I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1282
To provide employment opportunities to unemployed individuals in high unem-
ployment areas in programs to repair and renovate essential community
facilities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 21, 1995
Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities
A BILL
To provide employment opportunities to unemployed individ-
uals in high unemployment areas in programs to repair
and renovate essential community facilities.
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 ‘‘Neighborhood Infra-
structure Improvement and Inner City Job Creation Act’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.
The Secretary of Labor (in this Act referred to as
the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide grants to eligible adminis-
trative entities described in section 3(a) for the purpose
of establishing and carrying out programs that provide
employment opportunities to unemployed individuals
through payments for labor and related costs associated
with the repair and renovation of essential community fa-
cilities.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE ADMINISTRATIVE ENTITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An administrative entity shall be
eligible to receive a grant under section 2 if the entity is—
(1) a private industry council (described under
section 102 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29
U.S.C. 1512)),
(2) a unit of general local government,
(3) a nonprofit private organization, or
(4) in the case of a grant involving a Native
American Indian tribe or Alaska Native Village, a
grantee designated under subsection (c) or (d) of
section 401 of the Job Training Partnership Act, or
a consortium of such grantees and the State,
that serves 1 or more eligible jurisdictions described under
subsection (b).
(b) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION.—An eligible jurisdic-
tion described under this subsection is an area which has
a poverty rate in excess of 30 percent and which is—
(1) a unit of general local government which
has a population of 50,000 or more individuals; or
(2) a Native American Indian tribe, band, or
group located on a Federal or State reservation, the
Oklahoma Indians, and any Alaska Native village or
group as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settle-
ment Act, having a governing body.
(c) PRIORITY.—In selecting administrative entities
described in subsection (a) to receive a grant under section
2, priority shall be given to administrative entities that
give assurances to the Secretary in the application submit-
ted under section 4 that such entities will give priority
to individuals who are low-skilled workers in selecting indi-
viduals to participate in programs established and carried
out by such entities under section 5(a).
SEC. 4. APPLICATION.
The Secretary may not make a grant under section
2 to an eligible administrative entity unless the entity sub-
mits to the Secretary an application in such form and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require.
SEC. 5. USE OF AMOUNTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), the Secretary may not make a grant under section
2 to an eligible administrative entity unless the entity
agrees that it will use all amounts received from such
grant to establish and carry out a program to provide
wages and related employment benefits to eligible individ-
uals described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 6 for
the purpose of employing such individuals to repair and
renovate essential community facilities that are located
within the eligible jurisdiction that the entity serves, in-
cluding—
(1) painting bridges;
(2) repairing and renovating public buildings
and other community facilities, including public li-
braries;
(3) repairing and renovating public housing
units;
(4) repairing water systems and water develop-
ment projects;
(5) erecting or replacing traffic control signs
and removing road sign obstructions;
(6) replacing school crossing, intersection, and
other road surface markings;
(7) repairing roads and streets;
(8) repairing and renovating parks and play-
grounds;
(9) installing and repairing drainage pipes and
catch basins in areas subject to flooding;
(10) installing graded ramps for individuals
with disabilities; and
(11) weatherizing community facilities and car-
rying out other energy conservation activities.
(b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 25
percent of amounts received from a grant under section
2 for any fiscal year may be used for the cost of adminis-
tration and the acquisition of supplies, tools, and other
equipment.
SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be eligible to
participate in a program described in section 5(a) only if
the individual—
(1) is an unemployed individual at the time of
enrollment in such program;
(2) has been unemployed, at a minimum, for
the duration of the 15-week period immediately pre-
ceding the date of such enrollment; and
(3) has made a good-faith attempt to obtain
employment during such 15-week period.
(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT
FOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL-AGE INDIVIDUALS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to meeting the
requirements described in subsection (a), a second-
ary school-age individual shall be eligible to partici-
pate in a program described in section 5(a) only if
the individual has not attended a secondary school