I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3554 

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a pilot 

program to award grants to units of general local government and 

community-based organizations to create jobs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 

Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. KAPTUR, and Ms. 

FUDGE) 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 create a pilot program to award grants to units of 

general local government and community-based organizations to create jobs, 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 ‘‘Jobs Now Act of 

5 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERN2 MENT. 

3 Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and 

4 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding after section 172 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 173. PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding sec8 tion 181(e), from the amounts appropriated under sub9 section (h), the Secretary shall carry out a 2-year pilot 

10 program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to units 

11 of general local government or community-based organiza12 tions to retain, employ, or train employees providing a 

13 public service for a unit of general local government. 

14 ‘‘(b) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT DE15 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘unit of 

16 general local government’ means any general purpose po17 litical subdivision of a State, or the United States Virgin 

18 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

19 the Northern Mariana Islands, the freely associated states 

20 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 

21 States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau, that has 

22 the power to levy taxes and spend funds, as well as general 

23 corporate and police powers. 

24 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), a unit of general local government 

3 or community-based organization shall use not 

4 less than 50 percent of the grant funds received 

5 under this section to— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the case of a unit, retain em7 ployees of such unit who are providing a 

8 public service for the unit and who would 

9 otherwise be laid off as a consequence of 

10 budget cuts; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an organization, 

12 retain employees of the organization who 

13 are providing a public service for the unit 

14 in which the organization is located and 

15 who would otherwise be laid off as a con16 sequence of budget cuts. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In a case in which 50 

18 percent of a grant amount received under this 

19 section would exceed the amount needed for a 

20 unit or organization to retain the employees de21 scribed in subparagraph (A), the unit or organi22 zation may use only the amount needed to re23 tain such employees for such purpose. 

24 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES.—After using grant 

25 funds received under this section in accordance with 


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1 paragraph (1), a unit of general local government or 

2 community-based organization may use any remain3 ing grant funds provided under this section to— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of a unit of general local 

5 government— 

6 ‘‘(i) employ individuals in new posi7 tions providing a public service for the 

8 unit; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) train individuals for new public 

10 service positions for the unit; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a community-based or12 ganization— 

13 ‘‘(i) employ individuals in new posi14 tions that would provide a public service 

15 for the unit in which the organization is lo16 cated or services in the private sector; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) train individuals for any such po18 sitions. 

19 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—The 

20 Secretary shall encourage each unit of general local gov21 ernment and each community-based organization receiving 

22 a grant under this section to use such grant funds to re23 tain, employ, or train— 

24 ‘‘(1) veterans; 

25 ‘‘(2) individuals with disabilities; 


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1 ‘‘(3) individuals who are receiving unemploy2 ment benefits; or 

3 ‘‘(4) dislocated workers. 

4 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN UNITS AND ORGANIZA5 TIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) UNITS.—In awarding grants to units of 

7 general local government under this section, the Sec8 retary shall give priority to units of general local 

9 government with high unemployment, foreclosure, 

10 and poverty rates as compared to other units of gen11 eral local government applying to receive a grant 

12 under this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATIONS.—In awarding grants to 

14 units of general local government under this section, 

15 the Secretary shall give priority to community-based 

16 organizations located in units of general local gov17 ernment with high unemployment, foreclosure, and 

18 poverty rates as compared to other units of general 

19 local government applying to receive a grant under 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION.—Each unit of general local gov22 ernment or community-based organization desiring to re23 ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application 

24 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con25 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the first 

2 appropriation of funds under subsection (h), the Secretary 

3 shall submit to Congress, a report on— 

4 ‘‘(1) the number and percentage of individuals 

5 hired or trained, and the number and percentage of 

6 employees of units retained, as a result of a grant 

7 under this section; and 

8 ‘‘(2) best practices in carrying out a grant pro9 gram to hire, train, or retain employees of units of 

10 general local government. 

11 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 to carry 

13 out this section for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.’’. 

Æ 


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