I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4196 

To create jobs through the hiring of new faculty and counselors at community 

colleges. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2009 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself and Mr. HINOJOSA) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To create jobs through the hiring of new faculty and 

counselors at community colleges. 

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 ‘‘Community College 

5 Emergency Stabilization Fund Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Since October 2007, the national unemploy9 ment rate has increased from 4.8 percent to 10.2 

10 percent. 


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1 (2) There are nearly 1,200 community colleges 

2 in the United States, educating over 11,700,000 stu3 dents. 

4 (3) Community colleges provide access to af5 fordable, quality education, and training opportuni6 ties. 

7 (4) Over the past year enrollment has increased 

8 at unprecedented levels at community colleges across 

9 the country. 

10 (5) Over the past year community colleges have 

11 either had to forestall hiring new staff or reduce 

12 staff because of budget shortfalls despite increased 

13 demand. 

14 (6) Due to increased enrollment and insufficient 

15 staffing, many individuals are not able to access the 

16 training they need to re-enter the workforce. 

17 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY COL18 LEGES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

20 under section 7 to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 

21 the Secretary of Education shall provide temporary emer22 gency funding to States for such fiscal year in accordance 

23 with the formula described in subsection (b) to assist com24 munity colleges in maintaining, or hiring additional, fac25 ulty and staff. 


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1 (b) FORMULA.—Of the amount appropriated under 

2 section 7— 

(1) 662 3 ⁄3 percent shall be allotted on the basis 

4 of the relative increase in unemployed individuals in 

5 each State compared to the total increase in unem6 ployed individuals in all States; and 

(2) 331 7 ⁄3 percent shall be allotted on the basis 

8 of the relative excess number of unemployed individ9 uals in each State, compared to the total excess 

10 number of unemployed individuals in all States. 

11 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall maintain 

13 State support for community colleges in the State at 

14 least at the level of such support for the fiscal year 

15 immediately preceding the first fiscal year the State 

16 received funds under this section. 

17 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the re18 quirements of this paragraph (1), if the Secretary 

19 determines that a waiver would be equitable due to 

20 exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, such as 

21 a natural disaster or an unforeseen and precipitous 

22 decline in the financial resources of the State. 

23 (d) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

24 available under this section shall be used to supplement, 

25 and not supplant, other Federal and State funds that 


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1 would otherwise be expended for assisting community col2 leges in maintaining, or hiring additional, faculty and 

3 staff. 

4 (e) GRANTS TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

6 after receiving funds under this section, each State 

7 shall use such funds to award grants, on a competi8 tive basis, to community colleges located in the State 

9 to assist such colleges in maintaining current staff, 

10 or hiring additional, faculty and staff. 

11 (2) GRANT AMOUNT.—In determining the 

12 amount of a grant to award to a community college 

13 under this section, a State shall take into account— 

14 (A) the total number of students enrolled 

15 at the college; 

16 (B) the increase in the number of students 

17 enrolled at the college relative to the preceding 

18 academic year; and 

19 (C) the most recent monthly unemploy20 ment rate of the local area, as determined by 

21 the Secretary (in consultation with the Sec22 retary of Labor), in which the college is located. 

23 (3) APPLICATION.—A community college desir24 ing to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

25 an application to the State at such time, in such 


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1 manner, and containing such information as the 

2 State may require, which shall include, at a min3 imum, information with respect to— 

4 (A) the total number of students enrolled 

5 at the college; and 

6 (B) the increase in the number of students 

7 enrolled at the college relative to the preceding 

8 academic year. 

9 (f) REPORTS BY STATES.—Each State shall, not later 

10 than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act, and annually thereafter for each fiscal year in which 

12 the State expends funds received under this section, sub13 mit to the Secretary a report that includes— 

14 (1) a list of the community colleges that have 

15 received assistance from the funds; 

16 (2) the number of students served at such com17 munity colleges as a result of such assistance; 

18 (3) the number of faculty and staff maintained 

19 or hired at such community colleges as a result of 

20 such assistance; and 

21 (4) the amount of State support for community 

22 colleges in the State for the— 

23 (A) fiscal year immediately preceding the 

24 first fiscal year the State received funds under 

25 this section; and 


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1 (B) most recent fiscal year in which the 

2 State expended funds received under this sec3 tion. 

4 (g) REPORT BY THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

5 shall submit to the authorizing committees an annual re6 port that includes the information described in subsection 

7 (f). 

