I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5204 

To establish the National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment 

opportunities for the unemployed. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2010 

Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, 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 the National Full Employment Trust Fund to 

create employment opportunities for the unemployed. 

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 shall be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Full Em5 ployment and Training Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given such term in section 102(17) 


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1 of the Housing and Community Development Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 5302(17)). 

3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Labor. 

5 (4) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi6 ness’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘small busi7 ness concern’’ under section 3 of the Small Business 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

9 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean10 ing given such term in section 102(2) of the Hous11 ing and Community Development Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 5302(2)). 

13 (6) TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘Trust Fund’’ re14 fers to the Full Employment Trust Fund established 

15 under section 3. 

16 (7) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 

17 The term ‘‘unit of general local government’’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in section 102(1) of the 

19 Housing and Community Development Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 5302(1)). 

21 (8) URBAN COUNTY.—The term ‘‘urban coun22 ty’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

23 102(6) of the Housing and Community Development 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 5302(6)). 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FULL EMPLOYMENT NATIONAL 

2 TRUST FUND. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

4 Full Employment National Trust Fund (in this Act re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Trust Fund’’) for the purposes of— 

6 (1) providing funding for the Employment Op7 portunity Grants established in section 4; and 

8 (2) issuing funds to the Secretary to fund the 

9 Workforce Investment Act. 

10 (b) FINANCING THE TRUST FUND.—Subject to the 

11 availability of appropriations for this purpose, the Sec12 retary of the Treasury shall annually make available to 

13 the Secretary of Labor for deposit into the Trust Fund 

14 an amount equal to the amount collected for that year 

15 through the tax described in section 4475 of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986, as added by subsection (c). 

17 (c) TAX ON SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 36 of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 

20 subchapter B the following new subchapter: 

21 ‘‘Subchapter C—Tax on Securities 

22 Transactions 

‘‘Sec. 4475. Tax on securities transactions. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 4475. TAX ON SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IMPOSITION OF TAX.—There is hereby imposed 

25 a tax on each covered securities transaction an amount 


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1 equal to the applicable percentage of the value of the secu2 rity involved in such transaction. 

3 ‘‘(b) BY WHOM PAID.—The tax imposed by this sec4 tion shall be paid by the trading facility on which the 

5 transaction occurs. 

6 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes of 

7 this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable per9 centage’ means the lesser of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the specified percentage, or 

11 ‘‘(B) 0.25 percent. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIED PERCENTAGE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘specified 

14 percentage’ means, with respect to any taxable 

15 year beginning in a calendar year, the percent16 age that the Secretary estimates would result in 

17 the aggregate revenue to the Treasury under 

18 this section for such taxable year and all prior 

19 taxable years to equal the Secretary’s estimate 

20 of the net cost (if any) to the Federal Govern21 ment of— 

22 ‘‘(i) carrying out the Troubled Asset 

23 Relief Program established under title 1 of 

24 the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act 

25 of 2008, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the exercise of authority by the 

2 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

3 System under the third undesignated para4 graph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve 

5 Act (12 U.S.C. 343). 

6 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF PERCENTAGE.— 

7 Such percentage shall be determined by the 

8 Secretary not later than 30 days after the date 

9 of the enactment of this section, and redeter10 mined for taxable years beginning in each cal11 endar year thereafter. Such percentage shall 

12 take into account the Secretary’s most recent 

13 estimation of such net cost. Any specified per14 centage determined under this paragraph which 

15 is not a multiple of 1/100th of a percentage 

16 point shall be rounded to the nearest 1/100th of 

17 a percentage point. 

18 ‘‘(d) COVERED SECURITIES TRANSACTION.—The 

19 term ‘covered securities transaction’ means— 

20 ‘‘(1) any transaction to which subsection (b), 

21 (c), or (d) of section 31 of the Securities Exchange 

22 Act of 1934 applies, and 

23 ‘‘(2) any transaction subject to the exclusive ju24 risdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Com25 mission. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall carry 

2 out this section in consultation with the Securities and Ex3 change Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading 

4 Commission.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub6 chapters for chapter 36 of such Code is amended by 

7 inserting after the item relating to subchapter B the 

8 following new item: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER C. TAX ON SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS’’. 

