I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4290 

To establish the New Economy Grant Program through the Department 

of Labor to create public works jobs on State and local lands and 

community-based public interest projects, to direct aid to State and 

local governments for the retention and rehiring of certain public employees, and provide direct aid to the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to create public works jobs to address their deferred maintenance 

items. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2009 

Mr. HARE (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 

KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. 

SUTTON, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. MEEKS of 

New York, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. RUSH, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. CLARKE, Ms. 

DELAURO, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WEINER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SLAUGHTER, 

Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. NADLER of 

New York, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Mr. TONKO, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. 

SHEA-PORTER, Ms. CHU, Ms. WATSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. 

TSONGAS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS

of Florida, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. KAGEN, 

Mr. SABLAN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 

and Mr. BRALEY of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 

Committees on the Judiciary, Science and Technology, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Financial Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 establish the New Economy Grant Program through the 


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Department of Labor to create public works jobs on 

State and local lands and community-based public interest projects, to direct aid to State and local governments 

for the retention and rehiring of certain public employees, and provide direct aid to the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to create public works jobs to address their deferred maintenance items. 

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 ‘‘New Deal for a New 

5 Economy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NEW ECONOMY STATE STABILIZATION FUND. 

7 (a) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.— 

8 (1) ALLOCATION.—Not later than 120 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of Education shall allocate amounts made 

11 available under section 9(1) to each State in propor12 tion to the amount received by all local educational 

13 agencies in the State under part A of title I of the 

14 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

15 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the previous fiscal year 

16 relative to the total amount received by all local edu17 cational agencies in every State under such part for 

18 such fiscal year. 

19 (2) IN-STATE GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

20 AGENCIES.—From the amount allocated to a State 


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1 under paragraph (1), each eligible local educational 

2 agency in the State shall receive an amount in pro3 portion to the amount received by such local edu4 cational agency under part A of title I of the Ele5 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the previous fiscal year rel7 ative to the total amount received by all local edu8 cational agencies in the State under such part for 

9 such fiscal year. A State shall make and distribute 

10 the amount allocated to such State not later than 90 

11 days of receiving such funds from the Secretary of 

12 Education. 

13 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—Section 1122(c)(3) of the 

14 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

15 (20 U.S.C. 6332(c)(3)) shall not apply to paragraph 

16 (1) or (3). 

17 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agen18 cy receiving an allocation under paragraph (2) may 

19 use such funds only for the following purposes: 

20 (A) To hire new employees, which includes 

21 filling existing vacancies that are no longer 

22 funded in the budgets of State or local edu23 cational agencies. 

24 (B) To rehire employees who have been 

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1 actment of this Act as a result of reduced budg2 ets of State or local educational agencies. 

3 (C) To continue to employ employees who 

4 are scheduled to be laid-off on a future date as 

5 a result of reduced budgets of State or local 

6 educational agencies. Such agencies may not 

7 pay an employee with funds provided under this 

8 subsection until the date of that employee’s 

9 scheduled lay-off. 

10 (D) To prevent furloughs that are sched11 uled as a result reduced budgets of State or 

12 local educational agencies. 

13 (5) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No fund14 ing under this subsection can be used to layoff, fur15 lough, terminate, or reduce the working hours of any 

16 existing employee. 

17 (6) FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLEMENT, NOT

18 SUPPLANT, NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—A State edu19 cational agency or local educational agency shall use 

20 Federal funds received under this subsection only to 

21 supplement the funds that would, in the absence of 

22 such Federal funds, be made available from non23 Federal sources for the education of pupils partici24 pating in programs assisted under this part, and not 

25 to supplant such funds. 


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1 (b) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 

2 (1) GRANTS THROUGH THE COPS PROGRAM.— 

3 From amounts made available under section 9(2), 

4 the Attorney General shall award grants to State, 

5 local, or tribal law enforcement agencies through the 

6 Community Oriented Policing Services program 

7 (COPS) and in accordance with the allocation proce8 dures provided in section 1001(a)(11)(B) of the Om9 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

10 (41 U.S.C. 3791(a)(11)(B)). 

11 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, local, or tribal 

12 law enforcement agency receiving a grant pursuant 

13 to this subsection may use such funds only for the 

14 following purposes: 

15 (A) To hire new police officers, which in16 cludes filling existing officer vacancies that are 

17 no longer funded in the State, local, or tribal 

18 law enforcement agency budget. 

