I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2368 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to make grants to States, units of general 

local government, and Indian tribes for the purpose of creating employment opportunities for unemployed and underemployed residents in distressed communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2011 

Mr. ELLISON (for himself, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. MOORE, 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to make grants to States, 

units of general local government, and Indian tribes for 

the purpose of creating employment opportunities for 

unemployed and underemployed residents in distressed 

communities. 

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 ‘‘Put America to Work 

5 Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES, UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL 

2 GOVERNMENT, AND INDIAN TRIBES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the availability of 

4 appropriations for such purpose, the Secretary of Labor 

5 shall make grants to States, units of general local govern6 ment, and Indian tribes to carry out activities in accord7 ance with this Act. 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this program is to 

9 create employment opportunities for unemployed and un10 deremployed residents of distressed communities in activi11 ties designed to address community needs and reduce dis12 parities in health, housing, education, job readiness, and 

13 public infrastructure that have impeded these communities 

14 from realizing their full economic potential. 

15 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of the grant pro16 gram under this Act, an eligible entity is— 

17 (1) a unit of general local government, includ18 ing a metropolitan city or an urban county; 

19 (2) a State; or 

20 (3) an Indian tribe. 

21 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

22 this section shall use the grant for the following purposes: 

23 (1) For the 9-month period after the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act, the grant shall be used 

25 only to fund the following types of fast-track job 

26 placements: 


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1 (A) The painting and repair of schools, 

2 community centers, and libraries. 

3 (B) The restoration and revitalization of 

4 abandoned and vacant properties to alleviate 

5 blight in distressed, foreclosure-affected, and 

6 natural disaster-affected areas of a unit of gen7 eral local government. 

8 (C) The expansion of emergency food pro9 grams to reduce hunger and promote family 

10 stability. 

11 (D) The augmentation of staffing in Head 

12 Start, child care, and other early childhood edu13 cation programs to promote school readiness 

14 and early literacy. 

15 (E) The renovation and enhancement of 

16 maintenance of parks, playgrounds, and other 

17 public spaces. 

18 (2) During the 9-month period after the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act, the grant recipients shall 

20 consult with community leaders, including local gov21 ernment officials, small business owners, labor orga22 nizations, non-profit organizations, and local resi23 dents to— 

24 (A) assess the needs of the community 

25 served by the grant recipient; 


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1 (B) determine sectors of the local economy 

2 that are in need of employees; 

3 (C) make recommendations for new em4 ployment opportunities in the areas described in 

5 paragraph (3); and 

6 (D) assess the effectiveness of job place7 ments made under paragraph (1). 

8 (3) Not later than 9 months after the recipient 

9 of a grant begins to use the grant to fund fast-track 

10 job placements under paragraph (1), the recipient 

11 shall use the remaining amount of the grant to make 

12 grants to public entities, nonprofit organizations, 

13 public-private partnerships, or small businesses to 

14 create opportunities for employment in the following 

15 areas: 

16 (A) Construction, re-construction, rehabili17 tation, and site improvements of residences or 

18 public facilities, including improvements in the 

19 energy efficiency or environmental quality of 

20 such public facilities or residences. 

21 (B) Provision of human services, including 

22 child care services, health care services, edu23 cation, or recreational programs. 


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1 (C) The remediation and demolition of va2 cant and abandoned properties to eliminate 

3 blight. 

4 (D) Programs that provide disadvantaged 

5 youth with opportunities for employment, edu6 cation, leadership development, entrepreneurial 

7 skills development, and training. 

8 (e) CONDITIONS.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

9 under this section, a grant recipient shall— 

10 (1) agree to comply with the nondiscrimination 

11 policy set forth under section 109 of the Housing 

12 and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

13 U.S.C. 5309); 

14 (2) allocate not less than 85 percent of the 

15 funding allocated to each project funded under the 

16 grant to wages, benefits, and support services, in17 cluding child care services, for individuals employed 

18 on such project; 

19 (3) ensure that employment on any project 

20 funded under the grant is carried out in accordance 

21 with subsection (f); and 

22 (4) institute an outreach program with commu23 nity organizations and service providers in low-in24 come communities to provide information about 


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1 placements funded under the grant to individuals 

2 suited to perform community infrastructure work. 

3 (f) EMPLOYMENT DESCRIBED.—Employment funded 

4 under this section shall meet the following specifications: 

5 (1) Any employer that employs an individual 

6 whose employment is funded under the grant shall— 

7 (A) employ such individual for not less 

8 than 12 months; 

9 (B) employ such individual for not less 

10 than 30 hours per week; 

11 (C) comply with responsible contractor 

12 standards, as determined by the relevant official 

13 in the unit of local general government; 

14 (D) provide compensation to such indi15 vidual equal to that which is paid to employees 

16 who have been employed to perform similar 

17 work prior to the date such individual was 

18 hired; and 

19 (E) if such employment is in construction, 

20 provide compensation to any laborer or me21 chanic employed under the grant at rates not 

22 less than those prevailing on similar construc23 tion in the locality as determined by the Sec24 retary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 


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1 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (2) No individual whose employment is funded 

4 under the grant may work for an employer at which 

5 a collective bargaining agreement is in effect cov6 ering the same or similar work, unless— 

7 (A) the consent of the union at such em8 ployer is obtained; and 

9 (B) negotiations have taken place between 

10 such union and the employer as to the terms 

11 and conditions of such employment. 

12 (3) An individual whose employment is funded 

13 under this Act may not displace other employees 

14 whose employment is not funded under this Act. A 

15 grant recipient under this Act may not hire an em16 ployee or employees with funds under this Act for 

17 any employment which the grant recipient would 

18 otherwise hire an employee who has been furloughed. 