8 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO CAREER AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

10 under section 7 to carry out this section, the Secretary 

11 shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to career and 

12 technical colleges located in any State to assist such col13 leges in maintaining, or hiring additional, faculty and 

14 staff. 

15 (b) GRANT AMOUNT.—In determining the amount of 

16 a grant to award to a career and technical college under 

17 this section, the Secretary shall take into account— 

18 (1) the total number of students enrolled at the 

19 college; 

20 (2) the increase in the number of students en21 rolled at the college relative to the preceding aca22 demic year; and 

23 (3) the most recent monthly unemployment rate 

24 of the local area, as determined by the Secretary (in 


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1 consultation with the Secretary of Labor), in which 

2 the college is located. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.—A career and technical college de4 siring to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

5 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man6 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

7 require, which shall include, at a minimum, information 

8 with respect to— 

9 (1) the total number of students enrolled at the 

10 college; and 

11 (2) the increase in the number of students en12 rolled at the college relative to the preceding aca13 demic year. 

14 SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS. 

15 Each community college and career and technical col16 lege receiving a grant under this Act shall use the grant 

17 funds within 18 months of receipt of such funds to cover 

18 costs related to maintaining, or hiring additional, faculty 

19 and staff, including— 

20 (1) faculty; 

21 (2) counselors; and 

22 (3) other staff to assist students in training to 

23 enter the workforce, as defined by the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

2 (a) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of the 

3 United States shall conduct an evaluation of the grant 

4 programs carried out under sections 3 and 4, which shall 

5 include an evaluation of— 

6 (1) the criteria the State or the Secretary used 

7 in awarding grants to community colleges and career 

8 and technical colleges; 

9 (2) the grant amounts awarded to community 

10 colleges and career and technical colleges; 

11 (3) the number of students served at such col12 leges as a result of such assistance; 

13 (4) the number of faculty and staff maintained 

14 or hired at such colleges as a result of such assist15 ance; and 

16 (5) the amount of State support for community 

17 colleges in each State for the— 

18 (A) fiscal year immediately preceding the 

19 first fiscal year the State received funds under 

20 this section; and 

21 (B) most recent fiscal year in which the 

22 State expended funds received under this sec23 tion. 

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

26 of the United States shall report the results of the evaluaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:44 Dec 04, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4196.IH H4196

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1 tion conducted under subsection (a) to the authorizing 

2 committees. 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; LIMITATION 

4 ON AUTHORITY. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated $750,000,000 to carry 

7 out this Act, of which $50,000,000 shall be made available 

8 to carry out section 4. 

9 (b) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—Any new spending 

10 authority or new authority to enter into contracts provided 

11 by this Act and under which the United States is obligated 

12 to make outlays shall be effective only to the extent, and 

13 in such amounts, as are provided in advance in appropria14 tions Acts. 

15 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.—The term 

18 ‘‘authorizing committees’’ has the meaning given 

19 such term in section 103(1) of the Higher Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003(1)). 

21 (2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu22 nity college’’ means a public institution of higher 

23 education at which the highest degree that is pre24 dominantly awarded to students is an associate’s de25 gree. 


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1 (3) INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘increase in unemployed individuals’’ means the in3 crease in the number of unemployed individuals over 

4 the most recent 12-month period for which data are 

5 available. 

6 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

8 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High9 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

10 (5) EXCESS UNEMPLOYMENT.—The term ‘‘ex11 cess unemployment’’ means the number of unem12 ployed individuals in excess of the national unem13 ployment rate. 

14 (6) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

15 ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of 

16 the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro17 nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 

18 (7) NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.—The 

19 term ‘‘national unemployment rate’’ means the most 

20 recent national unemployment rate published by the 

21 Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 

22 Labor. 

23 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes, in ad24 dition to the several States of the United States, the 

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1 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the United States 

2 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

3 Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States. 

4 (9) CAREER AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE.— 

5 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘career and 

6 technical college’’— 

7 (i) has the meaning given the term 

8 ‘‘area career and technical school’’ in sec9 tion 3(3) of the Carl D. Perkins Career 

10 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

11 U.S.C. 2302(3)); and 

12 (ii) means a private institution of 

13 higher education at which the highest de14 gree that is predominantly awarded to stu15 dents is an associate’s degree. 

16 (B) LOCATION OF COLLEGES.—Such term 

17 shall only include career and technical colleges 

18 (as defined in subparagraph A) located in a 

19 State. 

Æ 


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