I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 954 

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for the 

establishment of the Small Business Liaison Pilot Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2013 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. RUSH, and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide 

for the establishment of the Small Business Liaison Pilot 

Program. 

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 ‘‘Workforce Infrastruc5 ture for Skilled Employees Investment Act’’ or the ‘‘WISE 

6 Investment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS LIAISON PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

3 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(f) SMALL BUSINESS LIAISON PILOT PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS LI7 AISON PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may award 

8 competitive grants to local boards, community col9 leges, postsecondary vocational institutions, commu10 nity-based organizations, and apprenticeship pro11 grams, including joint labor-management training 

12 programs, in States and outlying areas to promote 

13 local economic growth and eliminate gaps between 

14 the workforce skills available and the workforce 

15 skills needed in local areas or regions. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under 

17 this subsection a local board, community college, or 

18 postsecondary vocational institution in a State or 

19 outlying area shall submit to the Secretary an appli20 cation in such manner, at such time, and containing 

21 such information as the Secretary may require. 

22 ‘‘(3) SPECIFICATIONS OF GRANTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) TIME PERIOD.—A grant shall be used 

24 over a 36-month period. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—In determining 

2 the amount of a grant made under this sub3 section, the Secretary may consider— 

4 ‘‘(i) the ability of the grant applicant 

5 to conduct outreach activities; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the ability of the grant applicant 

7 to conduct skills gap assessments; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which the grant 

9 applicant works with or, after imple10 menting a strategic skills gap action plan, 

11 plans to work with small businesses within 

12 its local area or region; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) any other factor that the Sec14 retary deems appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) A recipient may not receive more 

17 than one grant under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(ii) No grant under this subsection 

19 may be for an amount more than 

20 $500,000. 

21 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall, in deter22 mining whether to award a grant, consider 

23 the geographic diversity of grant recipi24 ents. 

25 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local board, 

2 community college, or postsecondary voca3 tional institution that receives a grant 

4 under this subsection shall use the grant 

5 funds to pay for a new or current employee 

6 to serve as liaison to conduct activities de7 scribed in clause (ii). 

8 ‘‘(ii) SMALL & LOCAL BUSINESS LIAI9 SON.—The liaison— 

10 ‘‘(I) shall— 

11 ‘‘(aa) prepare a strategic ac12 tion skills gap assessment; 

13 ‘‘(bb) develop a strategic 

14 skills gap action plan; and 

15 ‘‘(cc) conduct any other ac16 tivity that the Secretary deems 

17 appropriate for the purposes of 

18 this subsection; and 

19 ‘‘(II) may— 

20 ‘‘(aa) engage in outreach in 

21 the local area or region; 

22 ‘‘(bb) conduct business site 

23 visits, interviews, and assess24 ments; 


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1 ‘‘(cc) consult in the imple2 mentation of the skills action 

3 plan; 

4 ‘‘(dd) complete more than 1 

5 skills gap action plan; and 

6 ‘‘(ee) consult with the local 

7 offices of the Small Business Ad8 ministration. 

9 ‘‘(iii) PROHIBITION.—A grant received 

10 under this subsection may not be used to 

11 supplant existing funding or efforts. 

12 ‘‘(E) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMA13 TION.—The grant recipient may not disclose 

14 the name, address, or contact information of a 

15 business, employer, or other person that pro16 vided information to the grant recipient to com17 pile information in the strategic skills gap as18 sessment or strategic skills gap action plan 

19 without consent of such business, employer, or 

20 other person. 

21 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—Each year, the Secretary 

22 shall report to the Congress— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of grants awarded under 

24 this subsection; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the recipients of grants awarded 

2 under this subsection; 

3 ‘‘(C) the activities carried out by each re4 cipient under paragraph (3)(D); and 

5 ‘‘(D) an assessment describing— 

6 ‘‘(i) the success of the program to 

7 promote local economic growth and elimi8 nate gaps between the workforce skills 

9 available and the workforce skills needed in 

10 local areas or regions; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations for reau12 thorization and expansion of the program 

13 that the Secretary may have. 

14 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

15 ‘‘(A) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term 

16 ‘community college’ has the meaning given the 

17 term in section 312(f) of the Higher Education 

18 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 

19 ‘‘(B) LOCAL AREA.—The term ‘local area’ 

20 means the labor market immediately sur21 rounding or affected by a local board, commu22 nity college, or postsecondary vocational institu23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(C) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTI25 TUTION.—The term ‘postsecondary vocational 


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1 institution’ has the meaning given the term in 

2 section 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

4 ‘‘(D) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means 2 

5 or more local areas that comprise a common 

6 labor market for an industry sector of related 

7 occupations. 

8 ‘‘(E) STRATEGIC SKILLS GAP ASSESS9 MENT.—The term ‘strategic skills gap assess10 ment’ means an assessment that— 

11 ‘‘(i) identifies areas of current and ex12 pected demand for labor and skills in a 

13 specific industry sector of related occupa14 tions that is— 

15 ‘‘(I) producing jobs in the local 

16 area or region involved; 

17 ‘‘(II) developing emerging jobs in 

18 the local area or region involved; or 

19 ‘‘(III) suffering chronic worker 

20 shortages; 

21 ‘‘(ii) identifies the current and ex22 pected supply of labor and skills in that 

23 sector or group in the local area or region; 

24 ‘‘(iii) identifies gaps between the cur25 rent and expected demand and supply of 


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1 labor and skills in that section or group in 

2 the local area or region; 

3 ‘‘(iv) contains the results of a survey 

4 or focus group interviews of employers, 

5 labor organizations, and other relevant in6 dividuals and organizations in the local 

7 area or region; and 

8 ‘‘(v) contains data regarding— 

9 ‘‘(I) specific employment oppor10 tunities offered by industries in the 

11 local area or region; 

12 ‘‘(II) specific skills desired for 

13 employment opportunities offered by 

14 industries in the local area or region; 

15 ‘‘(III) occupations and positions 

16 in the local area or region that are 

17 difficult to fill; 

18 ‘‘(IV) specific skills desired for 

19 occupations and positions in the local 

20 area or region that are difficult to fill; 

21 ‘‘(V) areas of growth and decline 

22 among industries and occupations in 

23 the local area or region; 

24 ‘‘(VI) specific skills desired for 

25 areas of growth among industries and 


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1 occupations in the local area or re2 gion; and 

3 ‘‘(VII) specific inventories of 

4 skills of unemployed or under5 employed individuals in the local area 

6 or region. 

7 ‘‘(F) STRATEGIC SKILLS GAP ACTION

8 PLAN.—The term ‘strategic skills gap action 

9 plan’ means a plan based on the strategic skills 

10 gap assessment that— 

11 ‘‘(i) identifies— 

12 ‘‘(I) specific barriers to adequate 

13 supply of labor and skills in demand 

14 in a specific industry sector of related 

15 occupations that is producing jobs in 

16 the local area or region; and 

17 ‘‘(II) activities that will remove 

18 or alleviate the barriers described in 

19 subclause (I) that could be under20 taken by the local board, community 

21 college, or postsecondary vocational 

22 institution; 

23 ‘‘(ii) specifies how the local board, 

24 community college, or postsecondary voca25 tional institution may integrate the activiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:44 Mar 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H954.IH H954

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1 ties described in clause (i) within the local 

2 area or region; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) identifies resources and strate4 gies that may be used in the local area or 

5 region to address the skills gaps for both 

6 unemployed and employed workers in that 

7 industry sector. 

8 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec10 retary such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

11 this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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