I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 636 

To promote registered apprenticeships and other work-based learning programs for small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand industry 

sectors, through the establishment and support of industry or sector 

partnerships. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2021 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. FERGUSON, Ms. STEVENS, and Mr. GUTHRIE) 

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

Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

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 promote registered apprenticeships and other work-based 

learning programs for small and medium-sized businesses 

within in-demand industry sectors, through the establishment and support of industry or sector partnerships. 

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 ‘‘Promoting Apprentice5 ships through Regional Training Networks for Employers 

6 Required Skills Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PARTNERS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to promote registered ap3 prenticeships and other work-based learning programs for 

4 small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand in5 dustry sectors, through the establishment and support of 

6 industry or sector partnerships. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi10 ble partnership’’ means an industry or sector part11 nership as defined in section 3 of the Workforce In12 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) that 

13 submits and obtains approval of an application con14 sistent with section 5(c). 

15 (2) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTOR.—The term 

16 ‘‘in-demand industry sector’’ means a sector de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B) of section 

18 3(23) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

19 Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(23)). 

20 (3) LOCAL OR REGIONAL.—The term ‘‘local or 

21 regional’’, used with respect to an entity, means that 

22 the entity provides services in, respectively, a local 

23 area or region. 

24 (4) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP.—The term 

25 ‘‘registered apprenticeship’’ means an apprenticeship 

26 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (comVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H636.IH H636

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1 monly known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 

2 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘work-based 

4 learning program’’ means a program that pro5 vides workers with paid work experience and 

6 corresponding classroom instruction, delivered 

7 in an employment relationship that both the 

8 business and worker intend to lead to con9 tinuing employment after the program ends. 

10 (B) WORK EXPERIENCE.—In subpara11 graph (A), the term ‘‘paid work experience’’ in12 cludes training by an employer that is provided 

13 to a paid employee while engaged in productive 

14 work in a job that provides knowledge or skills 

15 essential to the full and adequate performance 

16 of the job. 

17 (5) WORKFORCE TERMS.—The terms ‘‘Gov18 ernor’’, ‘‘individual with a barrier to employment’’, 

19 ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local 

20 board’’, ‘‘State board’’, ‘‘outlying area’’, ‘‘recognized 

21 postsecondary credential’’, ‘‘region’’, ‘‘State’’, and 

22 ‘‘supportive services’’, used with respect to activities 

23 supported under this Act, have the meanings given 

24 the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 

25 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 


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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Labor. 

3 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. 

4 From funds paid into the general fund of the Treas5 ury and available under section 286(s)(2) of the Immigra6 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(s)(2)), the Sec7 retary shall carry out this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES. 

9 (a) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts available for this 

10 Act under section 4, the Secretary may reserve— 

11 (1) not more than 5 percent of those amounts 

12 for the costs of technical assistance and Federal ad13 ministration of this Act; 

14 (2) not more than 2 percent of those amounts 

15 for the costs of evaluations conducted under section 

16 8(b); and 

(3) not more than 1 17 ⁄4 of 1 percent of such 

18 amounts to provide assistance to the outlying areas. 

19 (b) ALLOTMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts available for 

21 this Act under section 4 that remain after the Sec22 retary makes the reservations under subsection (a), 

23 the Secretary shall, for the purpose of supporting 

24 (which may include assistance in establishing ex25 panded) local or regional eligible partnerships to 


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1 support work-based learning programs under this 

2 Act, make allotments to eligible States in accordance 

3 with clauses (ii) through (v) of section 132(b)(1)(B) 

4 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

5 (29 U.S.C. 3162(b)(1)(C)), subject to paragraph 

6 (2). 

7 (2) APPLICATION.—For purposes of applying 

8 the clauses described in paragraph (1), under para9 graph (1), the Secretary— 

10 (A) shall not apply subclauses (I) and (III) 

11 of clause (iv) with respect to the first fiscal year 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act; 

13 (B) shall apply clause (iv)(II) by sub14 stituting ‘‘0.5 percent of the remaining amounts 

15 described in paragraph (1)’’ for the total de16 scribed in that clause; 

17 (C) shall not apply clause (iv)(IV); 

18 (D) shall apply clause (v)(II) by sub19 stituting the term ‘‘allotment percentage’’, used 

20 with respect to the second full fiscal year after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, or a subse22 quent fiscal year, means a percentage of the re23 maining amounts described in paragraph (1) 

24 that is received through an allotment made 


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1 under this subsection for the fiscal year for the 

2 two sentences in that clause; and 

3 (E) shall apply clause (v)(III) by sub4 stituting ‘‘a work-based learning program car5 ried out under this Act’’ for ‘‘a program of 

6 workforce investment activities carried out 

7 under this subtitle’’. 

