II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2586

To establish regional skills alliances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2004

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To establish regional skills alliances, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Regional Skills Alli5 ances Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 (a) Many small businesses lack the financial capacity 

8 to support the training of high-skilled workers. 

9 (b) Many high-tech companies concerned about work10 er training consider recruiting employees from overseas 

11 because a shortage of information technology workers re12 mains a significant problem. 
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1 (c) Too many highly educated workers in underserved 

2 communities do not have the specialized skills needed to 

3 meet the needs of local businesses. 

4 (d) Regional skills alliances bring businesses and 4-

5 year colleges and universities and community colleges to6 gether to help develop and implement effective programs 

7 to make sure workers have the training needed to compete 

8 in the modern workplace. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

10 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec11 retary of Labor. 

12 TITLE I—SKILL GRANTS 

13 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

15 with the Secretary of Commerce, shall award grants to 

16 eligible entities described in subsection (b) to assist such 

17 entities to improve the job skills necessary for employment 

18 in specific industries. 

19 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity described 

21 in this subsection is a consortium that—

22 (A) shall consist of representatives from 

23 not less than 5 businesses, or a lesser number 

24 of businesses if such lesser number of busi25 nesses employs at least 30 percent of the em-
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1 ployees in the industry involved in the region 

2 (or a non-profit organization that represents 

3 such businesses); 

4 (B) may consist of representatives from—

5 (i) labor organizations; 

6 (ii) State and local government; and 

7 (iii) educational institutions; 

8 (C) is established to serve one or more par9 ticular industries; and 

10 (D) is established to serve a particular geo11 graphic region. 

12 (2) MAJORITY OF REPRESENTATIVES.—A ma13 jority of the representatives comprising the consor14 tium shall be representatives described in paragraph 

15 (1)(A). 

16 (c) PRIORITY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.—In pro17 viding grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

18 give priority to an eligible entity if a majority of represent19 atives forming the entity represent small-business con20 cerns (as defined in section 3(a) of the Small Business 

21 Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 

22 (d) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

23 a grant awarded to an eligible entity under subsection (a) 

24 may not exceed $1,000,000 for any fiscal year. 
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1 SEC. 102. USE OF AMOUNTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not award a 

3 grant under section 101 to an eligible entity unless such 

4 entity agrees to use amounts received from such grant to 

5 improve the job skills necessary for employment by busi6 nesses in the industry with respect to which such entity 

7 was established. 

8 (b) CONDUCT OF PROGRAM.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

10 described in subsection (a), the eligible entity may 

11 provide for—

12 (A) an assessment of training and job skill 

13 needs for the industry; 

14 (B) the development of a sequence of skill 

15 standards that are benchmarked to advanced 

16 industry practices; 

17 (C) the development of curriculum and 

18 training methods, including, where appropriate, 

19 e-learning or technology-based training; 

20 (D) the purchase, lease, or receipt of dona21 tions of training equipment;

22 (E) the identification of training providers 

23 and the development of partnerships between 

24 the industry and educational institutions, in25 cluding community colleges; 
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1 (F) the development of apprenticeship pro2 grams; 

3 (G) the development of training programs 

4 for workers, including dislocated workers; 

5 (H) the development of training plans for 

6 businesses; and 

7 (I) the development of the membership of 

8 the entity. 

9 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—In carrying 

10 out the program described in subsection (a), the eli11 gible entity shall provide for the development and 

12 tracking of performance outcome measures for the 

13 program and the training providers involved in the 

14 program. 

15 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The eligible entity 

16 may use not more than 10 percent of the amount of a 

17 grant to pay for administrative costs associated with the 

18 program described in subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 103. REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not award a 

21 grant under section 101 to an eligible entity unless such 

22 entity agrees that the entity will make available non-Fed23 eral contributions toward the costs of carrying out activi24 ties under the grant in an amount that is not less than 
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1 $2 for each $1 of Federal funds provided under the grant, 

2 of which—

3 (1) $1 shall be provided by the businesses par4 ticipating in the entity; and 

5 (2) $1 shall be provided by the State or local 

6 government involved. 

7 (b) OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS.—

8 (1) EQUIPMENT.—Equipment donations to fa9 cilities that are not owned or operated by the mem10 bers of the eligible entity involved and that are 

11 shared by such members may be included in deter12 mining compliance with subsection (a). 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity may not in14 clude in-kind contributions in complying with the re15 quirement of subsection (a). The Secretary may con16 sider such donations in ranking applications. 

17 SEC. 104. LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

18 The Secretary may use not more than 5 percent of 

19 the amounts made available to carry out this title to pay 

20 the Federal administrative costs associated with awarding 

21 grants under this title. 

22 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this title $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005, 
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1 2006, and 2007, and such sums as are necessary for each 

2 fiscal year thereafter. 

3 TITLE II—PLANNING GRANTS 

4 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

6 with the Secretary of Commerce, shall award grants to 

7 States to enable such States to assist businesses, organiza8 tions, and agencies described in section 101(b) in con9 ducting planning to form consortia described in such sec10 tion. 

11 (b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

12 a grant awarded to a State under subsection (a) may not 

13 exceed $500,000 for any fiscal year. 

14 SEC. 202. APPLICATION. 

15 The Secretary may not award a grant under section 

16 201 to a State unless such State submits to the Secretary 

17 an application at such time, in such manner, and con18 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

19 require. 

20 SEC. 203. REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS. 

21 The Secretary may not award a grant under section 

22 201 to a State unless such State agrees that it will make 

23 available non-Federal contributions toward the costs of 

24 carrying out activities under this title in an amount that 
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1 is not less than $1 for each $1 of Federal funds provided 

2 under the grant. 

3 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this title $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

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