19 (B) To rehire officers who have been laid20 off during the year prior to the date of enact21 ment of this Act as a result of reduced State, 

22 local, or tribal law enforcement agency budgets. 

23 (C) To continue to employ officers who are 

24 scheduled to be laid-off on a future date as a 

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1 forcement agency budgets. Such agencies may 

2 not pay an officer with funds provided under 

3 this subsection until the date of that officer’s 

4 scheduled lay-off. 

5 (D) To prevent furloughs that are cur6 rently scheduled as a result of reduced State, 

7 local, or tribal law enforcement agency budgets. 

8 (3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No fund9 ing under this subsection can be used to layoff, fur10 lough, terminate, or reduce the working hours of any 

11 existing employee. 

12 (4) FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLEMENT, NOT

13 SUPPLANT, NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—A State, local, 

14 or tribal law enforcement agency shall use Federal 

15 funds received under this subsection only to supple16 ment the funds that would, in the absence of such 

17 Federal funds, be made available from non-Federal 

18 sources to hire new employees, and not to supplant 

19 such funds. 

20 (c) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

21 (1) GRANTS THROUGH THE SAFER GRANT PRO22 GRAM.—From amounts made available under section 

23 9(3), the Secretary of Homeland Security, through 

24 the Administrator of the United States Fire Admin25 istration, shall award grants directly to career, volVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:24 Dec 12, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4290.IH H4290

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1 unteer, and combination fire departments through 

2 the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Re3 sponse grant program (SAFER) and in accordance 

4 with the procedures set forth in section 34 of the 

5 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, 

6 except that grants awarded pursuant to this sub7 section shall be for a 3-year period and fire depart8 ments shall not be required to contribute non-Fed9 eral funds for such period. Any fire department 

10 seeking a grant under this subsection shall commit 

11 to retaining for at least 1 year beyond the termi12 nation of the grant any firefighters hired with funds 

13 provided pursuant to this subsection. 

14 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A fire department receiv15 ing a grant pursuant to this subsection may use 

16 such funds only for the following purposes: 

17 (A) To hire new firefighters, which in18 cludes filling existing vacancies that are no 

19 longer funded in department budgets. 

20 (B) To rehire firefighters who have been 

21 laid-off during the year prior to the date of en22 actment of this Act as a result of reduced de23 partment budgets. 

24 (C) To continue to employ firefighters who 

25 are scheduled to be laid-off on a future date as 


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1 a result of reduced department budgets. Such 

2 departments may not pay a firefighter with 

3 funds provided under this subsection until the 

4 date of that firefighter’s scheduled lay-off. 

5 (D) To prevent furloughs that are sched6 uled as a result of reduced department budgets. 

7 (3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No fund8 ing under this subsection can be used to layoff, fur9 lough, terminate, or reduce the working hours of any 

10 existing employee. 

11 (4) FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLEMENT, NOT

12 SUPPLANT, NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—A fire depart13 ment shall use Federal funds received under this 

14 subsection only to supplement the funds that would, 

15 in the absence of such Federal funds, be made avail16 able from non-Federal sources to hire new fire17 fighters, and not to supplant such funds. 

18 (d) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.— 

19 (1) PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOP20 MENT GRANTS.—From amounts made available 

21 under section 9(4), the Secretary of Commerce shall 

22 award grants to States, cities or other political sub23 divisions of a State or a consortium of political sub24 divisions, or Indian tribes based on the procedures 

25 and criteria set forth in section 201 of the Public 


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1 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

2 U.S.C. 3141) to assist such States, cities or other 

3 political subdivisions of a State, or Indian tribes in 

4 maintaining the basic services of government by pre5 venting lay-offs and assisting in the hiring of essen6 tial government employees such as sanitation work7 ers, administration workers, public health and emer8 gency service providers, corrections, probation, and 

9 parole officers, and social workers. 

10 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State, city, or Indian 

11 tribe receiving an allocation under paragraph (1) 

12 may use such funds only for the following purposes: 

13 (A) To hire new employees, which includes 

14 filling existing vacancies that are no longer 

15 funded in the budgets of the State, city, or In16 dian tribe. 

17 (B) To rehire employees who have been 

18 laid-off during the year prior to the date of en19 actment of this Act as a result of reduced budg20 ets of the State, city, or Indian tribe. 

21 (C) To continue to employ employees who 

22 are scheduled to be laid-off on a future date as 

23 a result of reduced budgets of the State, city, 

24 or Indian tribe. The State, city, or Indian tribe 

25 may not pay an employee with funds provided 


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1 under this subsection until the date of that em2 ployee’s scheduled lay-off. 

