I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 291 
To amend the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy Grant Program of the 
Department of Agriculture. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2025 
Mr. LANGWORTHY (for himself and Ms. TOKUDA) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy Grant 
Program of the Department of Agriculture. 
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 ‘‘Creating Access to 
Rural Employment and Education for Resilience and Suc-
cess Act’’ or the ‘‘CAREERS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 379I of the Consolidated 
Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w) is 
amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(i) in clause (iii)— 
(I) by striking subclause (I) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(I) an institution of higher edu-
cation (as defined in section 101, and 
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 
102(a)(1), of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 
1002(a)(1)));’’; 
(II) by redesignating subclauses 
(II) and (III) as subclauses (III) and 
(IV), respectively, and inserting after 
subclause (I) the following: 
‘‘(II) an area career and tech-
nical education school (as defined in 
section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Ca-
reer and Technical Education Act of 
2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302);’’; and 
(III) in subclause (IV) (as so re-
designated by subclause (II) of this 
clause), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
(ii) in clause (iv)— 
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(I) by striking subclause (IV) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(IV) an institution of higher 
education (as defined in section 101, 
and subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
section 102(a)(1), of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 
1002(a)(1)));’’; and 
(II) by redesignating subclause 
(V) as subclause (VI) and inserting 
after subclause (IV) the following: 
‘‘(V) an area career and technical 
education school (as defined in section 
3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 
Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 
U.S.C. 2302); or’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(v) in the case of a career pathway 
program, includes 1 or more member of 
the local workforce development board es-
tablished under section 107 of the Work-
force Innovation and Opportunity Act and 
serving the region to ensure such program 
is integrated with the activities carried out 
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by the local workforce development board; 
and’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) CAREER
PATHWAY.—The term ‘career 
pathway’ has the meaning given the term in section 
3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
(29 U.S.C. 3102). 
‘‘(7) INDUSTRY
OR
SECTOR
PARTNERSHIP.— 
The term ‘industry or sector partnership’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3 of the Work-
force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
3102).’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by inserting ‘‘carry out career 
pathway programs or industry or sector 
partnerships aligned with industry sectors 
in rural communities’’ before the 3rd 
comma; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
the period and inserting a semicolon; and 
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(iv) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) address workforce challenges faced by 
specific industry sectors in rural communities; 
and 
‘‘(D) promote targeted skills development 
initiatives to stimulate innovation and enhance 
economic development in rural regions.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘ca-
reer pathway program, or industry or 
sector partnerships’’ before the semi-
colon; and 
(II) in clause (ii)— 
(aa) by inserting ‘‘career 
pathway program, or industry or 
sector partnerships’’ before ‘‘to 
provide’’; and 
(bb) by inserting ‘‘leadership 
development,’’ 
before 
‘‘cus-
tomized’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
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(iii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 
the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(G) the ability of the eligible entity to 
carry out activities to address the issues of 
worker displacement, an aging workforce, and 
youth migration.’’; and 
(C) by striking paragraph (5) and insert-
ing the following; 
‘‘(5) GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure regional diversity of recipients of 
grants or participants in providing grants under 
paragraph (1) for jobs accelerators, career pathway 
programs, industry or sector partnerships, and re-
lated programming.’’; 
(3) in subsection (d)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) to support career pathway programs 
or industry or sector partnerships to be carried 
out in industries in rural communities, includ-
ing— 
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(ii) by redesignating clause (xviii) as 
clause (xix) and inserting after clause 
(xvii) the following: 
‘‘(xviii) the number of individuals who 
have completed skills development, recog-
nized postsecondary credentials, or gained 
specialized education through career path-
ways programs or industry or sector part-
nership; or’’; and 
(iii) in clause (xix) (as so redesignated 
by clause (ii) of this subparagraph), by 
striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) in the case of a career pathway program 
or industry or sector partnership, report to the Sec-
retary the employment and earnings outcomes for 
individuals who participate in the program on the in-
dicators described in subclauses (I) through (III) of 
section 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation 
and Opportunity Act.’’; and 
(5) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘2019 through 
2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2025 through 2030’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on such date as the Sec-
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retary of Agriculture shall determine, which shall be not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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