II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1483 

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 24, 2007 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) 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, forVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:29 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483

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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, accountVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:29 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483

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1 ability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal 

2 responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social 

3 responsibility. 

4 (6) There needs to be 21st century assessments 

5 of education that measure the following priorities: 

6 (A) Core subjects, and 21st century 

7 themes. 

8 (B) Life and career skills. 

9 (C) Thinking and innovation skills. 

10 (D) Information media and technology 

11 skills. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

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

15 State’’ means a State that— 

16 (A) develops a comprehensive plan for im17 plementing a statewide 21st Century Skills ini18 tiative; 

19 (B) demonstrates a commitment to ad20 vancing 21st Century Skills within— 

21 (i) standards and assessments; 

22 (ii) curriculum; 

23 (iii) professional development; and 

24 (iv) the learning environment; 


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1 (C) achieves broad support for a statewide 

2 21st Century Skills initiative from among the 

3 State’s education leaders (including classroom 

4 practitioners), business leaders, and civic lead5 ers; and 

6 (D) is approved as a 21st Century Partner 

7 State by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership 

8 for 21st Century Skills. 

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

10 Century Skills Incentive Fund established under sec11 tion 6(a). 

12 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

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

14 award grants, from amounts available in the Fund, to eli15 gible States having applications approved under section 5 

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

17 the cost of establishing a statewide 21st Century Skills 

18 initiative. 

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

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

21 so that the grants are awarded— 

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

23 receives approvable applications; and 

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

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


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1 supported by the information contained, in an ap2 provable application. 

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

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

5 be 50 percent. 

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

7 share shall be provided from State sources or from 

8 foundation sources. 

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

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

11 than 3 years. 

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

13 reduce the grant payable to an eligible State under this 

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

15 eligible State’s expenditures for the activities assisted 

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

17 such expenditures for the second fiscal year preceding the 

18 fiscal year for which the determination is made. 

19 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds pro20 vided under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 

21 supplant other State funds expended for activities assisted 

22 under this Act. 

23 SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 

24 Each eligible State that desires a grant under this 

25 Act shall submit an application to the Secretary that— 


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1 (1) describes the 21st Century Skills initiative 

2 for which assistance is sought; 

3 (2) includes evidence that the eligible State has 

4 met each of the eligibility criteria described in sub5 paragraphs (A) through (D) of section 3(1); 

6 (3) includes a description of how the eligible 

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

8 funds; and 

9 (4) includes a description of how the eligible 

10 State will continue to provide the non-Federal share 

11 throughout the duration of the grant and the suc12 cessful statewide implementation of the 21st Cen13 tury Skills initiative. 

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

15 (a) FUND ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary shall estab16 lish a 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund. 

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

18 Fund all amounts appropriated under section 8. 

19 (c) EXPENDITURES.—The Secretary shall use 

20 amounts in the Fund to award grants to eligible States 

21 in accordance with this Act. 

22 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

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

24 aspects of the program assisted under this Act, including 

25 determining State eligibility, making grant awards, deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:29 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1483.IS S1483

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1 mining award amounts and duration, and conducting pro2 gram evaluations. 

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

4 grant under this Act— 

5 (1) shall conduct an evaluation of the 21st Cen6 tury Skills initiative assisted under this Act; 

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

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

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

10 Secretary. 

11 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

14 (1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

15 (2) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

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

17 the fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011. 

18 SEC. 9. SEPARATE PERCENTAGE LIMITATION FOR COR19 PORATE CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

20 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INITIATIVES OF ELIGI21 BLE STATES. 

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

23 Revenue Code of 1986 (related to percentage limitations) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following new para25 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) 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 


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