II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2952 

To establish funds to rapidly create new jobs in the private and public 

sector. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2010 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish funds to rapidly create new jobs in the private 

and public sector. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Our 

5 Economy Through Employment and Development Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. USE OF UNEXPENDED AND REPAID FUNDS OF THE 

7 TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF PROGRAM. 

8 Of the amounts made available to the Secretary of 

9 the Treasury under section 115 of the Emergency Eco10 nomic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5225) that 


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1 are unobligated as of the date of enactment of this Act 

2 and of all assistance received under title I of the Emer3 gency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 

4 5211 et seq.) that is repaid on or after the date of enact5 ment of this Act, $10,000,000,000 shall be made available 

6 to carry out the Private Sector Wage Subsidy Fund under 

7 section 3 and the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Pro8 motion Fund under section 4. 

9 SEC. 3. PRIVATE SECTOR WAGE SUBSIDY FUND. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

11 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

12 ‘‘Private Sector Wage Subsidy Fund’’ (referred to in this 

13 section as the ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of $5,000,000,000 

14 made available to the Fund under section 2, to enable 

15 small- and medium-sized businesses and nonprofit organi16 zations to hire eligible workers who will receive wage sub17 sidies pursuant to this section. 

18 (b) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL AREAS AND ADMINISTRA19 TION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

21 allocate to each local area, to carry out this section, 

22 an amount that bears the same relationship to the 

23 funds made available under this section for a fiscal 

24 year, as the sum of the amounts received under 

25 paragraph (2)(A) or (3) of section 133(b) of the 


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

2 2863(b)) and under paragraph (2)(B) of that sec3 tion by the local area for that fiscal year bears to 

4 the total of such sums received by all local areas for 

5 that fiscal year. 

6 (2) LOCAL AREA.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘local area’’ has the meaning given the term in sec8 tion 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

9 (29 U.S.C. 2801). 

10 (3) ADMINISTRATION BY LOCAL AREAS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each local area that re12 ceives an amount under this section shall pro13 vide allocations to businesses and nonprofit or14 ganizations in the same manner as the local 

15 area provides allocations for on-the-job training 

16 subsidies under the Workforce Investment Act 

17 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), to the extent 

18 consistent with this section. 

19 (B) ALLOCATIONS TO EMPLOYERS.—Each 

20 local area that receives an amount under this 

21 section shall provide allocations to businesses 

22 and nonprofit organizations through twice23 monthly or monthly subsidy checks for the first 

24 9 months. The allocation for months 10, 11, 

25 and 12 shall be withheld until the end of the 


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1 15th month, at which point the business or 

2 nonprofit organization shall verify that the eli3 gible worker is still on the payroll and shall 

4 then receive a lump-sum reimbursement for 

5 months 10, 11, and 12. 

6 (C) FLEXIBILITY.—A local area that re7 ceives an amount under this section may offer 

8 customized or variant subsidy arrangements 

9 with businesses and nonprofit organizations if 

10 30 percent of the allocated funds have not been 

11 obligated by the local area within 6 months. 

12 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Allocation of amounts 

13 from the Fund to businesses and nonprofit organizations 

14 shall be— 

15 (1) made available not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

17 (2) administered on a first-come, first-serve 

18 basis to incentivize rapid job creation. 

19 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—A business or nonprofit organiza20 tion is eligible to receive an allocation from the Fund for 

21 wage subsidies if such business or organization employs 

22 fewer than 500 individuals. 

23 (e) WAGE SUBSIDY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Wage subsidies allocated 

25 under this section to businesses and nonprofit orgaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:06 Jan 27, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2952.IS S2952

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1 nizations to hire eligible workers shall be consistent 

2 with the following: 

3 (A) 1-YEAR PERIOD.—A wage subsidy shall 

4 be provided for a 1-year period. 

5 (B) AMOUNT.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

7 in clauses (ii) and (iii), a wage subsidy 

8 shall be— 

9 (I) 50 percent of total wages; or 

10 (II) $12 per hour, 

11 whichever amount is less. 

12 (ii) IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VET13 ERANS.—Except as provided in clause (iii), 

14 in the case of an individual who is a vet15 eran of military service in Iraq or Afghani16 stan after September 11, 2001, a wage 

17 subsidy shall be— 

18 (I) 60 percent of total wages; or 

19 (II) $14.40 per hour, 

20 whichever amount is less. 

21 (iii) ADDITIONAL AMOUNT FOR EM22 PLOYERS THAT OFFER HEALTH INSUR23 ANCE.—Notwithstanding the subsidy max24 imum amounts provided under clauses (i) 

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1 tion that receives an allocation from the 

2 Fund for wage subsidies under this section 

3 and contributes to the cost of health insur4 ance coverage for its employees shall re5 ceive an additional $1 per hour for each el6 igible worker hired pursuant to this section 

7 to help defray the cost of contributing to 

8 such coverage. 

