II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1542 

To establish a program that promotes reforms in workforce education and 

skill training for manufacturing in States and metropolitan areas, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2015 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Ms. AYOTTE) 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 that promotes reforms in workforce 

education and skill training for manufacturing in States 

and metropolitan 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 ‘‘Manufacturing Skills 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means a State or a metropolitan area. 


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1 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means each 

3 of the following: 

4 (A) An institution of higher education, as 

5 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

7 (B) A postsecondary vocational institution, 

8 as defined in section 102(c) of such Act (20 

9 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

10 (3) MANUFACTURING SECTOR.—The term 

11 ‘‘manufacturing sector’’ means a manufacturing sec12 tor classified in code 31, 32, or 33 of the most re13 cent version of the North American Industry Classi14 fication System developed under the direction of the 

15 Office of Management and Budget. 

16 (4) METROPOLITAN AREA.—The term ‘‘metro17 politan area’’ means a standard metropolitan statis18 tical area, as designated by the Director of the Of19 fice of Management and Budget. 

20 (5) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘Partnership’’ 

21 means the Manufacturing Skills Partnership estab22 lished in section 101(a). 

23 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

24 the several States of the United States, the Com25 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, 


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1 Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

2 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

3 Mariana Islands. 

4 TITLE I—MANUFACTURING 

5 SKILLS PROGRAM 

6 SEC. 101. MANUFACTURING SKILLS PROGRAM. 

7 (a) MANUFACTURING SKILLS PARTNERSHIP.—The 

8 Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of 

9 Education, Secretary of Defense, and Director of the Na10 tional Science Foundation shall jointly establish a Manu11 facturing Skills Partnership consisting of the Secretaries 

12 and the Director, or their representatives. The Partner13 ship shall— 

14 (1) administer and carry out the program es15 tablished under this title; 

16 (2) establish and publish guidelines for the re17 view of applications, and the criteria for selection, 

18 for grants under this title; and 

19 (3) submit an annual report to Congress on— 

20 (A) the eligible entities that receive grants 

21 under this title; and 

22 (B) the progress such eligible entities have 

23 made in achieving the milestones identified in 

24 accordance with section 102(b)(2)(H). 

25 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

2 to carry out this title, the Partnership shall award 

3 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to 

4 enable the eligible entities to carry out their pro5 posals submitted in the application under section 

6 102(b)(2), in order to promote reforms in workforce 

7 education and skill training for manufacturing in the 

8 eligible entities. 

9 (2) GRANT DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

10 paragraph (1) shall be for a 3-year period, with 

11 grant funds under such grant distributed annually. 

12 (3) SECOND GRANTS.—If amounts are made 

13 available to award grants under this title for subse14 quent grant periods, the Partnership may award a 

15 grant to an eligible entity that previously received a 

16 grant under this title after such first grant period 

17 expires. The Partnership shall evaluate the perform18 ance of the eligible entity under the first grant in 

19 determining whether to award the eligible entity a 

20 second grant under this title. 

21 SEC. 102. APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that desires to 

23 receive a grant under this title shall— 

24 (1) establish a task force, consisting of leaders 

25 from the public, nonprofit, and manufacturing secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Jun 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1542.IS S1542

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1 tors, representatives of labor organizations, rep2 resentatives of elementary schools and secondary 

3 schools, and representatives of institutions of higher 

4 education, to apply for and carry out a grant under 

5 this title; and 

6 (2) submit an application at such time, in such 

7 manner, and containing such information as the 

8 Partnership may require. 

9 (b) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The application de10 scribed in subsection (a)(2) shall include— 

11 (1) a description of the task force that the eligi12 ble entity has assembled to design the proposal de13 scribed in paragraph (2); 

14 (2) a proposal that— 

15 (A) identifies, as of the date of the applica16 tion— 

17 (i) the current strengths of the State 

18 or metropolitan area represented by the el19 igible entity in manufacturing; and 

20 (ii) areas for new growth opportuni21 ties in manufacturing; 

22 (B) identifies, as of the date of the appli23 cation, manufacturing workforce and skills chal24 lenges preventing the eligible entity from exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Jun 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1542.IS S1542

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1 panding in the areas identified under subpara2 graph (A)(ii), such as— 

3 (i) a lack of availability of— 

4 (I) strong career and technical 

5 education; 

6 (II) educational programs in 

7 science, technology, engineering, or 

8 mathematics; or 

9 (III) a skills training system; or 

10 (ii) an absence of customized training 

11 for existing industrial businesses and sec12 tors; 

13 (C) identifies challenges faced within the 

14 manufacturing sector by underrepresented and 

15 disadvantaged workers, including veterans, in 

16 the State or metropolitan area represented by 

17 the eligible entity; 

18 (D) provides strategies, designed by the el19 igible entity, to address challenges identified in 

20 subparagraphs (B) and (C) through tangible 

21 projects and investments, with the deep and 

22 sustainable involvement of manufacturing busi23 nesses; 

24 (E) identifies and leverages innovative and 

25 effective career and technical education or skills 


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1 training programs in the field of manufacturing 

2 that are available in the eligible entity; 

3 (F) leverages other Federal funds in sup4 port of such strategies; 

5 (G) reforms State or local policies and gov6 ernance, as applicable, in support of such strat7 egies; and 

8 (H) holds the eligible entity accountable, 

9 on a regular basis, through a set of transparent 

10 performance measures, including a timeline for 

11 the grant period describing when specific mile12 stones and reforms will be achieved; and 

13 (3) a description of the source of the matching 

14 funds required under subsection (d) that the eligible 

15 entity will use if selected for a grant under this title. 

