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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2825

To demonstrate the economy and efficiency of centralizing Federal job

training programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1993

Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To demonstrate the economy and efficiency of centralizing

Federal job training programs.

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 ‘‘Training for Future

5 Jobs Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Local nonprofit organizations are effective

9 providers of job training for adults and out-of-school

10 youth.
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1 (2) Twelve Federal departments and independ2 ent agencies administer over 100 Federal programs

3 that provide over $10,000,000,000 for job training

4 for adults and out-of-school youth.

5 (3) These multiple programs and multiple agen6 cies—

7 (A) create confusion on the part of local

8 service providers and individuals seeking assist9 ance; and

10 (B) lead to waste and inefficiency in Fed11 eral programs.

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

13 The purpose of this Act is to establish a 5-year dem14 onstration of the economy and efficiency of centralizing

15 Federal job training programs.

16 SEC. 4. JOB TRAINING COUNCIL.

17 (a) COMPOSITION.—There is established the Job

18 Training Council, which shall be comprised of—

19 (1) the Director of the Office of Management

20 and Budget,

21 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture,

22 (3) the Secretary of Commerce,

23 (4) the Secretary of Defense,

24 (5) the Secretary of Education,
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1 (6) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv2 ices, and

3 (7) the Secretary of Labor.

4 (b) CHAIRPERSON.—The Director of the Office of

5 Management and Budget shall be the Chairperson of the

6 Council.

7 SEC. 5. GRANTS.

8 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Council, subject to

9 the availability of appropriations, may make grants to—

10 (1) nonprofit organizations for the retraining of

11 dislocated workers; and

12 (2) nonprofit educational telecommunications

13 organizations to pay the Federal share of the costs

14 of the development, production, and distribution of

15 instructional telecommunications materials and serv16 ices for use in local vocational and technical edu17 cational schools and colleges.

18 Such organizations referred to in paragraph (1) may pro19 vide for the recruitment of unemployed workers, vocational

20 evaluation, assessment and counseling services, vocational

21 and technical training, support services, and job placement

22 assistance. The design and operation of each organization

23 referred to in paragraph (1) shall provide for the utiliza24 tion of appropriate existing Federal, State, and local pro25 grams.
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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded pursuant to

2 this Act may be used to provide—

3 (1) a sequential course of study that includes

4 either preproduced video courseware or direct inter5 active teaching delivered via satellite, accompanied

6 by a variety of print and computer-based instruc7 tional materials;

8 (2) the development of individual videocassettes

9 or a series of videocassettes that supplement instruc10 tion, which shall be distributed both via broadcast

11 and nonbroadcast means;

12 (3) videodiscs that produce simulated hands-on

13 training;

14 (4) teacher training programs for vocational

15 educators and administrators and correctional edu16 cators; and

17 (5) high technology manufacturing equipment

18 and the installation of such equipment in a nonprofit

19 organization for the purpose of training machine tool

20 operators in skills critical to building, operating, and

21 maintaining such equipment.

22 (c) PRIORITY OF PERSONS SERVED.—In awarding

23 grants under this Act, the Council shall give priority to

24 programs or projects which serve—
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1 (1) students in area vocational and technical

2 schools;

3 (2) teachers, administrators, and counselors in

4 need of training or retraining;

5 (3) out-of-school adults in need of basic skills

6 improvement or a high school equivalency diploma to

7 improve the employability of such individuals;

8 (4) college students, particularly college stu9 dents who are working toward a 2-year associate de10 gree from a technical or community college;

11 (5) civilian workers in need of basic skills, voca12 tional instruction, or career counseling to retain em13 ployment; and

14 (6) civilian workers or military personnel who

15 need to improve their skills to obtain jobs in high16 growth industries.

17 (d) PRIORITY OF GEOGRAPHIC AREAS.—In awarding

18 grants under this Act, the Council shall give priority to

19 areas of the country with high rates of labor unemploy20 ment.

21 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—

22 (1) The Federal share of the cost of each

23 project assisted under this Act shall be 50 percent.
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1 (2) The non-Federal share of the cost of each

2 project assisted under this Act shall be provided

3 from non-Federal sources.

4 SEC. 6. WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.

5 The Council may waive for a nonprofit organization

6 those requirements of different existing Federal job train7 ing assistance programs for adults and out-of-school youth

8 that are inconsistent, if—

9 (1) such a waiver is likely to make the organi10 zation’s job training program more efficient; and

11 (2) the chief executive of the local government

12 of the area in which the organization is located cer13 tifies that the organization’s job training program is

14 part of an economic development plan adopted by

15 the local government.

16 SEC. 7. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

17 The Council shall disseminate information on suc18 cessful retraining models developed by any recipient of a

19 grant under this Act.

20 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There is authorized to be appropriated

22 $1,000,000,000 for grants by the Council for each of the

23 fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
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1 SEC. 9. TERMINATION AND REPEAL; EVALUATION.

2 (a) TERMINATION AND REPEAL.—This Act shall not

3 be effective after, and is repealed on, the date that is 5

4 years after the date of its enactment.

5 (b) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of the

6 United States shall submit to the Congress, by no later

7 than 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,

8 a report describing the extent to which grants under this

9 Act have served to train people for jobs, including rec10 ommendations with respect to extending the effectiveness

11 of this Act.

12 SEC. 10. REGULATIONS.

13 The Council shall issue regulations to implement this

14 Act within 180 days after the date of its enactment.

15 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this Act—

17 (1) the term ‘‘Council’’ means the Job Training

18 Council established in section 4;

19 (2) the term ‘‘local government’’ means any

20 subdivision of a State that is a unit of general local

21 government (as that term is defined in section 6501

22 of title 31, United States Code); and

23 (3) the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means

24 any organization that is owned and operated by 1 or

25 more corporations or associations whose net earn-
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1 ings do not benefit, and cannot lawfully benefit, any

2 private shareholder or entity.

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