, the term ‘qualified employee’ means an any em10 ployee of an employer if the employee— 

11 ‘‘(1) is a disconnected youth (as defined in 

12 clause (ii) of section 51(d)(14)(B), except that sub13 clause (I) of such clause shall be applied by sub14 stituting ‘22’ for ‘25’), and 

15 ‘‘(2) begins work for the employer after the 

16 date of enactment of this section. 

17 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

18 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2013.’’. 

19 (b) INCLUSION IN CURRENT YEAR BUSINESS CRED20 IT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by striking 

21 ‘‘plus’’ and inserting a comma at the end of paragraph 

22 (35), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, plus’’ at the 

23 end of paragraph (36), and by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(37) the disconnected youth employment credit 

2 determined under section 45S.’’. 

3 (c) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

4 subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such 

5 Code is amended by adding after the item relating to sec6 tion 45Q the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Disconnected youth employment credit.’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 December 31, 2011. 

10 TITLE III—PREFERENCE FOR 

11 YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN FED12 ERAL JOBS AND IN THE PER13 FORMANCE OF FEDERAL 

14 CONTRACTS 

15 SEC. 301. PREFERENCE FOR HIRING YOUTH PARK AND 

16 FORESTRY WORKERS. 

17 The Secretary of the Interior shall give preference to 

18 individuals that have attained age 16 but not age 22 for 

19 jobs that provide services that are determined by the Sec20 retary to be integral to the operations of Federal public 

21 lands and parks. 


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1 SEC. 302. PREFERENCE FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS WITH 

2 EMPLOYERS OFFERING YOUTH APPRENTICE3 SHIPS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding title III of the 

5 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 

6 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.), in evaluating a bid or proposal 

7 for a contract for the procurement of goods or services, 

8 a contracting officer of an executive agency may give pref9 erence to an employer for a contract for the procurement 

10 of goods or services by the Federal Government if the head 

11 of the executive agency determines that— 

12 (1) the employer will employ, in a program of 

13 apprenticeship and in the performance of the con14 tract, individuals who— 

15 (A) are disconnected youth (as defined in 

16 section 51(d)(14)(B)(ii) of the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986, except that subclause (I) of such 

18 section shall be applied by substituting ‘‘22’’ for 

19 ‘‘25’’) on the date on which the contract is en20 tered into; and 

21 (B) are domiciled in communities with 

22 high unemployment; and 

23 (2) the funds made available for such contract 

24 are appropriated for fiscal year 2012 under the au25 thority of a law enacted to create jobs in the area 

26 of— 


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1 (A) infrastructure; 

2 (B) transportation; or 

3 (C) green energy. 

4 (b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—At least 5 percent of 

5 the total amount of funds appropriated under the author6 ity of a law described under subsection (a)(2) shall be re7 served for contracts with respect to which employers are 

8 given preference under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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