II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 269 

To provide funding for employment and training activities for dislocated 

workers and adults, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2009 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the 

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

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide funding for employment and training activities 

for dislocated workers and adults, 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 ‘‘Retooling America’s 

5 Workers for a Green Economy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In October 2008, the numbers of mass lay9 offs (involving over 50 workers at one time) and ini10 tial unemployment claims reached their highest levVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:53 Jan 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269

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1 els since 2001. According to the National Renewable 

2 Energy Laboratory, however, a major barrier to 

3 more rapid adoption of clean and renewable energy 

4 and energy efficiency measures is the lack of suffi5 cient workers skilled in green technology. 

6 (2) In December 2008, unemployment figures 

7 showed a sharp deterioration in the economy. The 

8 unemployment rate rose from 6.8 percent in Novem9 ber, to 7.2 percent in December, of 2008. Employers 

10 shed 524,000 jobs in December 2008, and 

11 1,900,000 jobs were lost over just the last 4 months 

12 of 2008. These job losses were widespread across 

13 most major industry sectors. 

14 (3) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis15 tics, 11,100,000 people were unemployed in Decem16 ber 2008, an increase of 3,600,000 people since the 

17 recession started in December 2007. In December 

18 2008, the number of workers who wanted to work 

19 full-time but worked part-time because their hours 

20 were cut or they could not find full-time jobs 

21 reached 8,000,000, up 3,400,000 since December 

22 2007. 

23 (4) Analysts say that the Nation has yet to see 

24 the worst of the economic fallout. The latest pre25 diction from HIS Global Insight forecasts that unVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:53 Jan 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269

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1 employment will be an estimated 8.6 percent by the 

2 end of 2009. 

3 (5) The reality of climate change and a shared 

4 desire to protect the environment for future genera5 tions have the potential to spur economic growth in 

6 green-collar jobs across the industrial spectrum. In 

7 order to prepare United States workers to build 

8 greener communities in both urban and rural set9 tings, the Nation will need to make an investment 

10 in skills development for jobs in the current and fu11 ture economies. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

13 The purpose of this Act is to retool America’s work14 ers—including dislocated workers, those who are long15 term unemployed individuals, and those who are low16 skilled individuals, limited English proficient individuals, 

17 individuals with disabilities, or older workers—for green18 collar industries, for existing viable industries, and for new 

19 and emerging industries so that the workers described in 

20 this section can contribute to the long-term competitive21 ness of the United States and its quality of life. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘adult’’, ‘‘chief 

25 elected official’’, ‘‘dislocated worker’’, ‘‘employment 


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1 and training activities’’, ‘‘individual with a dis2 ability’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local board’’, ‘‘outlying 

3 area’’, ‘‘rapid response activities’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, 

4 ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State board’’ have the meanings given 

5 the terms in section 101 of the Workforce Invest6 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801). 

7 (2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu8 nity college’’ means a 2-year institution of higher 

9 education, as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 (3) GREEN-COLLAR INDUSTRIES.—The term 

12 ‘‘green-collar industries’’ means industries through13 out the economy of the United States— 

14 (A) that promote energy efficiency, energy 

15 conservation, and environmental protection, in16 cluding promoting renewable energy and clean 

17 technology; 

18 (B) that offer jobs with substantial pay 

19 and benefits; and 

20 (C) that are industries in which there is 

21 likely to be continued demand for workers. 

22 SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES FOR DISLOCATED WORKERS. 

23 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is author24 ized to reserve $2,000,000,000 of the funds appropriated 

25 under this Act for rapid response activities, for dislocated 


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1 worker employment and training activities under chapter 

2 5 of subtitle B of title I of the Workforce Investment Act 

3 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2861 et seq.), or for employment and 

4 training assistance and additional assistance under section 

5 173(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2918(a)). 