9 (C) JOB WAGE MINIMUM.—Except as pro10 vided in subparagraph (D), a job for which a 

11 wage subsidy is allocated under this section 

12 shall— 

13 (i) pay not less than $10 per hour; or 

14 (ii) start at $9 per hour with a certifi15 cation from the business or nonprofit orga16 nization that the wage will be increased to 

17 not less than $10 per hour by the end of 

18 the subsidy period. 

19 (D) MINIMUM WAGE REQUIREMENT.—If 

20 the locality in which a job for which a wage 

21 subsidy is allocated under this section is located 

22 has a minimum wage requirement that is more 

23 than $10 per hour, then such job shall pay not 

24 less than such minimum wage requirement. 


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1 (2) CERTIFICATION BY EMPLOYER.—A business 

2 or nonprofit organization that receives an allocation 

3 from the Fund for wage subsidies under this section 

4 shall provide to the local area a certification that in5 cludes each of the following: 

6 (A) The business or organization will hire 

7 the employees hired under the wage subsidy 

8 program for newly created positions not for va9 cancies in already existing positions. 

10 (B) The business or organization will re11 tain the employees hired under the wage sub12 sidy program for not less than 15 months. 

13 (C) The business or organization will not 

14 displace existing workers, or reduce the hours 

15 of existing workers, with the employees hired 

16 under the wage subsidy program. 

17 (D) The business or organization will offer 

18 comparable wages and the same benefits to sub19 sidized workers as comparable, existing work20 ers. 

21 (E) The business or organization will hire 

22 the worker for a minimum of 30 hours per 

23 week. 

24 (F) If the business or nonprofit organiza25 tion employs individuals represented by a labor 


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1 organization, the business or nonprofit organi2 zation will obtain sign-off by the labor organiza3 tion in coordination with the existing collective 

4 bargaining agreement. 

5 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CERTIFI6 CATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall promulgate 

7 regulations regarding waivers of a business or non8 profit organization’s obligation to retain an employee 

9 hired under the wage subsidy program for not less 

10 than 15 months. 

11 (4) ELIGIBLE WORKERS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—A business or nonprofit 

13 organization that receives an allocation from 

14 the Fund for wage subsidies under this section 

15 shall hire only eligible workers to receive such 

16 wage subsidies. 

17 (B) ELIGIBLE WORKERS DEFINED.—In 

18 this section, the term ‘‘eligible worker’’ means 

19 an individual who— 

20 (i) has exhausted the individual’s 

21 State-funded unemployment insurance ben22 efits (as verified by the State or local de23 partment of labor or similar entity); or 

24 (ii) has been unemployed for not less 

25 than 6 months. 


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1 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the funds allocated 

2 to each local area under this section, not more than 10 

3 percent may be used by the local areas for costs and ex4 penses for administration, marketing, job placement, and 

5 program support services. 

6 SEC. 4. PUBLIC SECTOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROMOTION 

7 FUND. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

10 ‘‘Public Sector Energy Efficiency Promotion Fund’’ (re11 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of such 

12 amounts as are made available to the Fund under section 

13 2. 

14 (b) GRANTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—On request by the Secretary 

16 of Energy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’), the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans18 fer from the Fund to the Secretary such amounts as 

19 the Secretary determines are necessary to distribute 

20 grants to States to provide funds to retrofit public 

21 buildings to increase energy efficiency. 

22 (2) RESERVATION FOR INDIAN TRIBES.—The 

23 Secretary shall reserve 1 percent of amounts trans24 ferred under paragraph (1) to award grants to InVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:06 Jan 27, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2952.IS S2952

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1 dian tribes to carry out activities described in this 

2 section. 

3 (c) ALLOCATION TO STATES.—Grants made available 

4 under this section shall be allocated to States in accord5 ance with section 543(c) of the Energy Security and Inde6 pendence Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17153(c)). 

7 (d) DISTRIBUTION TO POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—A 

8 State that receives a grant under this section— 

9 (1) may retain not more than 30 percent of the 

10 amount of the grant; and 

11 (2) shall distribute the remainder of the grant 

12 to political subdivisions of the State through an ap13 plication process. 

14 (e) UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.—Any grant amounts not 

15 obligated by the date that is 1 year after the date of the 

16 receipt of the grant by the State or Indian tribe shall be— 

17 (1) returned to the Treasury of the United 

18 States; and 

19 (2) transferred to the Private Sector Wage Sub20 sidy Fund established under section 3. 

21 (f) USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

23 and (3), funds made available under this section 

24 may be used only— 


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1 (A) to retrofit public housing for increased 

2 energy efficiency; 

3 (B) to retrofit public buildings, libraries, 

4 and schools for increased energy efficiency; 

5 (C) to retrofit vacant or foreclosed homes 

6 for increased energy efficiency; or 

7 (D) if there are not sufficient projects to 

8 carry out energy efficiency retrofits described in 

9 subparagraphs (A) through (C), to restore and 

10 refurbish public buildings. 