19 (4) An individual whose employment is funded 

20 under this Act shall be unemployed for not less than 

21 30 days prior to beginning employment funded by a 

22 grant, as verified by the State or local department 

23 of labor, department of welfare, or similar office 

24 charged with maintaining records of unemployment. 


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1 (5) Not less than 35 percent of whose employ2 ment is funded under this Act shall be members of 

3 a targeted group (as described in section 51(d)(1) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) as verified by 

5 the State or local department of labor, department 

6 of welfare, or similar office charged with maintain7 ing records of unemployment. 

8 (g) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

9 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting a 

10 project to receive funding for employing individuals 

11 in employment funded under this Act, a grant recipi12 ent shall consider— 

13 (A) the input of all participants in a pro14 posed project, including labor organizations, 

15 community organizations, and employers; 

16 (B) the needs of the community intended 

17 to benefit from such project; 

18 (C) the long-term goals and short term ob19 jectives to address such needs; and 

20 (D) any recommendations for programs 

21 and activities developed to meet such needs. 

22 (2) PRIORITY GIVEN TO CERTAIN PROJECTS.— 

23 A grant recipient under this section shall give pri24 ority to projects that— 


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1 (A) serve areas with the greatest level of 

2 economic need, determined for each such area 

3 by— 

4 (i) the unemployment rate; 

5 (ii) the rate of poverty; 

6 (iii) the number of census tracts with 

7 concentrated poverty; 

8 (iv) the lowest median income; 

9 (v) the percentage of vacant and 

10 abandoned properties; 

11 (vi) the percentage of home fore12 closures; and 

13 (vii) the indicators of poor resident 

14 health, including high rates of chronic dis15 ease, infant mortality, and life expectancy; 

16 (B) integrate education and job skills 

17 training, including basic skills instruction and 

18 secondary education services; 

19 (C) coordinate to the maximum extent fea20 sible with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship 

21 programs; and 

22 (D) provide jobs in sectors where job 

23 growth is most likely, as determined by the Sec24 retary, and in which career advancement oppor25 tunities exist to maximize long-term, sustainVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2368.IH H2368

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1 able employment for individuals after employ2 ment funded under this Act ends. 

3 (h) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.— 

4 (1) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES AND DEPOSITS

5 INTO DISCRETIONARY FUND.—Not more than 5 per6 cent of the funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

7 for any fiscal year shall be reserved for grants to In8 dian tribes and for deposit into a discretionary fund 

9 established by the Secretary for national demonstra10 tion projects and multi-jurisdictional projects. 

11 (2) GRANTS TO STATES.—Not more than 30 

12 percent of funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

13 for any fiscal year shall be allocated to States to dis14 tribute to units of general local government that do 

15 not qualify for funds under paragraph (3). 

16 (3) GRANTS TO UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL

17 GOVERNMENT.—Grant funds that are not reserved 

18 under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be allocated to 

19 metropolitan cities and urban counties using the for20 mula under section 106(b) of the Housing and Com21 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

22 5306(b)). 

23 (i) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Labor may issue 

24 regulations as the Secretary determines necessary and apVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2368.IH H2368

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1 propriate to carry out the grant program authorized by 

2 this Act. 

3 (j) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) REPORTS BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not 

5 later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal 

6 year in which assistance under this section is fur7 nished, a recipient of a grant under this section shall 

8 submit to the Secretary a report containing the fol9 lowing: 

10 (A) A description of the progress made in 

11 accomplishing the objectives of this chapter. 

12 (B) A summary of the use of the grant 

13 during the preceding fiscal year. 

14 (C) For units of general local government, 

15 a listing of each entity receiving funds and the 

16 amount of such grants, as well as a brief sum17 mary of the projects funded for each such unit, 

18 the extent of financial participation by other 

19 public or private entities, and the impact on 

20 employment and economic activity of such 

21 projects during the previous fiscal year. 

22 (D) For States, a listing of each unit of 

23 general local government receiving funds and 

24 the amount of such grants, as well as a brief 

25 summary of the projects funded for each such 


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1 unit, the extent of financial participation by 

2 other public or private entities, and the impact 

3 on employment and economic activity of such 

4 projects during the previous fiscal year. 

5 (E) The amount of money received and ex6 pended during the fiscal year. 

7 (F) The number of individuals assisted 

8 under the grant whose household income is low9 income, very low-income, or extremely low-in10 come (as such terms are used for purposes of 

11 the Housing Act of 1937 and the regulations 

12 thereunder (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.)). 

13 (G) The amount expended on administra14 tive costs during the fiscal year. 

15 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At least once 

16 every 6 months, the Secretary shall submit to Con17 gress a report on the use of grants awarded under 

18 this section and any progress in job creation. 

19 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

21 such term in section 5302(2) of title 42, United 

22 States Code. 

23 (2) The term ‘‘unit of general local govern24 ment’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

25 5302(1) of title 42, United States Code. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 

2 given such term in section 5302(17) of title 42, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (4) The term ‘‘small business’’ has the meaning 

5 given the term ‘‘small business concern’’ under sec6 tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

7 (5) The term ‘‘metropolitan city’’ has the mean8 ing given such term in section 5302(4) of title 42, 

9 United States Code. 

10 (6) The term ‘‘urban county’’ has the meaning 

11 given such term in section 5302(6) of title 42, 

12 United States Code. 

13 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated 

15 $200,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and 

16 $150,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2013 to carry out this 

17 Act. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this section shall 

18 remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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