I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4104
To provide for the creation of private-sector-led Community Workforce
Partnerships, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 2002
Mr. HILL (for himself, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. STEN-
HOLM, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TANNER, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. DOOLEY of
California, and Mr. JEFFERSON) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide for the creation of private-sector-led Community
Workforce Partnerships, 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 ‘‘Community Workforce
Development and Modernization Partnership Act’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to
carry out this Act, the Secretary of Labor (referred to in
this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Education, shall
award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities de-
scribed in subsection (b) to assist each entity to—
(1) help workers improve those job skills that
are necessary for employment by businesses in the
industry with respect to which the entity was estab-
lished;
(2) help dislocated workers find employment;
and
(3) upgrade the operating and competitive ca-
pacities of businesses that are members of the enti-
ty.
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity de-
scribed in this subsection is a consortium (either estab-
lished prior to the date of enactment of this Act or estab-
lished specifically to carry out programs under this Act)
that—
(1) shall include—
(A) 2 or more businesses (or nonprofit or-
ganizations representing businesses) that are
facing similar workforce development or busi-
ness modernization challenges;
(B) labor organizations, if the businesses
described in subparagraph (A) employ workers
who are covered by collective bargaining agree-
ments; and
(C) 1 or more businesses (or nonprofit or-
ganizations that represent businesses) with re-
sources or expertise that can be brought to bear
on the workforce development and business
modernization challenges referred to in sub-
paragraph (A); and
(2) may include—
(A) State governments and units of local
government;
(B) educational institutions;
(C) labor organizations; or
(D) nonprofit organizations.
(c) COMMON GEOGRAPHIC REGION.—To the max-
imum extent practicable, the organizations that are mem-
bers of an eligible entity described in subsection (b) shall
be located within a single geographic region of the United
States.
(d) PRIORITY CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority con-
sideration to—
(1) eligible entities that serve dislocated work-
ers or workers who are threatened with becoming to-
tally or partially separated from employment;
(2) eligible entities that include businesses with
fewer than 250 employees; or
(3) eligible entities from a geographic region in
the United States that has been adversely impacted
by the movement of manufacturing operations or
businesses to other regions or countries, due to cor-
porate restructuring, technological advances, Federal
law, international trade, or another factor, as deter-
mined by the Secretary.
SEC. 3. PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES.
(a) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each eligible entity
that receives a grant under section 2 shall use the amount
made available through the grant to carry out a program
that provides—
(1) workforce development activities to improve
the job skills of individuals who have, are seeking,
or have been dislocated from, employment with a
business that is a member of that eligible entity, or
with a business that is in the industry of a business
that is a member of that eligible entity;
(2) business modernization activities; or
(3) activities that are—
(A) workforce investment activities (includ-
ing such activities carried out through one-stop
delivery systems) carried out under subtitle B
of title I of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (42 U.S.C. 2811 et seq.); or
(B) activities described in section 25 of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Act (15 U.S.C. 278k).
(b) ACTIVITIES INCLUDED.—
(1) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—
The workforce development activities referred to in
subsection (a)(1) may include activities that—
(A) develop skill standards and provide
training, including—
(i) assessing the training and job skill
needs of the industry involved;
(ii) developing a sequence of skill
standards that are benchmarked to ad-
vanced industry practices;
(iii) developing curricula and training
methods;
(iv) purchasing, leasing, or receiving
donations of training equipment;
(v) identifying and developing the
skills of training providers;
(vi) developing apprenticeship pro-
grams; and
(vii) developing training programs for
dislocated workers;
(B) assist workers in finding new employ-
ment; or
(C) provide supportive services to workers
who—
(i) are participating in a program car-
ried out by the entity under this Act; and
(ii) are unable to obtain the sup-
portive services through another program
providing the services.
(2) BUSINESS
MODERNIZATION
ACTIVITIES.—
The business modernization activities referred to in
subsection (a)(2) may include activities that upgrade
technical or organizational capabilities in conjunc-
tion with improving the job skills of workers in a
business that is a member of that entity.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION.
To be eligible to receive a grant under section 2, an
entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as
the Secretary may reasonably require.
SEC. 5. SEED GRANTS AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.
(a) SEED GRANTS.—The Secretary may provide tech-
nical assistance and award financial assistance (not to ex-
ceed $150,000 per award) on such terms and conditions
as the Secretary determines to be appropriate—
(1) to businesses, nonprofit organizations rep-
resenting businesses, and labor organizations, for
the purpose of establishing an eligible entity; and
(2) to entities described in paragraph (1) and
established eligible entities, for the purpose of pre-
paring such application materials as may be required
under section 4.
(b) OUTREACH
AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—
The Secretary may undertake such outreach and pro-
motional activities as the Secretary determines will best
carry out the objectives of this Act.
(c) LIMITATIONS
ON EXPENDITURES.—The Sec-
retary may not use more than 10 percent of the amount
authorized to be appropriated under section 8 to carry out
this section.
SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS ON FUNDING.
(a) REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.—The Sec-
retary may not award a grant under this Act to an eligible
entity unless such entity agrees that the entity will make
available non-Federal contributions toward the costs of
carrying out activities funded by that grant in an amount
that is not less than $2 for each $1 of Federal funds made
available through the grant.
(b) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary—
(1) shall, in awarding grants under this Act,
give priority consideration to those entities whose
members offer in-kind contributions; and
(2) may not consider any in-kind contribution
in lieu of or as any part of the contributions re-
quired under subsection (a).
(c) SENIOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING AND DEVELOP-
MENT.—An eligible entity may not use any amount made
available through a grant awarded under this Act for
training and development activities for senior manage-
ment, unless that entity certifies to the Secretary that ex-
penditures for the activities are—
(1) an integral part of a comprehensive mod-
ernization plan; or
(2) dedicated to team building or employee in-
volvement programs.
(d) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—Each eligible entity
shall, in carrying out the activities referred to in section
3, provide for development of, and tracking of perform-
ance according to, performance outcome measures.
(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Each eligible entity
may use not more than 20 percent of the amount made
available to that entity through a grant awarded under
this Act to pay for administrative costs.
(f) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—No eligible enti-
ty may receive—
(1) a grant under this Act in an amount of
more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year; or
(2) grants under this Act in any amount for
more than 3 fiscal years.
(g) SUPPORT FOR EXISTING OPERATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In making grants under this
Act, the Secretary may use a portion equal to not
more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated to
carry out this Act for a fiscal year, to support the
existing training and modernization operations of ex-
isting eligible entities.
(2) ENTITIES.—The Secretary may award a
grant to an existing eligible entity for existing train-
ing and modernization operations only if the
entity—
(A) currently offers (as of the date of the
award of the grant) a combination of training,
modernization, and business assistance services;
(B) targets industries with jobs that tradi-
tionally have low wages;
(C) targets industries that are faced with
chronic job loss; and