9 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

10 by this subsection shall apply to sales occurring 

11 more than 30 days after the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act. 

13 (d) SEPARATE TRUST FUND ACCOUNTS.—The Trust 

14 Fund shall consist of 2 separate accounts as follows: 

15 (1) One account shall consist of 67 percent of 

16 the funds made available for deposit under sub17 section (b) and shall be for the Employment Oppor18 tunity Grants established in section 4. 

19 (2) The other account shall consist of 33 per20 cent of the funds made available for deposit under 

21 subsection (b) and shall be available to the Secretary 

22 to fund programs under the Workforce Investment 

23 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.). 

24 (e) WEB SITE.—The Secretary shall establish an 

25 Internet Web site to serve as an information clearinghouse 


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1 for job training and employment opportunities funded by 

2 the Trust Fund. 

3 SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY GRANTS TO STATES, 

4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND INDIAN TRIBES. 

5 (a) EMPLOYMENT GRANTS CONTINGENT ON UNEM6 PLOYMENT RATE.—Subject to the availability of funds in 

7 the Trust Fund for such activities under this section, if, 

8 at the times set forth in subsection (b), the rate of unem9 ployment, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statis10 tics, is higher than the corresponding percentages set forth 

11 in such subsection, the Secretary shall make grants, in 

12 amounts totaling 90 percent of such funds available, to 

13 States, units of general local government, and Indian 

14 tribes to carry out activities in accordance with this sec15 tion. 

16 (b) APPLICABLE RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT.—The 

17 rates of unemployment and corresponding years described 

18 in subsection (a) are as follows: 

19 (1) 9.0 percent for the first year after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (2) 8.0 percent beginning 2 years after such 

22 date of enactment. 

23 (3) 6.0 percent beginning 5 years after such 

24 date of enactment. 


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1 (4) 5.0 percent beginning 8 years after such 

2 date of enactment. 

3 (5) 4.0 percent beginning 10 years after such 

4 date of employment. 

5 (c) PURPOSE.—Grants made under this section shall 

6 be for creating employment opportunities for unemployed 

7 and underemployed residents of distressed communities in 

8 activities designed to address community needs and reduce 

9 disparities in health, housing, education, job readiness, 

10 and public infrastructure that have impeded these commu11 nities from realizing their full economic potential. 

12 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

13 this section shall use the grant for the following purposes: 

14 (1) During the initial 9-month period in which 

15 grants are made under this section, each grant shall 

16 be used only to fund the following types of fast-track 

17 job placements: 

18 (A) The painting and repair of schools, 

19 community centers, and libraries. 

20 (B) The restoration and revitalization of 

21 abandoned and vacant properties to alleviate 

22 blight in distressed and foreclosure-affected 

23 areas of a unit of general local government. 


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1 (C) The expansion of emergency food pro2 grams to reduce hunger and promote family 

3 stability. 

4 (D) The augmentation of staffing in Head 

5 Start, child care, and other early childhood edu6 cation programs to promote school readiness 

7 and early literacy. 

8 (E) The renovation and enhancement of 

9 maintenance of parks, playgrounds, and other 

10 public spaces. 

11 (2) Following the 9-month period described in 

12 paragraph (1), a recipient of a grant may use the 

13 remaining amount of the grant to assist public enti14 ties, nonprofit organizations, public-private partner15 ships, or small businesses to create opportunities for 

16 employment in the following areas: 

17 (A) Construction, re-construction, rehabili18 tation, and site improvements of residences or 

19 public facilities, including improvements in the 

20 energy efficiency or environmental quality of 

21 such public facilities or residences. 

22 (B) Provision of human services, including 

23 child care services, health care services, edu24 cation, or recreational programs. 


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1 (C) The remediation and demolition of va2 cant and abandoned properties to eliminate 

3 blight. 

4 (D) Programs that provide disadvantaged 

5 youth with opportunities for employment, edu6 cation, leadership development, entrepreneurial 

7 skills development, and training. 

