I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 511

To provide for the establishment of a comprehensive and consolidated

workforce preparation and development system in the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 13, 1995

Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. PETRI, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr.

GUNDERSON, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska,

Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. TALENT, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.

WELDON of Florida, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. MCINTOSH,

Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. KASICH, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. BOEHNER, and Mr. MICA)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Education and Economic Opportunity

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a comprehensive and

consolidated workforce preparation and development system in the United States.

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 Preparation

5 and Development Act’’.
2

•HR 511 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The knowledge and skills of the United

4 States workforce are fundamental to the economic

5 competitiveness of the Nation today and in the fu6 ture, however, the United States does not currently

7 possess a comprehensive, effective, and efficient sys8 tem of workforce preparation and development.

9 (2) Due to global competition, emerging tech10 nologies in the workplace, the emergence of quality

11 managing, corporate realignments, and the loss of

12 many low-skilled jobs, United States workers will in13 creasingly need to enhance their skills on a continu14 ing, lifelong basis through such a workforce prepara15 tion and development system.

16 (3) Reports from the Comptroller General of

17 the United States have identified 154 different Fed18 eral programs, totaling $24,000,000,000, and ad19 ministered by 14 different Federal agencies, that

20 offer some form of education, job training, or em21 ployment assistance to youths and adults.

22 (4) Such reports point to the many problems of

23 duplication and fragmentation that exist within the

24 varied Federal workforce preparation and develop25 ment programs, including—
3

•HR 511 IH

1 (A) the additional costs of administering

2 overlapping workforce preparation and develop3 ment programs at the Federal, State, and local

4 levels which divert scarce resources that could

5 be better used to assist all individuals in pre6 paring for and entering the workforce; and

7 (B) conflicting eligibility requirements, an8 nual budgeting and operating cycles, planning

9 and reporting requirements, and performance

10 measurement systems which serve as barriers to

11 the integration of Federal workforce prepara12 tion and development programs and result in an

13 inefficient use of resources.

14 (5) Major goals of any reform of the Federal

15 workforce preparation and development system must

16 be—

17 (A) to streamline and consolidate individ18 ual workforce preparation and development pro19 grams, eliminating unnecessary duplication and

20 fragmentation in such programs;

21 (B) to provide maximum authority and re22 sponsibility to States and local communities for

23 operation of State and local workforce prepara24 tion and development programs;
4

•HR 511 IH

1 (C) to stress private sector partnerships

2 and encourage increased leadership and respon3 sibility on the part of the private sector through

4 the use of creative incentives for investment in

5 workforce training (which may include reduced

6 regulatory burdens, tax incentives, and em7 ployer loans for the training of incumbent work8 ers);

9 (D) to establish a system which is market10 driven, accountable, provides customer choice

11 and easy access to services, and reinforces indi12 vidual responsibility;

13 (E) to improve education, literacy, job

14 training and employment assistance programs

15 in the United States, encouraging lifelong

16 learning and skills upgrading through a seam17 less system connecting elementary, secondary,

18 postsecondary, adult, and work-based training

19 and education; and

20 (F) to establish a comprehensive, inte21 grated labor market information system to en22 sure that workforce preparation and develop23 ment programs are related to the demand for

24 particular skills in local labor markets, and to

25 ensure that information about the employment
5

•HR 511 IH

1 and earnings of the local workforce, occupations

2 in demand, skill requirements for such occupa3 tions, and the performance of education and

4 training providers, are available to job seekers,

5 employers, teachers, students, and decision6 makers.

7 (6) Early exposure to career opportunities can

8 enrich the education experience and provide incen9 tives for students to stay in school and achieve high10 er levels of learning.

11 (7) Millions of families in the United States are

12 trapped in a cycle of poverty, dependency, and

13 undereducation that is linked to illiteracy and low

14 educational achievement, for which adult education

15 and family literacy programs have been shown to be

16 successful in improving the educational attainment

17 and job skills of parents and their children, contrib18 uting to reductions in crime, welfare dependency,

19 and enhancing employment opportunities for such

20 individuals.