6 (b) NATIONAL EMERGENCY GRANTS.—Of the re7 served funds, the Secretary may use not more than 

8 $500,000,000 to award national emergency grants— 

9 (1) to provide employment and training assist10 ance to workers affected by major economic disloca11 tions under section 173(a)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

12 2918(a)(1)); and 

13 (2) to provide additional assistance under sec14 tion 173(a)(3) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2918(a)(3)) 

15 to a State or local board that meets the require16 ments of that section (in a case in which the ex17 pended funds involved were expended for assistance 

18 described in paragraph (1)). 

19 (c) STATE ACTIVITIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—After determining an 

21 amount from the reserved funds to be used under 

22 subsection (b), the Secretary may use the remaining 

23 funds to make allotments to States, and outlying 

24 areas, consistent with the allotment formula under 

25 section 132(b)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 


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1 2862(b)(2)). Each State or outlying area may use 

2 25 percent of the State’s or outlying area’s allot3 ment for statewide rapid response activities for per4 manent closures or mass layoffs described in section 

5 101(38) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2801(38)) and ef6 forts to avert future permanent closures or mass lay7 offs described in such section. 

8 (2) USE OF DISLOCATED WORKERS TO PROVIDE

9 ACTIVITIES.—In providing statewide rapid response 

10 activities, States or entities designated by States 

11 (and outlying areas or entities designated by out12 lying areas), working in conjunction with local 

13 boards and chief elected officials, may enhance their 

14 services by employing dislocated workers to provide 

15 outreach, informal coaching, counseling or men16 toring support, and information to other dislocated 

17 workers or unemployed persons. 

18 (d) LOCAL ACTIVITIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State or outlying area 

20 shall use 75 percent of the State’s or outlying area’s 

21 allotment to make allocations directly to local 

22 boards, for local areas, using the formula under sec23 tion 133(b)(2)(B) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

24 2863(b)(2)(B)). 


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1 (2) PRIORITY.—A local board that receives an 

2 allocation under paragraph (1) shall use the funds 

3 made available through the allocation for dislocated 

4 worker employment and training activities. In pro5 viding the activities the local board shall give pri6 ority to providing the employment and training ac7 tivities, including on-the-job training, in viable in8 dustries identified at the regional or local levels, in9 cluding green-collar industries. 

10 (e) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each State, in submit11 ting an annual report under section 136(d) of such Act 

12 (29 U.S.C. 2871(d)), shall include information on entry 

13 of individuals who participated in employment and train14 ing activities in green-collar industries and other viable in15 dustries under this section into unsubsidized employment 

16 in a green-collar industry or other viable industry. 

17 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall an18 nually prepare and submit to the appropriate committees 

19 of Congress information on entry of individuals who re20 ceived services under subsection (b) into unsubsidized em21 ployment in a green-collar industry or other viable indus22 try. 


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1 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES FOR ADULTS WITH MULTIPLE BAR2 RIERS TO EMPLOYMENT. 

3 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to fully 

4 utilize the Nation’s human capital by— 

5 (1) helping adults with multiple barriers to em6 ployment acquire the skills to obtain jobs in viable 

7 industries, by providing intensive services, training 

8 services, and other employment and training activi9 ties; and 

10 (2) in particular, by providing employment and 

11 training activities in green-collar industries and 

12 other viable industries. 

13 (b) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘adult with multiple 

14 barriers to employment’’ means an adult who is long-term 

15 unemployed, a low-skilled individual, limited English pro16 ficient, an individual with a disability, or an older worker, 

17 with multiple barriers to finding a job in a viable industry. 

18 (c) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is author19 ized to reserve $800,000,000 of the funds appropriated 

20 under this Act to carry out this section. The Secretary 

21 shall use the reserved funds to make allotments to States 

22 and outlying areas, consistent with the allotment formula 

23 under section 132(b)(1) of the Workforce Investment Act 

24 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2862(b)(1)) to provide employment 

25 and training activities to adults with multiple barriers to 

26 employment. 