8 (e) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—Each grant recipi9 ent shall consult with community leaders, including labor 

10 organizations, non-profit organizations, local government 

11 officials, and local residents to— 

12 (1) assess the needs of the community served 

13 by the grant recipient; 

14 (2) determine sectors of the local economy that 

15 are in need of employees; 

16 (3) make recommendations for new employment 

17 opportunities in the areas described in paragraph 

18 (3); and 

19 (4) assess the effectiveness of job placements 

20 made under paragraph (1). 

21 (f) CONDITIONS.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

22 under this section, a grant recipient shall— 

23 (1) agree to comply with the nondiscrimination 

24 policy set forth under section 109 of the Housing 


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1 and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

2 U.S.C. 5309); 

3 (2) allocate not less than 80 percent of the 

4 funding allocated to each project funded under the 

5 grant to wages, benefits, and support services, in6 cluding child care services, for individuals employed 

7 on such project; 

8 (3) ensure that employment on any project 

9 funded under the grant is carried out in accordance 

10 with subsection (f); 

11 (4) institute an outreach program with commu12 nity organizations and service providers in low-in13 come communities to provide information about 

14 placements funded under the grant to individuals 

15 suited to perform community infrastructure work; 

16 and 

17 (5) ensure that not less than 35 percent of indi18 viduals employed under the grant are individuals de19 scribed in paragraph (5)(B) of subsection (f). 

20 (g) EMPLOYMENT DESCRIBED.—Employment funded 

21 under this section shall meet the following specifications: 

22 (1) Any employer that employs an individual 

23 whose employment is funded under the grant shall— 

24 (A) employ such individual for not less 

25 than 12 months; 


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1 (B) employ such individual for not less 

2 than 30 hours per week; 

3 (C) comply with responsible contractor 

4 standards, as determined by the relevant official 

5 in the unit of local general government; 

6 (D) provide compensation to such indi7 vidual equal to that which is paid to employees 

8 who have been employed to perform similar 

9 work prior to the date such individual was 

10 hired; and 

11 (E) if such employment is in construction, 

12 provide compensation to any laborer or me13 chanic employed under the grant at rates not 

14 less than those prevailing on similar construc15 tion in the locality as determined by the Sec16 retary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

17 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (2) No individual whose employment is funded 

20 under the grant may work for an employer at which 

21 a collective bargaining agreement is in effect cov22 ering the same or similar work, unless— 

23 (A) the consent of the union at such em24 ployer is obtained; and 


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1 (B) negotiations have taken place between 

2 such union and the employer as to the terms 

3 and conditions of such employment. 

4 (3) An individual whose employment is funded 

5 under this Act may not displace other employees 

6 whose employment is not funded under this Act. A 

7 grant recipient under this Act may not hire an em8 ployee or employees with funds under this Act for 

9 any employment which the grant recipient would 

10 otherwise hire an employee who has been furloughed. 

11 (4) An individual whose employment is funded 

12 under this Act shall be— 

13 (A) unemployed for not less than 26 weeks 

14 prior to the receipt of the grant, as verified by 

15 the State or local department of labor, depart16 ment of welfare, or similar office charged with 

17 maintaining records of unemployment; or 

18 (B) unemployed for not less than 30 days 

19 prior to the receipt of the grant and be a low20 income individual who is a member of a tar21 geted group (as defined by section 51(d) of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) as verified by 

23 the State or local department of labor, depart24 ment of welfare, or similar office charged with 

25 maintaining records of unemployment. 


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1 For purposes of subparagraph (B), the hiring date 

2 (as defined in section 51(d)(11) of such Code) shall 

3 be the hiring date by an employer who receives a 

4 grant pursuant to this section. 

5 (h) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

6 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting a 

7 project to receive funding for employing the individ8 uals described in subsection (f)(5), a grant recipient 

9 shall consider— 

10 (A) the input of all participants in a pro11 posed project, including labor organizations, 

12 community organizations, and employers; 

13 (B) the needs of the community intended 

14 to benefit from such project; 

15 (C) the long-term goals and short term ob16 jectives to address such needs; and 

17 (D) any recommendations for programs 

18 and activities developed to meet such needs. 