21 (8) In recent years, a number of innovative

22 States and local communities have begun successful

23 efforts to integrate Federal workforce preparation

24 and development programs through one-stop service

25 delivery systems, however, without exception, such
6

•HR 511 IH

1 States and communities have experienced numerous

2 Federal barriers to such program integration.

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to begin

4 the transformation of the vast array of Federal workforce

5 preparation and development programs from a collection

6 of fragmented and duplicative categorical programs into

7 a streamlined, comprehensive, coherent, high-quality, cost8 effective, and accountable Federal workforce preparation

9 and development system that is designed to meet the edu10 cation, employment, and training needs of the workforce

11 of the United States, both today and in the future.

12 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF INTENT.

13 Not later than the adjournment sine die of the 104th

14 Congress, the Congress shall carry out the following:

15 (1) The Congress shall conduct a thorough eval16 uation of all Federal workforce preparation and de17 velopment programs to determine the quality, effec18 tiveness, and efficiency of such programs.

19 (2) The Congress shall enact legislation that

20 provides for the following:

21 (A) The elimination of duplication and

22 fragmentation among Federal workforce prepa23 ration and development programs through the

24 reform, consolidation, and, where appropriate,

25 elimination of such programs, thus providing
7

•HR 511 IH

1 States and local communities with streamlined

2 and more flexible funding for the purpose of

3 preparing the future and current workforce.

4 (B) The transfer of major decision-making

5 authority for the design, governance, and imple6 mentation of comprehensive, integrated

7 workforce preparation and development systems

8 to States and local communities.

9 (C) A vital role for the private sector at

10 the Federal, State, and local levels in the design

11 and implementation of a Federal workforce

12 preparation and development system established

13 in accordance with subparagraph (D), encour14 aging the utilization of State and local em15 ployer-led boards responsible for strategic plan16 ning and program oversight of State and local

17 workforce preparation and development sys18 tems.

19 (D) The establishment of a Federal

20 workforce preparation and development system

21 that—

22 (i) is streamlined and consolidated;

23 (ii) provides maximum authority and

24 responsibility to States and local commu25 nities for the operation of State and local
8

•HR 511 IH

1 workforce preparation and development

2 programs;

3 (iii) is accountable;

4 (iv) stresses private sector partner5 ships and encourages increased leadership

6 and responsibility on the part of the pri7 vate sector for investment in workforce

8 training;

9 (v) is market-driven;

10 (vi) provides customer choice and easy

11 access to services; and

12 (vii) reinforces individual responsibil13 ity by stressing attachment to employment,

14 and at the same time, encouraging lifelong

15 learning and skills upgrading through a

16 seamless system connecting elementary,

17 secondary, postsecondary, adult, and work18 based training and education.

19 (E) The establishment of a national labor

20 market information system that provides em21 ployers, job seekers, students, teachers, training

22 providers, and others with accurate and timely

23 information on the local economy, occupations

24 in demand, earnings, and the skill requirements

25 for such occupations, and information on the
9

•HR 511 IH

1 performance of service providers in the local

2 community.

3 (3) Consistent with the legislation enacted in

4 accordance with paragraph (2), the Congress shall

5 provide for the repeal of existing Federal workforce

6 preparation and development programs, as appro7 priate.

8 SEC. 4. FEDERAL WORKFORCE PREPARATION AND DEVEL9 OPMENT PROGRAMS DEFINED.

10 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Federal

11 workforce preparation and development programs’’ means

12 programs under any of the following provisions of law:

13 (1) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied

14 Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.).

15 (2) The Job Training Partnership Act (29

16 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

17 (3) The Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et

18 seq.).

19 (4) The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills

20 Training Program authorized under part F of title

21 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 681 et

22 seq.).

23 (5) The Adult Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1201

24 et seq.).
10

•HR 511 IH

1 (6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

2 701 et seq.).

3 (7) The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of

4 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).

5 (8) Chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of

6 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.).

7 (9) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of

8 1977.

9 (10) Veterans vocational training programs au10 thorized under chapter 106 of title 10, United

11 States Code, and chapters 30, 31, 32, 35, and 41

12 of title 38, United States Code.

13 (11) Other Federal employment, education, or

14 training programs, as appropriate.

Æ