8 (3) USE OF UNALLOTTED FUNDS.—If a State 

9 fails to meet the requirements for an allotment 

10 under this subsection, the Secretary may allot funds 

11 that are not allotted under paragraphs (1) and (2) 

12 to eligible States under a formula based on the for13 mula specified in section 132(c) of the Workforce In14 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3173(c)). 

15 (4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

16 ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State that meets the re17 quirements of section 102 or 103 of the Workforce 

18 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3112, 

19 3113) and subsection (c). 

20 (c) STATE ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 

21 allotment under subsection (b), a State, in consultation 

22 with State boards and local boards, shall submit an appli23 cation to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and 

24 containing a description of the activities to be carried out 


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1 with the grant funds. At a minimum, the application shall 

2 include information on— 

3 (1) the local or regional industry or sector part4 nerships that will be supported, including the lead 

5 partners for the partnerships, and how the partner6 ships will work to engage small and medium-sized 

7 businesses, as applicable, in the activities of the 

8 partnerships; 

9 (2) the in-demand industry sectors that will be 

10 served, including how such industry sectors were 

11 identified, and how the activities of the partnerships 

12 will align with State, regional, and local plans as re13 quired under title I of the Workforce Innovation and 

14 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.); 

15 (3) the registered apprenticeship programs or 

16 other work-based learning programs to be supported 

17 though the partnerships; 

18 (4) the populations that will receive services, in19 cluding individuals with barriers to employment and 

20 populations that were historically underrepresented 

21 in the industry sectors to be served through the 

22 partnerships; 

23 (5) the services, including business engagement, 

24 classroom instruction, and support services (includ25 ing at least 6 months of post-employment support 


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1 services), that will be supported through the grant 

2 funds; 

3 (6) the recognized postsecondary credentials 

4 that workers will obtain through participation in the 

5 program and the quality of the program that leads 

6 to the credentials; 

7 (7) levels of performance to be achieved on the 

8 performance indicators described in section 8, to 

9 measure progress towards expanding work-based 

10 learning programs; 

11 (8) how local or regional partnerships will lever12 age additional resources, including funding provided 

13 under title I of the Workforce Innovation and Op14 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.) and non15 Federal resources, to support the activities carried 

16 out under this Act; and 

17 (9) such other subjects as the Secretary may 

18 require. 

19 (d) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

20 review applications submitted under subsection (c) in con21 sultation with the Secretary of Education and the Sec22 retary of Health and Human Services. 

23 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO PARTNERSHIPS. 

24 (a) GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a State 

2 that receives an allotment under section 5 shall use 

3 the funds made available through the allotment and 

4 not reserved under subsection (d) to award grants to 

5 eligible partnerships. The Governor shall award the 

6 grants for the purpose of assisting (which may in7 clude establishing or expanding) local or regional in8 dustry or sector partnerships that are identified in 

9 the application submitted under section 5(c), to 

10 carry out activities described in section 7. 

11 (2) PERIOD AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A State 

12 may make a grant under this section for a period of 

13 3 years, and in an amount of not more than 

14 $500,000. 

15 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Governor of 

16 a State that receives an allotment under section 5 

17 for a fiscal year may use the funds made available 

18 through the allotment during that year or the 2 sub19 sequent fiscal years. 

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

21 under this section, an industry or sector partnership de22 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall— 

23 (1) submit an application to the State at such 

24 time, in such manner, and containing such informa25 tion as the State may require; and 


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1 (2) designate a partner in the industry or sector 

2 partnership, to serve as the fiscal agent for purposes 

3 of the grant. 

4 (c) AWARDS OF GRANTS.— 

5 (1) PARTICIPATION IN MULTIPLE ELIGIBLE

6 PARTNERSHIPS.—Subject to paragraph (2), a State 

7 may award grants under this section in a way that 

8 results in an entity being represented in more than 

9 one partnership that receives such a grant. 

10 (2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In making the 

11 grants, a State shall ensure that there is geographic 

12 diversity in the areas in which activities will be car13 ried out under the grants. 

14 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The State may reserve not 

15 more than 5 percent of the amount of an allotment under 

16 section 5 for the administration of the grants awarded 

17 under this section. 

18 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that re20 ceives a grant under section 6 shall use the grant funds 

21 to support a registered apprenticeship or other work-based 

22 learning program. The eligible partnership shall use the 

23 grant funds to support the activities described in sub24 sections (b) and (c) and such other strategies as may be 

25 necessary to support the development and implementation 


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1 of work-based learning programs, and participant reten2 tion in and completion of those programs. The partnership 

3 may use the grant funds to establish or expand eligible 

4 partnerships. 