3 (D) To prevent furloughs that are sched4 uled as a result reduced budgets of the State, 

5 city, or Indian tribe. 

6 (3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—No funding under this 

8 subsection can be used to layoff, furlough, ter9 minate, or reduce the working hours of any ex10 isting employee. 

11 (B) CERTAIN WORKERS INELIGIBLE.— 

12 Consistent with subsection (a), (b), and (c), 

13 grants made under this subsection may not be 

14 used to hire or pay the salary or wages of an 

15 employee who is a teacher, police officer, or 

16 firefighter. 

17 (4) FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLEMENT, NOT

18 SUPPLANT, NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—A fire depart19 ment shall use Federal funds received under this 

20 subsection only to supplement the funds that would, 

21 in the absence of such Federal funds, be made avail22 able from non-Federal sources to hire new fire23 fighters, and not to supplant such funds. 


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1 SEC. 3. NEW ECONOMY GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Department of Labor a New Economy Grant Program 

4 through which the Secretary of Labor is authorized to pro5 vide grants for the creation of new jobs on specific public 

6 works projects carried out by State or local governments, 

7 and community-based public interest projects carried out 

8 by nonprofit organizations. 

9 (b) SPECIFIC PROJECT GRANTS.—From the amounts 

10 made available under section 9(5)— 

11 (1) set aside an amount for each State based on 

12 the population of each State and the relative unem13 ployment rate in each such State; and 

14 (2) from such amounts set aside for each State 

15 under paragraph (1), award grants directly to eligi16 ble entities described in subsection (c) in each such 

17 State on the basis of applications submitted by such 

18 entities for specific public works projects outlined in 

19 such applications. 

20 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities eligible for a di21 rect grant under this section include the following: 

22 (1) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Units 

23 of State or local governments that demonstrate in 

24 the application under subsection (b) an ability to 

25 promptly hire new employees for work on specific 

26 public works projects carried out by such units of 


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1 government. Such projects must be ready to com2 mence work no later than 2 months after receiving 

3 a grant under this Act and new positions of employ4 ment on such projects must be for a period of not 

5 less than 6 months. 

6 (2) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—Community7 based nonprofit organizations that demonstrate in 

8 the application under subsection (b) an ability to 

9 promptly hire and effectively manage new employees 

10 for work on specific projects carried out by such or11 ganizations. Such projects must be ready to com12 mence work no later than 2 months after receiving 

13 a grant under this Act and new positions of employ14 ment on such projects must be for a period of not 

15 less than 6 months. 

16 (d) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 

17 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 

18 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor19 mation as the Secretary shall determine. Such application 

20 shall, at a minimum include— 

21 (1) a description of the specific project, includ22 ing a description of the need for the project, the ex23 pected outcome, and the benefit to the community; 


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1 (2) the date on which the project shall be ready 

2 to commence and the expected duration of the 

3 project; and 

4 (3) the number of new individuals that such 

5 project will employ and the duration of such employ6 ment. 

7 (e) NONDISCRIMINATION AND WORKPLACE SAFE8 TY.—In hiring employees and carrying out projects funded 

9 under this section, an eligible entity receiving a grant 

10 under this section shall comply with all applicable Federal, 

11 State, and local laws pertaining to nondiscrimination and 

12 workplace safety. 

13 SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT PROJECTS BY DEPARTMENTS OF IN14 TERIOR AND AGRICULTURE. 

15 (a) NATIONAL PARKS PROJECTS.—From amounts 

16 made available under section 9(6), the Secretary of the 

17 Interior shall fund specific public works projects in na18 tional parks. Such projects must be ready to commence 

19 work no later than 2 months after being approved by the 

20 Secretary of the Interior and require the contract hiring 

21 of new employees for a period of not less than 6 months. 

22 (b) NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE PROJECTS.—From 

23 amounts made available under section 9(7), the Secretary 

24 of Agriculture shall fund specific public works projects 

25 through the National Forest Service. Such projects must 


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1 be ready to commence work no later than 2 months after 

2 being approved by the Secretary of the Interior and re3 quire the contract hiring of new employees for a period 

4 of not less than 6 months. 

5 SEC. 5. PROJECTS ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING. 

6 Only projects for which new employees are to be hired 

7 shall be eligible for funding under sections 3 and 4 of this 

8 Act. The Secretary of Labor shall determine the types 

9 public works and community-based public interest projects 

10 that shall be eligible for grants under this Act. 

