II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 363

To establish a program for training residents of low-income rural areas

for, and employing the residents in, new telecommunications industry

jobs located in the rural areas, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 3, 1999

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

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

A BILL

To establish a program for training residents of low-income

rural areas for, and employing the residents in, new

telecommunications industry jobs located in the rural

areas, 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 ‘‘Rural Employment in

5 Telecommunications Industry Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:
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1 (1) DISLOCATED WORKER; LOW-INCOME INDI2 VIDUAL.—The terms ‘‘dislocated worker’’ and ‘‘low3 income individual’’ have the meanings given the

4 terms in section 101 of the Workforce Investment

5 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801).

6 (2) INTENSIVE SERVICES.—The term ‘‘intensive

7 services’’ means services described in section

8 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998

9 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(3)).

10 (3) LOW-INCOME RURAL AREA.—The term

11 ‘‘low-income rural area’’ means a county that—

12 (A) has a 1996 population of not more

13 than 125,000 persons;

14 (B) contains a municipality with a 1996

15 population of not more than 50,000 persons;

16 (C) has a 1990 population density of not

17 more than 25 persons per square mile;

18 (D) has a 1996 per capita income that is

19 not more than $17,500; or

20 (E) is a county no part of which is—

21 (i) within an area designated as a

22 standard metropolitan statistical area by

23 the Director of the Office of Management

24 and Budget; or
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1 (ii) within an area designated as a

2 metropolitan statistical area by the Direc3 tor of the Office of Management and

4 Budget.

5 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

6 the Secretary of Labor.

7 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means 1 of the

8 several States.

9 SEC. 3. RURAL EMPLOYMENT IN THE TELECOMMUNI10 CATIONS INDUSTRY PROGRAM.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

12 program to promote rural employment in the tele13 communications industry. In carrying out the program,

14 the Secretary shall make grants to States for projects de15 scribed in subsection (b).

16 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant

17 under subsection (a) shall use the funds made available

18 through the grant to carry out a State telecommunications

19 employment and training project. In carrying out the

20 project, the State shall—

21 (1) train eligible individuals for new tele22 communications industry jobs that will be located in

23 low-income rural areas pursuant to arrangements

24 with employers participating in the project, including

25 ensuring that individuals receive—
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1 (A) intensive services;

2 (B) customized training and appropriate

3 remedial training described in paragraphs (2)

4 and (3) of section 4; and

5 (C) appropriate supportive services; and

6 (2) arrange for the employment of the individ7 uals in the telecommunications industry jobs.

8 (c) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—To be eligible to par9 ticipate in a project described in subsection (a), an individ10 ual shall be—

11 (1) a resident of a low-income rural area;

12 (2)(A) a low-income individual;

13 (B) a dislocated worker from the oil and natu14 ral gas exploration and development industry;

15 (C) an out-of-school youth;

16 (D) an individual with a disability, as defined in

17 section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of

18 1998;

19 (E) an individual who is receiving, or who has

20 received within the past year, assistance under the

21 State temporary assistance for needy families pro22 gram established under part A of title IV of the So23 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or other

24 public assistance;
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1 (F) a veteran, as defined in section 101 of the

2 Workforce Investment Act of 1998;

3 (G) a displaced homemaker, as defined in sec4 tion 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998;

5 (H) an older individual, as defined in section

6 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998;

7 (I) a homeless individual;

8 (J) an individual eligible to participate in activi9 ties carried out under section 166 of the Workforce

10 Investment Act of 1998;

11 (K) an individual eligible to participate in em12 ployment and training activities under section 134 of

13 the Workforce Investment Act of 1998;

14 (L) a long-term unemployed individual; or

15 (M) an individual with multiple barriers to em16 ployment; and

17 (3) an individual who has been assessed by the

18 entity carrying out the project and determined to

19 need intensive services.

20 (d) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall make grants

21 under this section to not more than 3 States.

22 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND STATE PLAN.

23 (a) CONTENTS.—To be eligible to receive a grant

24 under this Act, a State shall submit an application to the

25 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing
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1 such information as the Secretary may require, including

2 a State plan that includes—

3 (1) information demonstrating how the project

4 will train and employ eligible individuals, including

5 individuals described in subparagraphs (C) through

6 (M) of section 3(c)(2);

7 (2) an assurance that the project will include a

8 customized training program for the customer serv9 ice and supervisory competencies needed in the tele10 communications industry jobs to be located in the

11 low-income rural areas served;

12 (3) an assurance that the project will include

13 appropriate remedial training in such areas as read14 ing, writing, math, and English as a second lan15 guage for eligible individuals who the entity carrying

16 out the project assesses and determines need such

17 training;

18 (4) includes information describing linkages, in19 cluding linkages relating to providing supportive

20 services for participants in and graduates of the

21 project, between—

22 (A) the entity carrying out the project; and

23 (B) one-stop operators (as defined in sec24 tion 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of

25 1998), one-stop partners (as defined in section
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1 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998),

2 State workforce investment boards established

3 under section 111 of such Act, and local work4 force investment boards established under sec5 tion 117 of such Act;

6 (5) information identifying certification criteria

7 for individuals who successfully complete the train8 ing;

9 (6) an assurance that employers participating

10 in the project will make available contributions, to

11 the costs of training participants in the project for

12 the new telecommunications jobs (including the costs

13 of assessing individuals seeking to participate in the

14 project, whether or not the individuals are deter15 mined to be eligible under section 3(c)), in an

16 amount equal to not less than $1 for every $1 of

17 Federal funds provided under the grant;

18 (7)(A) an assurance that the project will in19 clude an appropriate performance assessment pro20 gram that will measure—

21 (i) the rate of completion of the training

22 by participants in the training;

23 (ii) the percentage of the participants who

24 obtain unsubsidized employment;
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1 (iii) the wages of the participants at place2 ment in the employment; and

3 (iv) the percentage of the participants re4 tained in the employment after 6 months of em5 ployment; and

6 (B) an assurance that the entity carrying out

7 the project will annually submit to the Secretary the

8 results of the performance assessment program; and

9 (8)(A) information explaining how the activities

10 carried out through the project are linked to State

11 economic development activities; and

12 (B) information describing commitments from

13 private sector employers to locate new telecommuni14 cations jobs and facilities within the low-income

15 rural areas to be served, including commitments to

16 provide any needed upgrade in the telecommuni17 cations infrastructure.

18 (b) ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary

19 shall accept applications submitted under subsection (a)

20 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this

21 Act.

22 (c) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary

23 shall evaluate, and approve or reject, each application sub24 mitted under subsection (a) that meets the criteria de-
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1 scribed in subsections (a) and (b) not later than 60 days

2 after the submission of the application.

3 (d) PRIORITY.—In determining which States receive

4 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary will give prior5 ity to a State submitting a State plan describing a project

6 that—

7 (1) will serve an area of high unemployment;

8 (2) will serve an area with a significant bilin9 gual population;

10 (3) will serve an area with a significant minor11 ity population, including Native Americans;

12 (4) will serve an area with a high percentage of

13 youth who have failed to complete secondary school;

14 (5) will serve an area significantly impacted by

15 the contraction of the oil and natural gas exploration

16 and development industry;

17 (6) will serve an area significantly impacted by

18 recent plant closings; or

19 (7) is designed to create 1,000 or more new

20 jobs within 2 years of the commencement of the

21 training.
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal years

4 2000 through 2004.

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