II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1029 

To create a new incentive fund that will encourage States to adopt the 

21st Century Skills Framework. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 13, 2009 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To create a new incentive fund that will encourage States 

to adopt the 21st Century Skills Framework. 

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 ‘‘21st Century Skills 

5 Incentive Fund Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Students must be prepared in the core sub9 jects of English, reading, mathematics, science, formstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

2 

•S 1029 IS

1 eign languages, civics, government, economics, art, 

2 history, and geography. 

3 (2) In order for our Nation’s students to be 

4 prepared to succeed in our communities and work5 places, students need 21st century content, beyond 

6 the traditional core subjects, that includes global 

7 awareness, financial, economic, business and entre8 preneurial literacy, civic literacy, and health and 

9 wellness awareness. 

10 (3) Students need to go beyond just learning 

11 today’s academic context to develop critical thinking 

12 and problem solving skills, communication skills, cre13 ativity and innovation skills, collaboration skills, con14 textual learning skills, and information and media 

15 literacy skills. 

16 (4) Information and communications technology 

17 literacy is the ability to use technology to develop 

18 21st century content knowledge and skills, in the 

19 content of learning core subjects, and students must 

20 be able to use technology to learn content and skills 

21 so that the students know how to learn, think criti22 cally, solve problems, use information, communicate, 

23 innovate, and collaborate. 

24 (5) Educators need to incorporate life skills into 

25 pedagogy, including leadership, ethics, accountmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

3 

•S 1029 IS

1 ability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal 

2 responsibility, self-direction, and social responsibility. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 State’’ means a State that— 

7 (A) develops a comprehensive plan for im8 plementing a statewide 21st Century Skills ini9 tiative; 

10 (B) demonstrates a commitment to ad11 vancing 21st Century Skills within— 

12 (i) standards and assessments; 

13 (ii) curriculum; 

14 (iii) professional development; and 

15 (iv) the learning environment; 

16 (C) achieves broad support for a statewide 

17 21st Century Skills initiative from among the 

18 State’s education leaders (including classroom 

19 practitioners), business leaders, and civic lead20 ers; and 

21 (D) carries out 21st century assessments 

22 of education that measure the following prior23 ities: 

24 (i) Core subjects, and 21st century 

25 themes. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

4 

•S 1029 IS

1 (ii) Life and career skills. 

2 (iii) Thinking and innovation skills. 

3 (iv) Information media and technology 

4 skills. 

5 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 21st 

6 Century Skills Incentive Fund established under sec7 tion 6(a). 

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

9 the Secretary of Education. 

10 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

12 award grants, from amounts available in the Fund, to eli13 gible States having applications approved under section 5 

14 to enable the eligible States to pay the Federal share of 

15 the cost of establishing a statewide 21st Century Skills 

16 initiative. 

17 (b) AWARD RULE.—The Secretary shall award 

18 grants under this Act on a first-come, first-served basis, 

19 so that the grants are awarded— 

20 (1) to eligible States in the order the Secretary 

21 receives approvable applications; and 

22 (2) in an amount determined on the basis of 

23 the amount of the non-Federal share identified, and 

24 supported by the information contained, in an ap25 provable application. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

5 

•S 1029 IS

1 (c) FEDERAL SHARE; NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share shall 

3 be 50 percent. 

4 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

5 share shall be provided from State sources or from 

6 foundation sources. 

7 (d) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award each 

8 grant under this Act for not less than 1 and not more 

9 than 3 years. 

10 (e) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The Secretary shall 

11 reduce the grant payable to an eligible State under this 

12 Act for a fiscal year by the amount, if any, by which the 

13 eligible State’s expenditures for the activities assisted 

14 under the grant for the preceding fiscal year are less than 

15 such expenditures for the second fiscal year preceding the 

16 fiscal year for which the determination is made. 

17 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds pro18 vided under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 

19 supplant other State funds expended for activities assisted 

20 under this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 

22 Each eligible State that desires a grant under this 

23 Act shall submit an application to the Secretary that— 

24 (1) describes the 21st Century Skills initiative 

25 for which assistance is sought; 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

6 

•S 1029 IS

1 (2) includes evidence that the eligible State has 

2 met each of the eligibility criteria described in sub3 paragraphs (A) through (D) of section 3(1); 

4 (3) includes a description of how the eligible 

5 State will provide the non-Federal share of the grant 

6 funds; and 

7 (4) includes a description of how the eligible 

8 State will continue to provide the non-Federal share 

9 throughout the duration of the grant and the suc10 cessful statewide implementation of the 21st Cen11 tury Skills initiative. 

12 SEC. 6. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INCENTIVE FUND. 

13 (a) FUND ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary shall estab14 lish a 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund. 

15 (b) DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall deposit into the 

16 Fund all amounts appropriated under section 8. 

17 (c) EXPENDITURES.—The Secretary shall use 

18 amounts in the Fund to award grants to eligible States 

19 in accordance with this Act. 

20 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer all 

22 aspects of the program assisted under this Act, including 

23 determining State eligibility, making grant awards, deter24 mining award amounts and duration, and conducting pro25 gram evaluations. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

7 

•S 1029 IS

1 (b) EVALUATION.—Each eligible State receiving a 

2 grant under this Act— 

3 (1) shall conduct an evaluation of the 21st Cen4 tury Skills initiative assisted under this Act; 

5 (2) shall use the non-Federal share described in 

6 section 5(3) to pay the costs of the evaluation; and 

7 (3) shall submit a copy of the evaluation to the 

8 Secretary. 

9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this Act (other than section 7(b))— 

12 (1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

13 (2) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

14 (3) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

15 the fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014. 

16 SEC. 9. SEPARATE PERCENTAGE LIMITATION FOR COR17 PORATE CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

18 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INITIATIVES OF ELIGI19 BLE STATES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 170(b) of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 (related to percentage limitations) 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new para23 graph: 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

8 

•S 1029 IS

1 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR CORPORATE CON2 TRIBUTIONS TO 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INITIATIVES

3 OF ELIGIBLE STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a cor5 poration which makes a 21st Century Skills ini6 tiative contribution, the limitation under para7 graph (2) shall apply separately with respect to 

8 all such contributions and all other charitable 

9 contributions. 

10 ‘‘(B) 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INITIATIVE

11 CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this para12 graph, the term ‘21st Century Skills initiative 

13 contribution’ means a charitable contribution in 

14 cash to an eligible State (as defined in section 

15 3(1) of the 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund 

16 Act) which has a grant application approved 

17 under section 5 of such Act.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS