II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 453 

To require that certain Federal job training and career education programs 

give priority to programs that lead to an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2013 

Mrs. HAGAN (for herself, Mr. HELLER, and Mr. DONNELLY) introduced the 

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

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require that certain Federal job training and career education programs give priority to programs that lead to 

an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. 

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 ‘‘American Manufac5 turing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration 

6 Achievement Works Act’’ or ‘‘AMERICA Works Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Recent data show that United States manu2 facturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 

3 skilled positions, even as unemployment numbers 

4 hover at historically high levels. 

5 (2) The unfilled positions are mainly in the 

6 skilled production category, and in occupations such 

7 as machinist, operator, craft worker, distributor, or 

8 technician. 

9 (3) In less than 20 years, an overall loss of ex10 pertise and management skill is expected to result 

11 from the gradual departure from the workplace of 

12 77,200,000 workers. 

13 (4) Postsecondary success and workforce readi14 ness can be achieved through attainment of a recog15 nized postsecondary credential. 

16 (5) According to the January 2011 Computing 

17 Technology Industry Association report entitled 

18 ‘‘Employer Perceptions of Information Technology 

19 Training and Certification’’, 64 percent of hiring in20 formation technology managers rate information 

21 technology certifications as having extremely high or 

22 high value in validating information technology skills 

23 and expertise. The value of those certifications is 

24 rated highest among senior information technology 


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1 managers, such as Chief Information Officers, and 

2 managers of medium-size firms. 

3 SEC. 3. INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AND NATIONALLY PORT4 ABLE CREDENTIALS FOR JOB TRAINING PRO5 GRAMS. 

6 (a) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998.— 

7 (1) YOUTH ACTIVITIES.—Section 129(c)(1)(C) 

8 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

9 2854(c)(1)(C)) is amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating clauses (ii) through 

11 (iv) as clauses (iii) through (v), respectively; 

12 and 

13 (B) inserting after clause (i) the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) training (which may include pri15 ority consideration for training programs 

16 that lead to recognized postsecondary cre17 dentials (as defined in section 4 of the 

18 AMERICA Works Act) that are aligned 

19 with in-demand occupations or industries 

20 in the local area involved, if the local board 

21 determines that the programs meet the 

22 quality criteria described in section 123);’’. 

23 (2) GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING AC24 TIVITIES.—Section 134(d)(4)(F) of the Workforce 


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1 Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(4)(F)) 

2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(iv) PROGRAMS THAT LEAD TO AN

4 INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED AND NATIONALLY

5 PORTABLE CREDENTIAL.—In assisting in6 dividuals in selecting programs of training 

7 services under this section, a one-stop op8 erator and employees of a one-stop center 

9 referred to in subsection (c) may give pri10 ority consideration to programs (approved 

11 in conjunction with eligibility decisions 

12 made under section 122) that lead to rec13 ognized postsecondary credentials (as de14 fined in section 4 of the AMERICA Works 

15 Act) that are aligned with in-demand occu16 pations or industries in the local area in17 volved.’’. 

18 (3) CRITERIA.— 

19 (A) GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AND TRAIN20 ING ACTIVITIES.—Section 122(b)(2)(D) of the 

21 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

22 2842(b)(2)(D)) is amended— 

23 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


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1 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe2 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a provider of a 

6 program of training services that leads to 

7 a recognized postsecondary credential (as 

8 defined in section 4 of the AMERICA 

9 Works Act), that the program leading to 

10 the credential meets such quality criteria 

11 as the Governor shall establish.’’. 

12 (B) YOUTH ACTIVITIES.—Section 123 of 

13 the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

14 U.S.C. 2843) by inserting ‘‘(including such 

15 quality criteria as the Governor shall establish 

16 for a training program that leads to a recog17 nized postsecondary credential (as defined in 

18 section 4 of the AMERICA Works Act))’’ after 

19 ‘‘plan’’. 

20 (b) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.— 

21 (1) STATE PLAN.—Section 122(c)(1)(B) of the 

22 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

23 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)(B)) is amend24 ed— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) how’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(B)(i) how’’; 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

4 and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible entity that, 

7 in developing and implementing programs of 

8 study leading to recognized postsecondary cre9 dentials, desires to give a priority to such pro10 grams that are aligned with in-demand occupa11 tions or industries in the area served (as deter12 mined by the eligible agency) and that may pro13 vide a basis for additional credentials, certifi14 cates, or degree, how the entity will do so;’’. 

15 (2) USE OF LOCAL FUNDS.—Section 134(b) of 

16 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

17 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2354(b)) is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

19 and inserting a semicolon; 

20 (B) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the 

21 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(13) describe the career and technical edu24 cation activities supporting the attainment of recog25 nized postsecondary credentials (as defined in secVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:15 Mar 06, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S453.IS S453

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1 tion 4 of the AMERICA Works Act), and, in the 

2 case of an eligible recipient that desires to provide 

3 priority consideration to certain programs of study 

4 in accordance with the State plan under section 

5 122(c)(1)(B), how the eligible recipient will give pri6 ority consideration to such activities.’’. 

7 (3) TECH-PREP PROGRAMS.—Section 

8 203(c)(2)(E) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

9 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

10 2373(c)(2)(E)) is amended by striking ‘‘industry11 recognized credential, a certificate,’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘recognized postsecondary credential (as defined in 

13 section 4 of the AMERICA Works Act and approved 

14 by the eligible agency),’’. 

15 (c) TRAINING PROGRAMS UNDER TAA.—Section 

16 236(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(12) In approving training programs for adversely 

19 affected workers and adversely affected incumbent work20 ers under paragraph (1), the Secretary may give priority 

21 consideration to workers seeking training through pro22 grams that are approved in conjunction with eligibility de23 cisions made under section 122 of the Workforce Invest24 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842), and that lead to rec25 ognized postsecondary credentials (as defined in section 


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1 4 of the AMERICA Works Act) that are aligned with in2 demand occupations or industries in the local area (de3 fined for purposes of title I of the Workforce Investment 

4 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.)) involved.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED.—The term ‘‘indus8 try-recognized’’, used with respect to a credential, 

9 means a credential that— 

10 (A) is sought or accepted by employers 

11 within the industry sector involved as recog12 nized, preferred, or required for recruitment, 

13 screening, hiring, or advancement; 

14 (B) is endorsed by a recognized trade or 

15 professional association or organization, rep16 resenting a significant part of the industry sec17 tor; and 

18 (C) is a nationally portable credential, 

19 meaning a credential that is sought or accepted, 

20 across multiple States, as described in subpara21 graph (A). 

22 (2) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN23 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden24 tial’’ means a credential consisting of an industry25 recognized credential for postsecondary training, a 


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1 certificate that meets the requirements of subpara2 graphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) for postsec3 ondary training, a certificate of completion of a post4 secondary apprenticeship through a program de5 scribed in section 122(a)(2)(B) of the Workforce In6 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842(a)(2)(B)), or 

7 an associate degree or baccalaureate degree awarded 

8 by an institution of higher education (as defined in 

9 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

10 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))). 

11 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, take 

13 effect 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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