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1 (d) STATE ACTIVITIES.—Each State or outlying area 

2 may use 10 percent of the State’s or outlying area’s allot3 ment to assist local boards in providing employment and 

4 training activities to adults with multiple barriers to em5 ployment, and assist the adults in attaining jobs in viable 

6 industries, with as much flexibility as is practicable. In 

7 providing assistance under this subsection, the State or 

8 outlying area may provide aid that includes assistance 

9 with system alignment (described in subsection (e)(1)(D)), 

10 the provision of capacity building and professional devel11 opment activities for staff, and the provision of enhanced 

12 regional sector-based labor market information. 

13 (e) LOCAL ACTIVITIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State or outlying area 

15 shall use 90 percent of the State’s or outlying area’s 

16 allotment to make grants, on a competitive basis, to 

17 local boards for local areas, to provide employment 

18 and training activities to adults with multiple bar19 riers to employment. 

20 (2) PRIORITY.—In making the grants, the chief 

21 executive officer of the State or outlying area, in 

22 consultation with the State board involved, shall give 

23 priority to those local boards that— 


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1 (A) align their local areas to create regions 

2 that reflect natural labor markets or economic 

3 development districts; 

4 (B) reflect regional strategic partnerships 

5 described in paragraph (3) among local boards, 

6 industry (including business and labor), schools 

7 (including community colleges), and other com8 munity organizations to provide coherent pro9 grams of employment and training activities; 

10 (C) make special efforts to conduct out11 reach and provide services to adults with mul12 tiple barriers to employment who need to ad13 vance their careers or seek second careers due 

14 to the economic downturn; 

15 (D) align adult education, career and tech16 nical education, workforce investment, economic 

17 development, and related systems and resources 

18 to provide career pathway strategies for helping 

19 low-skilled individuals navigate through the con20 tinuum of needed education and supports, to ul21 timately achieve a postsecondary education cre22 dential or an industry-recognized certificate and 

23 a job leading to economic self-sufficiency; 

24 (E) provide an assurance that the local 

25 board will use at least 90 percent of the grant 


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1 funds for intensive services described in section 

2 134(d)(3)(C) and training services described in 

3 section 134(d)(4)(D) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

4 2864(d)(3)(C), 2864(d)(4)(D)), without regard 

5 to the eligibility requirements of section 134(d) 

6 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)). 

7 (3) STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

9 section, a strategic partnership shall, in par10 ticular, be composed of at least 1 representative 

11 of a local board serving a community, and of 

12 each of the 8 types of organizations described 

13 in subparagraph (B). 

14 (B) TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

15 types of organizations referred to in subpara16 graph (A) are businesses, unions, labor-manage17 ment partnerships, schools (including commu18 nity colleges), public agencies, nonprofit com19 munity organizations, economic development en20 tities, and philanthropic organizations, that are 

21 actively engaged in providing employment and 

22 training activities, including work opportunities 

23 and support, to adults with multiple barriers to 

24 employment. 

25 (f) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State, in submitting 

2 an annual report under section 136(d) of such Act 

3 (29 U.S.C. 2871(d)), shall include information— 

4 (A) on acquisition of a recognized postsec5 ondary education credential or an industry-rec6 ognized certificate by adults with multiple bar7 riers to employment who participated in em8 ployment and training activities under this sec9 tion; 

10 (B) on entry of such adults, who partici11 pated in such activities, into positions in unsub12 sidized employment in viable industries; and 

13 (C) for adults referred to in subparagraph 

14 (B), on average wages in such positions. 

15 (2) REFINEMENTS.—In establishing standards 

16 for the reports, the Secretary shall refine indicators 

17 to eliminate any unintended consequences for adults 

18 with multiple barriers to employment, or such adults 

19 who may need and seek less than full-time employ20 ment along a career path. 

21 SEC. 7. ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY 

22 WORKER TRAINING PROGRAM. 

23 The Secretary shall reserve $625,000,000 of the 

24 funds appropriated under this Act to carry out section 


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1 171(e) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

2 U.S.C. 2916(e)). 

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary of Labor for activities described in this Act, 

6 $3,425,000,000, which shall be available for the period of 

7 January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. 

Æ 


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