11 (2) PRIORITY.—In using funds made available 

12 under this section, a State, political subdivision of a 

13 State, or Indian tribe shall give priority to projects 

14 that were identified by the State or Indian tribe be15 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 (3) ENERGY EFFICIENCY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of En18 ergy, in coordination with the Secretary of 

19 Housing and Urban Development, shall create 

20 standards for measurement and verification of 

21 energy efficiency in residential buildings, com22 mercial buildings, and federally funded housing 

23 facilities. 

24 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—In creating the 

25 standards described in subparagraph (A), the 


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1 Secretary of Energy shall include the fol2 lowing— 

3 (i) the 2009 International Energy 

4 Conservation Code (IECC) or equivalent 

5 for residential buildings or the ASHRAE 

6 90.1–2007 standard or equivalent for com7 mercial buildings; 

8 (ii) a maximum window U–factor of 

9 .30 and a maximum solar heat gain factor 

10 of .30 for both residential and commercial 

11 buildings; 

12 (iii) certification of building energy 

13 and environment auditors, inspectors, and 

14 raters by the Residential Energy Services 

15 Network or an equivalent certification sys16 tem, as determined by the Secretary; 

17 (iv) certification or licensing of build18 ing energy and environmental retrofit con19 tractors by the Building Performance In20 stitute or an equivalent certification or li21 censing system, as determined by the Sec22 retary; 

23 (v) use of equipment and procedures 

24 of the Building Performance Institute, the 

25 Residential Energy Services Network, or 


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1 other appropriate equipment and proce2 dures (such as infrared photography and 

3 pressurized testing and tests for water use 

4 and indoor air quality), as determined by 

5 the Secretary, to test the energy and envi6 ronmental efficiency of buildings effec7 tively; 

8 (vi) determination of energy savings 

9 in a performance-based building retrofit 

10 program through— 

11 (I) in the case of residential 

12 buildings, comparison of before and 

13 after retrofit scores on the Home En14 ergy Rating System Index, if the final 

15 score is produced by an objective third 

16 party, or compliance with 2009 IECC, 

17 as well as a maximum window U–fac18 tor of .30 and a maximum solar heat 

19 gain factor of .30; 

20 (II) in the case of commercial 

21 buildings, benchmarks set by the En22 vironmental Protection Agency, or 

23 compliance with the ASHRAE 90.1 

24 2007 standard or equivalent, as well 

25 as a maximum window U–factor of 


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1 .30 and a maximum solar heat gain 

2 factor of .30; and 

3 (III) in the case of residential 

4 and commercial buildings, use of a 

5 program that is approved by the Ad6 ministrator of the Environmental Pro7 tection Agency and subject to appro8 priate software standards and 

9 verification of at least 15 percent of 

10 all work completed; 

11 (vii) suggested guidelines for using— 

12 (I) the Energy Star portfolio 

13 manager; 

14 (II) the Home Energy Rating 

15 System rating system; 

16 (III) home performance improve17 ments approved under the Energy 

18 Star program; and 

19 (IV) any other tools associated 

20 with applicable retrofit programs; and 

21 (viii) requirements, energy building 

22 codes, standards, or guidelines for renova23 tion and postretrofit inspection and con24 firmation of work and energy savings. 


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1 (g) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—Any project carried out 

2 under this section that requires an outside contractor shall 

3 be subject to a competitive bidding process. 

4 (h) DAVIS-BACON COMPLIANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—All laborers and mechanics 

6 employed on projects funded directly by or assisted 

7 in whole or in part by this section, under any con8 tractor or subcontractor, shall be paid wages at 

9 rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a 

10 character similar in the locality as determined by the 

11 Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

12 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

13 (2) AUTHORITY.—With respect to the labor 

14 standards specified in this subsection, the Secretary 

15 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set 

16 forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 

17 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of 

18 title 40, United States Code. 

19 (i) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the funds made 

20 available to carry out this section, not more than— 

21 (1) 1 percent may be used by the Secretary of 

22 Energy for administrative costs; and 

23 (2) 4 percent of funds may be used by States 

24 and Indian tribes that receive grants under this sec25 tion for administrative costs. 


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1 SEC. 5. EVALUATION. 

2 After the termination date described in section 6(a), 

3 the Secretary of Labor shall conduct an evaluation of job 

4 creation effectiveness of programs carried out with funds 

5 made available under this Act. 

6 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Private Sector Wage Subsidy 

8 Fund established under section 3, the Public Sector En9 ergy Efficiency Promotion Fund established under section 

10 4, and the authorization of amounts made available to 

11 carry out such Funds shall terminate on the date that is 

12 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (b) AMOUNTS RETURNED TO TREASURY.—Any 

14 amounts that are in the Funds described in subsection (a) 

15 on the date of termination described in subsection (a) shall 

16 be returned to the Treasury of the United States. 

Æ 


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