I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3258 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a 

scholarship program for dislocated workers or unemployed individuals 

transitioning into manufacturing employment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2015 

Mr. NORCROSS (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Mrs. 

BUSTOS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

to establish a scholarship program for dislocated workers 

or unemployed individuals transitioning into manufacturing employment. 

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 ‘‘Workers Opportunity 

5 and Retraining Competitive Grant Program Act of 2015’’ 

6 or the ‘‘WORC Grant Program Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MANUFACTURING WORKER TRANSITION SCHOLAR2 SHIP PROGRAM. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle D of title I of the Work4 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 2916) 

5 is amended by adding after section 171 the following new 

6 section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 171A. MANUFACTURING WORKER TRANSITION 

8 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

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

10 manufacturing worker scholarship program to award 

11 States competitive grants to be used to provide scholar12 ships to dislocated workers or unemployed individuals 

13 through State and local boards to support worker’s en14 deavors to transition into manufacturing positions. 

15 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) WORKER ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for 

17 the scholarship program established under this sec18 tion, dislocated workers or unemployed individuals 

19 shall be enrolled in a qualifying manufacturing 

20 training course designed to provide skills for employ21 ment in manufacturing. 

22 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY.—State or local 

23 boards participating in the scholarship program es24 tablished under this section shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) have formal agreements or partner2 ships with qualifying manufacturing training 

3 course providers; and 

4 ‘‘(B) have commitments from local employ5 ers, community leaders, and State or local eco6 nomic development initiatives to mentor dis7 located workers or unemployed individuals in 

8 order to aid their transition into manufacturing 

9 industries. 

10 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Activities to be carried out 

12 under the scholarship program established under 

13 this section shall be coordinated by State or local 

14 boards, including transferring scholarship awards to 

15 qualifying manufacturing training course providers 

16 on behalf of the dislocated workers or unemployed 

17 individuals receiving scholarships. 

18 ‘‘(2) STATE AND LOCAL BOARD DISCRETION.— 

19 For purposes of scholarship awards distributed by a 

20 State or local board, such board shall define the 

21 term ‘manufacturing’. 

22 ‘‘(3) REPAYMENT UPON ELIGIBILITY VIOLA23 TIONS.—If a dislocated worker or unemployed indi24 vidual does not complete the qualifying manufac25 turing training course or substitutes non-manufacVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Jul 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3258.IH H3258

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1 turing courses for manufacturing courses, the 

2 amount of the awarded scholarship shall be repaid to 

3 the State or local board. 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) MONETARY AWARD LIMIT.—Scholarship 

6 funding for any dislocated worker or unemployed in7 dividual may not exceed $2,000 per year. 

8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY LIMIT.—Scholarship funding 

9 for any dislocated worker or unemployed individual 

10 may not exceed 2 years. 

11 ‘‘(3) SCHOLARSHIP USE LIMIT.—A scholarship 

12 awarded under this section may only be used for 

13 payment towards qualifying manufacturing training 

14 courses. 

15 ‘‘(4) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES LIMIT.—A scholar16 ship awarded under this section may not be used for 

17 supportive services. 

18 ‘‘(e) QUALIFYING MANUFACTURING TRAINING

19 COURSE DEFINED.—The term ‘qualifying manufacturing 

20 training course’— 

21 ‘‘(1) means any course or job training activity 

22 that is offered by a postsecondary educational insti23 tution, area vocational education school, or other eli24 gible provider that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provides knowledge and skills related 

2 to manufacturing in emerging industries or in3 dustries where there are jobs available in the 

4 community, as determined by a State or local 

5 board; and 

6 ‘‘(B) offers credits or other credentials to 

7 enrollees for completion of the program; and 

8 ‘‘(2) may include internships or apprenticeships 

9 that provide credit or other credentials for comple10 tion of the program.’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

12 of contents in section 1(b) of the Workforce Innovation 

13 and Opportunity Act is amended by inserting after the 

14 item relating to section 171 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 171A. Manufacturing worker transition scholarship program.’’. 

Æ 


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