I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4591 

To establish a national strategy for identifying job training needs to increase 

opportunities for technical school training and promote hiring. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2014 

Mr. BARROW of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, 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 a national strategy for identifying job training 

needs to increase opportunities for technical school training and promote hiring. 

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 Investment 

5 and Job Creation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IDENTIFYING JOB TRAINING NEEDS. 

7 (a) STRATEGY REPORT.— 


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1 (1) STRATEGY REPORT REQUIRED.—The Sec2 retary of Labor shall develop and submit to Con3 gress a strategy report to address the skills gap by 

4 providing analysis and recommendations to increase 

5 on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities 

6 and increase employer participation in education and 

7 workforce training. 

8 (2) GOALS OF THE STRATEGY REPORT.—The 

9 strategy report required by paragraph (1) shall in10 clude specific recommendations to achieve the fol11 lowing goals: 

12 (A) To increase the aggregate number of 

13 employers and employees participating in on14 the-job training and apprenticeships. 

15 (B) To determine ways in which the De16 partment of Labor can increase employer out17 reach to encourage new and expanded employer 

18 participation in education and workforce train19 ing. 

20 (C) To identify and prioritize industry-rec21 ognized postsecondary credentials that are na22 tionally portable and aligned with in-demand 

23 occupations in industries such as construction, 

24 manufacturing, and others that are emerging. 


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1 (D) To determine ways in which the De2 partment of Labor can better address the skills 

3 gap by maximizing existing resources, pro4 grams, and personnel. 

5 (3) ANALYSIS REQUIRED.—As part of the strat6 egy report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, 

7 at a minimum, include the following: 

8 (A) A comparison of United States on-the9 job training and apprenticeship policies and 

10 strategies with the policies and strategies of 

11 other countries where employers play a larger 

12 role in education and workforce training. 

13 (B) An assessment of the Department of 

14 Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship program to 

15 determine how it can be better utilized to ap16 peal to more industries and to boost the goals 

17 described in paragraph (2). 

18 (C) An evaluation of any existing or poten19 tial opportunities within the Department of 

20 Labor to refocus or repurpose resources and 

21 personnel to better support on-the-job training 

22 and apprenticeship goals. 

23 (D) An analysis of the specific barriers 

24 preventing the domestic workforce from acquir25 ing the skills desired by domestic employers, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:07 May 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4591.IH H4591

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1 cluding an assessment of opportunities to re2 duce those barriers by— 

3 (i) improving coordination between 

4 Federal agencies that administer employ5 ment and training programs; and 

6 (ii) modifying Federal employment 

7 and training programs to enable States to 

8 better utilize Federal employment and 

9 training funds. 

10 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

11 include in the skills gap strategy report required 

12 under paragraph (1) recommendations for achieving 

13 the goals included in the strategy pursuant to para14 graph (2). Such recommendations may include pro15 posals as follows: 

16 (A) Actions that may be taken by the Fed17 eral Government, Congress, State, local and ter18 ritorial governments, the private sector, univer19 sities, industry associations, and other stake20 holders to improve policies, coordination, and 

21 interaction between such entities, including 

22 strategies and best practices to— 

23 (i) boost public-private partnerships 

24 and employer-led partnerships; and 


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1 (ii) help establish regional industry 

2 partnerships. 

3 (B) Adoption of strategies that have been 

4 implemented and proven successful in key in5 dustries and regions in the United States and 

6 in other countries. 

7 (C) In coordination with the Secretary of 

8 Commerce and the Secretary of Education, de9 velop plans that identify strategies— 

10 (i) for increased employer participa11 tion in career and technical education; 

12 (ii) to better align career and tech13 nical education curriculums and programs 

14 with fast growing industry sectors; 

15 (iii) to encourage more pre-apprentice16 ship and college credit courses in sec17 ondary schools; 

18 (iv) to improve school-to-work transi19 tions and connections; and 

20 (v) to assist employers in partnering 

21 with elementary schools, secondary schools, 

22 and institutions of higher education. 

23 (5) SUBMITTAL OF STRATEGY REPORT.—Not 

24 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 


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1 this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress the 

2 strategy report developed under this subsection. 

3 (6) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may im4 plement the recommendations under paragraph (4) 

5 as the Secretary determines appropriate, if otherwise 

6 permitted under law. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

9 school’’ and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings 

10 given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 7801). 

13 (2) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED.—The term ‘‘indus14 try-recognized’’, as used with respect to a credential, 

15 means a credential that— 

16 (A) is sought or accepted by employers 

17 within the industry sector involved as recog18 nized, preferred, or required for recruitment, 

19 screening, hiring, or advancement; 

20 (B) is endorsed by a recognized trade or 

21 professional association or organization, rep22 resenting a significant part of the industry sec23 tor; and 


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1 (C) is a nationally portable credential that 

2 is sought or accepted across multiple States, as 

3 described in subparagraph (A). 

