I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7050 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide 
grants to retrain certain transportation workers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2020 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 
program to provide grants to retrain certain transpor-
tation workers, 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 ‘‘Transportation Work-
force Modernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION WORKER RETRAINING GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall establish a program to make grants to eligible 
entities to develop a curriculum for and establish transpor-
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tation worker training programs in urban and rural areas 
to train, upskill, and prepare workers whose jobs may be 
changed or worsened by automation, or who have been 
separated from their jobs, or have received notice of im-
pending job loss, as a result of being replaced by auto-
mated driving systems. 
(b) ELIGIBLE
ENTITIES.—The following entities 
shall be eligible to receive grants under this section: 
(1) Institutions of higher education. 
(2) Consortia of institutions of higher edu-
cation. 
(3) Trade associations. 
(4) Nongovernmental stakeholders. 
(5) Organizations with a demonstrated capacity 
to develop and provide career ladder programs 
through labor-management partnerships and appren-
ticeships on a nationwide basis. 
(c) LIMITATION ON AWARDS.—An entity may only 
receive one grant per year under this section in an amount 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(d) PARTICIPANTS
IN TRANSPORTATION WORKER 
RETRAINING PROGRAMS.—A grant provided under this 
section may be used for participants in transportation 
worker retraining programs to pursue a degree or certifi-
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cation through the coursework or curriculum developed 
under the program. 
(e) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 
this section may use grant amounts for studies, pilot pro-
grams, as well as testing new roles for current jobs, includ-
ing mechanical work, diagnostic, and fleet operations man-
agement. 
(f) GENERAL SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 
shall select recipients of grants under this section on the 
basis of the following criteria: 
(1) Demonstrated research and extension re-
sources available to the applicant for carrying out 
this section. 
(2) Capability of the applicant to develop cur-
riculum in the training or retraining of individuals 
described in subsection (a) as a result of driverless 
vehicles. 
(3) Demonstrated commitment of the recipient 
to carry out a transportation workforce development 
program through degree-granting programs or pro-
grams that provide other industry-recognized creden-
tials. 
(g) ELIGIBILITY.—An applicant is only eligible for a 
grant under this section if such applicant— 
(1) has an established transportation program; 
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(2) has expertise in solving transportation prob-
lems through research, training, education, and tech-
nology; and 
(3) shares information with other programs. 
(h) FEDERAL SHARE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Federal share of a 
grant under this section shall be a dollar for dollar 
match of the costs of establishing and administering 
the retraining program and related activities carried 
out by the grant recipient or consortium of grant re-
cipients. 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—For a recipient 
of a grant under this section carrying out activities 
under such grant in partnership with a public trans-
portation agency that is receiving amounts under 
section 5307, 5337, or 5339, not more than 0.5 per-
cent of amounts made available under any such sec-
tion may qualify as the non-Federal share under 
paragraph (1). 
(i) TRACKING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Not later 
than 1 year after a grant award is made under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall implement a reporting or tracking 
mechanism to determine— 
(1) from which sectors of the transportation in-
dustry are workers being displaced; 
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(2) for what skills and professions are workers 
being retrained; 
(3) how many workers have benefitted from the 
grant award; and 
(4) relevant demographic information of im-
pacted workers. 
(j) DEFINITION OF INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION.—In this Act, the term ‘‘institution of higher edu-
cation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2021, 2022, and 2023 to carry out this section. 
(2) AVAILABILITY
OF
AMOUNTS.—Amounts 
made available to the Secretary to carry out this sec-
tion shall remain available for obligation by the Sec-
retary for a period of 3 years after the last day of 
the fiscal year for which the amounts are authorized. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall conduct a study and submit to 
Congress a report on the impact of driverless vehicle adop-
tion on— 
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(1) the workforce of the United States; 
(2) the trucking, freight, and personal transpor-
tation industries; 
(3) wages; 
(4) job losses, including the economic impact on 
each region of the United States; and 
(5) the creation of new jobs and how transpor-
tation sector jobs would change due to driverless ve-
hicle adoption. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The study shall be carried out 
in consultation with— 
(1) academics; 
(2) labor unions; 
(3) the Department of Transportation; and 
(4) the Department of Labor. 
(c) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of Transportation 
shall seek to enter into an agreement with an institute 
of higher education or nonprofit organization with dem-
onstrated capacity in carrying out research on the subject 
of the study required under subsection (a) to conduct such 
research. Such agreement shall require the institute or 
nonprofit to submit such research to the Comptroller Gen-
eral for inclusion in such study. 
Æ 
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