19 (2) PRIORITY GIVEN TO CERTAIN PROJECTS.— 

20 A grant recipient under this section shall give pri21 ority to projects that— 

22 (A) serve areas with the greatest level of 

23 economic need, determined for each such area 

24 by— 

25 (i) the unemployment rate; 


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1 (ii) the rate of poverty; 

2 (iii) the number of census tracts with 

3 concentrated poverty; 

4 (iv) the lowest median income; 

5 (v) the percentage of vacant and 

6 abandoned properties; 

7 (vi) the percentage of home fore8 closures; and 

9 (vii) the indicators of poor resident 

10 health, including high rates of chronic dis11 ease, infant mortality, and life expectancy; 

12 (B) integrate education and job skills 

13 training, including basic skills instruction and 

14 secondary education services; 

15 (C) coordinate to the maximum extent fea16 sible with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship 

17 programs; and 

18 (D) provide jobs in sectors where job 

19 growth is most likely, as determined by the Sec20 retary, and in which career advancement oppor21 tunities exist to maximize long-term, sustain22 able employment for individuals after employ23 ment funded under this Act ends. 

24 (i) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES AND DEPOSITS

2 INTO DISCRETIONARY FUND.—Not more than 5 per3 cent of the funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

4 for any fiscal year shall be reserved for grants to In5 dian tribes and for deposit into a discretionary fund 

6 established by the Secretary for national demonstra7 tion projects and multi-jurisdictional projects. 

8 (2) GRANTS TO STATES.—Not more than 30 

9 percent of funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

10 for any fiscal year shall be allocated to States to dis11 tribute to units of general local government that do 

12 not qualify for funds under paragraph (3). 

13 (3) GRANTS TO UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL

14 GOVERNMENT.—Grant funds that are not reserved 

15 under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be allocated to 

16 metropolitan cities and urban counties using the for17 mula under section 106(b) of the Housing and Com18 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

19 5306(b)). 

20 (j) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) REPORTS BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not 

22 later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal 

23 year in which assistance under this section is fur24 nished, a recipient of a grant under this section shall 


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1 submit to the Secretary a report containing the fol2 lowing: 

3 (A) A description of the progress made in 

4 accomplishing the objectives of this chapter. 

5 (B) A summary of the use of the grant 

6 during the preceding fiscal year. 

7 (C) For units of general local government, 

8 a listing of each entity receiving funds and the 

9 amount of such grants, as well as a brief sum10 mary of the projects funded for each such unit, 

11 the extent of financial participation by other 

12 public or private entities, and the impact on 

13 employment and economic activity of such 

14 projects during the previous fiscal year. 

15 (D) For States, a listing of each unit of 

16 general local government receiving funds and 

17 the amount of such grants, as well as a brief 

18 summary of the projects funded for each such 

19 unit, the extent of financial participation by 

20 other public or private entities, and the impact 

21 on employment and economic activity of such 

22 projects during the previous fiscal year. 

23 (E) The amount of money received and ex24 pended during the fiscal year. 


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1 (F) The number of individuals assisted 

2 under the grant whose household income is low3 income, very low-income, or extremely low-in4 come (as such terms are used for purposes of 

5 the Housing Act of 1937 and the regulations 

6 there under (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.)). 

7 (G) The amount expended on administra8 tive costs during the fiscal year. 

9 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At least once 

10 every 6 months, the Secretary shall submit to Con11 gress a report on the use of grants awarded under 

12 this section and any progress in job creation. 

13 SEC. 5. NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT CONFERENCE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convene a na15 tional employment conference not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, to bring together leaders 

17 of small and larger business, labor, government, and all 

18 other interested parties. 

19 (b) SUBJECT.—The subject of the conference shall be 

20 employment, with particular attention to structural unem21 ployment and the plight of disadvantaged youth. The con22 ference shall also focus on issues such as adequate and 

23 effective incentives for employers to hire the long-term un24 employed. 

Æ 


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