4 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

6 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

8 (4) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN9 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden10 tial’’ means a credential consisting of an industry11 recognized credential for postsecondary training, a 

12 certificate that meets the requirements of subpara13 graphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) for postsec14 ondary training, a certificate of completion of a post15 secondary apprenticeship through a program de16 scribed in section 122(a)(2)(B) of the Workforce In17 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842(a)(2)(B)), or 

18 an associate degree or baccalaureate degree awarded 

19 by an institution of higher education (as defined in 

20 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))). 

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

23 the Secretary of Labor. 

24 (6) SKILLS GAP.—The term ‘‘skills gap’’ refers 

25 to the difference, or gap, between the current supply 


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1 of labor and skills of the workforce and that which 

2 is desired by employers. 

3 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL SCHOOL TRAINING SUBSIDY PROGRAM. 

4 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

5 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL SCHOOL TRAINING SUBSIDY PILOT

8 PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNICAL SCHOOL

10 TRAINING SUBSIDY PILOT PROGRAM.—From the 

11 amounts appropriated to carry out this subsection, 

12 the Secretary shall award competitive grants to 

13 States to provide such funds to local boards for the 

14 provision of technical school training subsidies in 

15 local areas through one-stop delivery systems de16 scribed in section 134(c). 

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

18 this subsection a State shall submit to the Secretary 

19 an application in such manner, at such time, and 

20 containing such information as the Secretary may 

21 require. 

22 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR

23 SUBSIDY.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A technical school 

25 training subsidy for an academic year may be 


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1 provided, in accordance with subparagraph (E), 

2 to a technical school on behalf of an unem3 ployed individual who is enrolled, or accepted 

4 for enrollment, at a technical school. 

5 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF SUBSIDY.— 

6 ‘‘(i) CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter7 mining the amount of a subsidy to provide 

8 to an unemployed individual under this 

9 subsection, a one-stop operator or one-stop 

10 partner, as appropriate, shall take into ac11 count— 

12 ‘‘(I) the cost of tuition of such 

13 individual; 

14 ‘‘(II) the expected family con15 tribution, as determined in accordance 

16 with section 474 of the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1087nn), for such individual; and 

19 ‘‘(III) the estimated financial as20 sistance for such individual not re21 ceived under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(ii) AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—The ag23 gregate amount of subsidies an individual 

24 may receive under this subsection may not 

25 exceed $2,000. 


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1 ‘‘(C) NUMBER OF SUBSIDIES.—An indi2 vidual may receive subsidies under this sub3 section for not more than 2 academic years. 

4 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—A subsidy an indi5 vidual receives under this subsection shall be 

6 used to assist the individual in paying the cost 

7 of tuition for career and technical education at 

8 a technical school. All subsidies received by an 

9 individual under this subsection shall be used to 

10 pay the cost of tuition for career and technical 

11 education at the same technical school. 

12 ‘‘(E) PROVISION OF SUBSIDY.—Upon ap13 proving an unemployed individual for a subsidy 

14 under this subsection, a one-stop operator or 

15 one-stop partner, as appropriate, shall provide, 

16 prior to the start of an academic year, the sub17 sidy to the technical school in which the unem18 ployed individual is enrolled or accepted for en19 rollment. 

20 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

21 ‘‘(A) The term ‘career and technical edu22 cation’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech24 nical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 

25 ‘‘(B) The term ‘cost of tuition’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) tuition and fees normally assessed 

2 a student carrying the same academic 

3 workload as determined by the technical 

4 school, and including costs for rental or 

5 purchase of any equipment, materials, or 

6 supplies required of all students in the 

7 same course of study; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) an allowance for books and sup9 plies, for a student attending the technical 

10 school on at least a half-time basis, as de11 termined by the school. 

12 ‘‘(C) The term ‘technical school’ means a 

13 ‘postsecondary vocational institution’ that pro14 vides career and technical education. 

15 ‘‘(D) The term ‘postsecondary vocational 

16 institution’ has the meaning given the term in 

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

18 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

19 ‘‘(E) The term ‘unemployed individual’ 

20 means an unemployed individual who is a cit21 izen of the United States.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. TAX CREDITS FOR NEW HIRES. 

23 (a) CREDIT FOR INCREASING EMPLOYMENT.—Sub24 part C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the 

25 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to refundable 


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1 credits) is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR INCREASING EMPLOYMENT. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed as a cred5 it against the tax imposed by this subtitle— 

6 ‘‘(1) for any taxable year beginning in 2014, an 

7 amount equal to 60 percent of the excess of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the aggregate wages paid during 

9 2014, over 

10 ‘‘(B) the aggregate wages paid during 

11 2013, and 

12 ‘‘(2) for any taxable year beginning in 2015, an 

13 amount equal to 40 percent of the excess of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the aggregate wages paid during 

15 2015, over 

16 ‘‘(B) the aggregate inflation-adjusted 

17 wages paid during 2014. 

18 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The amount of the credit 

19 allowable under this section for any employer with respect 

20 to any calendar year shall not exceed $500,000. 