5 (b) BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT.—The eligible partner6 ship shall use grant funds to provide services to engage 

7 businesses in work-based learning programs, which may 

8 include assisting a small or medium-sized business with— 

9 (1) the navigation of the registration process 

10 for a sponsor of a registered apprenticeship pro11 gram; 

12 (2) the connection of the business with an edu13 cation provider to develop classroom instruction to 

14 complement on-the-job learning; 

15 (3) the development of a curriculum for a work16 based learning program; 

17 (4) the employment of workers in a work-based 

18 learning program for a transitional period before the 

19 business hires an individual for continuing employ20 ment; 

21 (5) the provision of training to managers and 

22 front-line workers to serve as trainers or mentors to 

23 workers in the work-based learning program; 

24 (6) the provision of career awareness activities; 

25 and 


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1 (7) the recruitment of individuals to participate 

2 in a work-based learning program from individuals 

3 receiving additional workforce and human services, 

4 including— 

5 (A) workers in programs under the Work6 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); 

8 (B) recipients of assistance through the 

9 supplemental nutrition assistance program es10 tablished under the Food and Nutrition Act of 

11 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); and 

12 (C) recipients of assistance through the 

13 program of block grants to States for tem14 porary assistance for needy families established 

15 under part A of title IV of the Social Security 

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

17 (c) SUPPORT SERVICES FOR WORKERS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The eligible partnership 

19 shall use grant funds to provide support services for 

20 workers to assure their success in work-based learn21 ing programs, which may include— 

22 (A) connection of individuals with adult 

23 basic education during pre-work-based learning 

24 or training, and during the period of employ25 ment; 


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1 (B) connection of individuals with pre2 work-based learning or training, including 

3 through a pre-apprenticeship program; 

4 (C) provision of additional mentorship and 

5 retention supports for individuals pre-work6 based learning or training, and during the pe7 riod of employment; 

8 (D) provision of tools, work attire, and 

9 other required items necessary to start employ10 ment pre-work-based learning or training, and 

11 during the period of employment; and 

12 (E) provision of transportation, child care 

13 services, or other support services pre-work14 based learning or training, and during the pe15 riod of employment. 

16 (2) LENGTH OF SERVICES.—Each eligible part17 nership shall provide support services for workers for 

18 not less than 12 months after the date of placement 

19 of an individual in a work-based learning program. 

20 That 12-month period shall include a period of pre21 work-based learning or training, a transitional pe22 riod of employment as described in subsection 

23 (b)(4), and a period of continuing employment. 


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1 SEC. 8. PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 (a) LOCAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 receiving a grant under section 6, and annually thereafter, 

4 each eligible partnership in a State shall conduct an eval5 uation and submit to the State a local report containing 

6 information on— 

7 (1) levels of performance achieved by the eligi8 ble partnership with respect to the performance indi9 cators under section 116(b)(2)(A) of the Workforce 

10 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

11 3141(b)(2)(A))— 

12 (A) for all workers in the work-based 

13 learning program involved; and 

14 (B) for all such workers, disaggregated by 

15 each population specified in section 3(24) of the 

16 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

17 U.S.C. 3102(24)) and by race, ethnicity, sex, 

18 and age; and 

19 (2) levels of performance achieved by the eligi20 ble partnership with respect to the performance indi21 cators under that section 116(b)(2)(A)— 

22 (A) for individuals with barriers to employ23 ment in the work-based learning program in24 volved; and 

25 (B) for all such individuals, disaggregated 

26 by each population specified in section 3(24) of 


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1 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

2 and by race, ethnicity, sex, and age. 

3 (b) STATE REPORTS.—Not later than 24 months 

4 after receiving initial local reports under subsection (a) 

5 (but in no case less than 18 months after the cor6 responding grants are awarded) and annually thereafter, 

7 the State shall conduct an evaluation and submit a report 

8 to the Secretary containing— 

9 (1) the information provided by the eligible 

10 partnerships through the local reports; and 

11 (2) the State level of performance, aggregated 

12 across all eligible partnerships, with respect to the 

13 performance indicators described in subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 9. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

15 (a) AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS AND WORKFORCE

16 IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1998.—Section 414(c) of the 

17 American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement 

18 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2916a) is repealed. 

19 (b) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.—Section 

20 286(s)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

21 U.S.C. 1356(s)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(2) USE OF FEES FOR WORK-BASED LEARNING

23 PROGRAMS.—50 percent of amounts deposited into 

24 the H–1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account shall 


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1 remain available to the Secretary of Labor until ex2 pended to carry out the PARTNERS Act.’’. 

Æ 


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