11 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR EMPLOYMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be employed in a position 

13 funded under section 3 or 4 of this Act, an individual— 

14 (1) must be otherwise unemployed; 

15 (2) must be a citizen or legal permanent resi16 dent of the United States; 

17 (3) must be physically capable of performing 

18 the work required by the specific project, subject to 

19 any reasonable accommodations that may be made 

20 for such individual in accordance with the Americans 

21 with Disabilities Act; 

22 (4) must be at least 18 years of age; and 

23 (5) may not be enrolled as a full-time student 

24 in any institution of higher education, vocational or 

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1 maturely terminate such enrollment to obtain em2 ployment under this Act. 

3 (b) NO DISPLACEMENT OF EXISTING EMPLOYEES OR

4 POSITIONS OF PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT.—Employees 

5 whose positions are funded under this Act may not dis6 place other employees whose positions are not funded 

7 under this Act. An eligible entity receiving a grant under 

8 this Act may not hire an employee or employees with funds 

9 under this Act for any position which the eligible entity 

10 would otherwise hire a permanent employee. 

11 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds pro12 vided under this Act may be used to compensate any indi13 vidual employed by an eligible entity prior to that entity 

14 receiving a grant under this Act. Funds made available 

15 under this Act may only be used to pay wages of employ16 ees hired for the specific project for which the grant was 

17 awarded. 

18 (d) MAXIMUM PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT.—Employ19 ment in a position funded under section 3 or 4 of this 

20 Act shall be for a maximum period of 1 year. 

21 (e) WAGE.—Individuals employed on projects funded 

22 directly by or assisted in whole or in part by and through 

23 the Federal Government pursuant to section 3 or 4 of this 

24 Act shall be paid wages at rates not less than those pre25 vailing on projects of a character similar in the locality 


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1 as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance 

2 with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

3 Code (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act). 

4 (f) NOT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Individuals em5 ployed in positions funded under any grant or allocation 

6 made under this Act shall not be considered employees of 

7 the Federal government. 

8 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

9 Any entity receiving funding under section 3 of this 

10 Act, shall transmit to the Secretary a report at the conclu11 sion of the project that was the basis of such funding. 

12 The report shall include a description of the number of 

13 individuals hired to work on the project, the length of their 

14 employment and assessment of the success of the project 

15 in light of the anticipated outcome and outlines the bene16 fits to the community from the project. 

17 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

18 As used in this section— 

19 (1) the term ‘‘community-based nonprofit orga20 nization’’ means an organization exempt from tax21 ation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev22 enue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) but does not in23 clude an organization that— 

24 (A) is a religious corporation, association, 

25 educational institution, or society; or 


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1 (B) is engaged in political advocacy on be2 half of any political issue, candidate, or party; 

3 and 

4 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the several 

5 States, the District of Columbia, the territories of 

6 the United States, and Indian Tribes and tribal gov7 ernments. 

8 SEC. 9. FUNDING FROM THE EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STA9 BILIZATION ACT. 

10 Of funds made available to the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury under title I of the Emergency Economic Sta12 bilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211 et seq.) that re13 main unobligated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall— 

14 (1) make available to the Secretary of Edu15 cation $14,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

16 through 2012 for allocations to be made under sec17 tion 2(a); 

18 (2) make available to the Attorney General 

19 $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

20 through 2012 for allocations to be made under sec21 tion 2(b); 

22 (3) make available to the Secretary of Home23 land Security $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2010 through 2012 for allocations to be made under 

25 section 2(c); 


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1 (4) make available to the Secretary of Com2 merce $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

3 through 2012 for allocations to be made under sec4 tion 2(d); 

5 (5) make available to the Secretary of Labor 

6 $31,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

7 through 2012 for grants to be awarded under sec8 tion 3; 

9 (6) make available to the Secretary of the Inte10 rior $4,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

11 through 2012 for grants to be awarded under sec12 tion 4(a); and 

13 (7) make available to the Secretary of Agri14 culture $4,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

15 through 2012 for grants to be awarded under sec16 tion 4(b). 

17 SEC. 10. EXPEDITIED ADMINISTRATION. 

18 Each Secretary or Department to which funds are 

19 made available under section 9 shall expedite the adminis20 tration and carrying out of the programs authorized for 

21 that respective Department in this Act in order that funds 

22 provided by this Act are allocated or awarded to eligible 

23 entities as soon as possible after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 

Æ 


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