I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1419
To establish regional skills alliances, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 4, 2001
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr.
TOWNS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To establish regional skills alliances, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regional Skills Alli-
ances Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) Many small businesses lack the financial ca-
pacity to support the training of high-skilled work-
ers.
(2) Many high-tech companies concerned about
worker training consider recruiting employees from
overseas because a shortage of information tech-
nology workers remains a significant problem.
(3) Too many highly educated workers in un-
derserved communities do not have the specialized
skills needed to meet the needs of local businesses.
(4) Regional skills alliances bring businesses
and 4-year colleges and universities and community
colleges together to help develop and implement ef-
fective programs to make sure workers have the
training needed to compete in the modern workplace.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec-
retary of Labor.
TITLE I—SKILL GRANTS
SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of Commerce, shall award grants to
eligible entities described in subsection (b) to assist such
entities to improve the job skills necessary for employment
in specific industries.
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity described
in this subsection is a consortium that—
(A) shall consist of representatives from
not less than 5 businesses, or a lesser number
of businesses if such lesser number of busi-
nesses employs at least 30 percent of the em-
ployees in the industry involved in the region
(or a non-profit organization that represents
such businesses);
(B) may consist of representatives from—
(i) labor organizations;
(ii) State and local government; and
(iii) educational institutions;
(C) is established to serve one or more par-
ticular industries; and
(D) is established to serve a particular geo-
graphic region.
(2) MAJORITY OF REPRESENTATIVES.—A ma-
jority of the representatives comprising the consor-
tium shall be representatives described in paragraph
(1)(A).
(c) PRIORITY
FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.—In pro-
viding grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall
give priority to an eligible entity if a majority of represent-
atives forming the entity represent small-business con-
cerns (as defined in section 3(a) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)).
(d) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of
a grant awarded to an eligible entity under subsection (a)
may not exceed $1,000,000 for any fiscal year.
SEC. 102. USE OF AMOUNTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not award a
grant under section 101 to an eligible entity unless such
entity agrees to use amounts received from such grant to
improve the job skills necessary for employment by busi-
nesses in the industry with respect to which such entity
was established.
(b) CONDUCT OF PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program
described in subsection (a), the eligible entity may
provide for—
(A) an assessment of training and job skill
needs for the industry;
(B) the development of a sequence of skill
standards that are benchmarked to advanced
industry practices;
(C) the development of curriculum and
training methods, including, where appropriate,
e-learning or technology-based training;
(D) the purchase, lease, or receipt of dona-
tions of training equipment;
(E) the identification of training providers
and the development of partnerships between
the industry and educational institutions, in-
cluding community colleges;
(F) the development of apprenticeship pro-
grams;
(G) the development of training programs
for workers, including dislocated workers;
(H) the development of training plans for
businesses; and
(I) the development of the membership of
the entity.
(2) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENT.—In carrying
out the program described in subsection (a), the eli-
gible entity shall provide for the development and
tracking of performance outcome measures for the
program and the training providers involved in the
program.
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The eligible entity
may use not more than 10 percent of the amount of a
grant to pay for administrative costs associated with the
program described in subsection (a).
SEC. 103. REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not award a
grant under section 101 to an eligible entity unless such
entity agrees that the entity will make available non-Fed-
eral contributions toward the costs of carrying out activi-
ties under the grant in an amount that is not less than
$2 for each $1 of Federal funds provided under the grant,
of which—
(1) $1 shall be provided by the businesses par-
ticipating in the entity; and
(2) $1 shall be provided by the State or local
government involved.
(b) OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS.—
(1) EQUIPMENT.—Equipment donations to fa-
cilities that are not owned or operated by the mem-
bers of the eligible entity involved and that are
shared by such members may be included in deter-
mining compliance with subsection (a).
(2) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity may not in-
clude in-kind contributions in complying with the re-
quirement of subsection (a). The Secretary may con-
sider such donations in ranking applications.
SEC. 104. LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.
The Secretary may use not more than 5 percent of
the amounts made available to carry out this title to pay
the Federal administrative costs associated with awarding
grants under this title.
SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this title $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002,
2003, and 2004, and such sums as are necessary for each
fiscal year thereafter.
TITLE II—PLANNING GRANTS
SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of Commerce, shall award grants to
States to enable such States to assist businesses, organiza-
tions, and agencies described in section 101(b) in con-
ducting planning to form consortia described in such sec-
tion.
(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of
a grant awarded to a State under subsection (a) may not
exceed $500,000 for any fiscal year.
SEC. 202. APPLICATION.
The Secretary may not award a grant under section
201 to a State unless such State submits to the Secretary
an application at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably
require.
SEC. 203. REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.
The Secretary may not award a grant under section
201 to a State unless such State agrees that it will make
available non-Federal contributions toward the costs of