21 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM PRECEDING YEAR WAGES.—For pur22 poses of subsection (a)— 

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1 cent of the amount described in paragraph (1)(A) 

2 thereof, and 

3 ‘‘(2) the amount taken into account under para4 graph (2)(B) thereof shall not be less than 50 per5 cent of the amount described in paragraph (2)(A) 

6 thereof. 

7 ‘‘(d) TOTAL WAGES MUST INCREASE.—The amount 

8 of credit allowed under this section for any taxable year 

9 shall not exceed the amount which would be so allowed 

10 for such year (without regard to subsection (c)) if— 

11 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amounts taken into account 

12 as wages were determined without any dollar limita13 tion, and 

14 ‘‘(2) 103 percent of the amount of wages other15 wise required to be taken into account under sub16 section (a)(1)(B) or subsection (a)(2)(B), as the 

17 case may be, were taken into account. 

18 ‘‘(e) WAGES; INFLATION-ADJUSTED WAGES.—For 

19 purposes of this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), the term ‘wages’ has the meaning given 

22 to such term by section 3306(b). 

23 ‘‘(2) RAILWAY AND AGRICULTURAL LABOR.— 

24 Rules similar to the rules of section 51(h) shall 

25 apply for purposes of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) INFLATION-ADJUSTED WAGES.—The term 

2 ‘inflation-adjusted wages’ means the aggregate 

3 wages paid during 2014 increased by an amount 

4 equal to— 

5 ‘‘(A) such aggregate wages, multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter7 mined under section 1(f)(3) for 2014, deter8 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2012’ for 

9 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

10 thereof. 

11 Any increase determined under the preceding sen12 tence shall be rounded in such manner as the Sec13 retary shall prescribe. 

14 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ADJUSTMENTS FOR CERTAIN ACQUISI16 TIONS, ETC.— 

17 ‘‘(A) ACQUISITIONS.—If, after December 

18 31, 2012, an employer acquires the major por19 tion of a trade or business of another person 

20 (hereinafter in this subparagraph referred to as 

21 the ‘predecessor’) or the major portion of a sep22 arate unit of a trade or business of a prede23 cessor, then, for purposes of applying this sec24 tion for any calendar year ending after such ac25 quisition, the amount of wages deemed paid by 


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1 the employer during periods before such acqui2 sition shall be increased by so much of such 

3 wages paid by the predecessor with respect to 

4 the acquired trade or business as is attributable 

5 to the portion of such trade or business ac6 quired by the employer. 

7 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITIONS.—If, after December 

8 31, 2012— 

9 ‘‘(i) an employer disposes of the major 

10 portion of any trade or business of the em11 ployer or the major portion of a separate 

12 unit of a trade or business of the employer 

13 in a transaction to which subparagraph 

14 (A) applies, and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the employer furnishes the ac16 quiring person such information as is nec17 essary for the application of subparagraph 

18 (A), 

19 then, for purposes of applying this section for 

20 any calendar year ending after such disposition, 

21 the amount of wages deemed paid by the em22 ployer during periods before such disposition 

23 shall be decreased by so much of such wages as 

24 is attributable to such trade or business or sep25 arate unit. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CHANGE IN STATUS FROM SELF-EM2 PLOYED TO EMPLOYEE.—If— 

3 ‘‘(A) during 2013 or 2014 an individual 

4 has net earnings from self-employment (as de5 fined in section 1402(a)) which are attributable 

6 to a trade or business, and 

7 ‘‘(B) for any portion of the succeeding cal8 endar year such individual is an employee of 

9 such trade or business, 

10 then, for purposes of determining the credit allow11 able for a taxable year beginning in such succeeding 

12 calendar year, the employer’s aggregate wages for 

13 2013 or 2014, as the case may be, shall be increased 

14 by an amount equal to so much of the net earnings 

15 referred to in subparagraph (A) as does not exceed 

16 the median household income in the United States 

17 for 2013 or 2014, as the case may be. 

18 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN OTHER RULES TO APPLY.—Rules 

19 similar to the following rules shall apply for pur20 poses of this section: 

21 ‘‘(A) Section 51(f) (relating to remunera22 tion must be for trade or business employment). 

23 ‘‘(B) Section 51(i)(1) (relating to related 

24 individuals ineligible). 


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1 ‘‘(C) Section 51(k) (relating to treatment 

2 of successor employers; treatment of employees 

3 performing services for other persons). 

4 ‘‘(D) Section 52 (relating to special rules). 

5 ‘‘(4) SHORT TAXABLE YEARS.—If the employer 

6 has more than 1 taxable year beginning in 2014 or 

7 2015, the credit under this section shall be deter8 mined for the employer’s last taxable year beginning 

9 in 2014 or 2015, as the case may be.’’. 

10 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 

11 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 

12 ‘‘36C(a),’’ before ‘‘45A(a)’’. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

15 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after 

16 ‘‘36B,’’. 

17 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

18 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 

19 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 36B the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for increasing employment.’’. 

21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

23 December 31, 2013. 

Æ 


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