16 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 

17 (1) SELECTION BASIS AND MAXIMUM NUMBER

18 OF GRANTS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Partnership shall 

20 award grants under this title, by not earlier 

21 than January 1, 2016, and not later than 

22 March 31, 2016, to the eligible entities that 

23 submit the strongest and most comprehensive 

24 proposals under subsection (b)(2). 


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1 (B) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTS.—For 

2 any grant period, the Partnership shall award 

3 not more than 5 grants under this title to eligi4 ble entities representing States and not more 

5 than 5 grants to eligible entities representing 

6 metropolitan areas. 

7 (2) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Partnership shall 

9 award grants under this title in an amount that 

10 averages, for all grants issued for a 3-year 

11 grant period, $10,000,000 for each year, sub12 ject to subparagraph (C) and paragraph (3). 

13 (B) AMOUNT.—In determining the amount 

14 of each grant for an eligible entity, the Partner15 ship shall take into consideration the size of the 

16 industrial base of the eligible entity. 

17 (C) INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

18 any grant period for which the amounts avail19 able to carry out this title are insufficient to 

20 award grants in the amount described in sub21 paragraph (A), the Partnership shall award 

22 grants in amounts determined appropriate by 

23 the Partnership. 

24 (3) FUNDING CONTINGENT ON PERFORM25 ANCE.—In order for an eligible entity to receive 


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1 funds under a grant under this title for the second 

2 or third year of the grant period, the eligible entity 

3 shall demonstrate to the Partnership that the eligi4 ble entity has achieved the specific reforms and mile5 stones required under the timeline included in the el6 igible entity’s proposal under subsection (b)(2)(H). 

7 (4) CONSULTATION WITH POLICY EXPERTS.— 

8 The Partnership shall assemble a panel of manufac9 turing policy experts and manufacturing leaders 

10 from the private sector to serve in an advisory ca11 pacity in helping to oversee the competition and re12 view the competition’s effectiveness. 

13 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving 

14 a grant under this title shall provide matching funds to15 ward the grant in an amount of not less than 50 percent 

16 of the costs of the activities carried out under the grant. 

17 Matching funds under this subsection shall be from non18 Federal sources and shall be in cash or in-kind. 

19 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro21 priated to carry out this title such sums as may be nec22 essary for fiscal year 2016. 

23 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated under this 

24 section shall remain available until expended. 


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1 TITLE II—AUDIT OF FEDERAL 

2 EDUCATION AND SKILLS 

3 TRAINING 

4 SEC. 201. AUDIT OF FEDERAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS 

5 TRAINING. 

6 (a) AUDIT.—By not later than March 31, 2016, the 

7 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech8 nology, acting through the Advanced Manufacturing Na9 tional Program Office, shall conduct an audit of all Fed10 eral education and skills training programs related to 

11 manufacturing to ensure that States and metropolitan 

12 areas are able to align Federal resources to the greatest 

13 extent possible with the labor demands of their primary 

14 manufacturing industries. In carrying out the audit, the 

15 Director shall work with States and metropolitan areas to 

16 determine how Federal funds can be more tailored to meet 

17 their different needs. 

18 (b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—By not later 

19 than March 31, 2016, the Director of the National Insti20 tute of Standards and Technology shall prepare and sub21 mit a report to Congress that includes— 

22 (1) a summary of the findings from the audit 

23 conducted under subsection (a); and 

24 (2) recommendations for such legislative and 

25 administrative actions to reform the existing funding 


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1 for Federal education and skills training programs 

2 related to manufacturing as the Director determines 

3 appropriate. 

4 TITLE III—OFFSET 

5 SEC. 301. RESCISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FUNDS. 

6 (a) RESCISSION OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, an amount equal to the amount 

8 of funds made available to carry out title I for a fiscal 

9 year shall be rescinded, in accordance with subsection (b), 

10 from the unobligated discretionary funds available to the 

11 Secretary from prior fiscal years. 

12 (b) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any other 

13 provision of law, by not later than 15 days after funds 

14 are appropriated or made available to carry out title I, 

15 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

16 shall— 

17 (1) identify from which appropriations accounts 

18 available to the Secretary of Labor the rescission de19 scribed in subsection (a) shall apply; and 

20 (2) determine the amount of the rescission that 

21 shall apply to each account. 

Æ 


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