SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEM Restoring Em-
ployment Skills through Targeted Assistance, Re-entry, 
and Training Act’’ or the ‘‘STEM RESTART Act’’. 
SEC. 2. RETURNING SKILLED WORKERS TO THE STEM 
WORKFORCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title I of the Work-
force Innovation and Opportunity Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 172 (29 U.S.C. 
3227) as section 173; and 
(2) by inserting after section 171 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 172. GRANTS TO SUPPORT SKILLED WORKERS IN RE-
TURNING OR TRANSITIONING TO THE STEM 
WORKFORCE. 
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) The Brookings Institution expects the 
coronavirus pandemic will have lasting effects on the 
labor market and could change the composition of 
available jobs indefinitely, with the ensuing economic 
decline ushering in a new era of automation. Em-
ployers will likely shed less skilled workers and re-
place them with higher-skilled technology workers, 
which increases labor productivity as a recession 
tapers off. 
‘‘(2) The current pipeline of engineering talent 
does not include many college graduates from large 
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cohorts of the population. Women represent over 57 
percent of college graduates but only 22 percent of 
the engineers entering the workforce. Within the 
workforce, only 14 percent of engineers are women. 
Women also leave the engineering profession in 
greater numbers than men do. 
‘‘(3) A 2018 Pew Research Center study 
showed there are wide racial gaps among current 
STEM workers regarding reasons why so few Black 
and Hispanic people work in STEM. For example, 
over 70 percent of Black STEM workers view lack 
of access to education and discriminatory hiring and 
promotion practices as reasons there are so few 
Black men and women in the STEM fields. By com-
parison, less than 30 percent of White and Asian 
STEM workers view that lack of access and those 
practices as barriers to Black people entering the 
fields. Additionally, 62 percent of Black STEM 
workers say they have faced discrimination in their 
jobs compared to just 13 percent of White STEM 
workers. 
‘‘(4) Among the 25,300,000 United States 
women ages 25 through 54 with a bachelor’s degree 
or higher degree in 2017, 4,200,000 were out of the 
labor force. While some of those women were dis-
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abled or retired, the remaining 3,600,000 women 
may be candidates to return to work. 
‘‘(5) The Center for Talent Innovation’s re-
search shows that while 93 percent of women who 
left the workforce want to resume their careers, only 
74 percent manage to get any kind of job at all and 
just 40 percent successfully return to work full-time. 
‘‘(6) Mid-career internship and other returnship 
programs are an effective way to address the dif-
ficulties of former STEM employees seeking to re-
turn to work, as the programs provide a proba-
tionary period and also an opportunity to obtain 
mentorship, professional development, and support 
as the participants transition back to work. Even 
more important, returnship programs allow an em-
ployer to base a hiring decision on an actual work 
sample instead of a series of interviews. At the same 
time, the programs give participants an opportunity 
to return to work together, in a cohort of similarly 
situated returners. 
‘‘(7) Fortune 500 companies like Apple, Honey-
well, Northrop Grumman, Ingersoll Rand, and The 
Procter & Gamble Company have taken the initiative 
to try to close the gender gap among STEM profes-
sionals by providing mid-career internships for re-
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turning technical professionals. However, a 2008 
study by Anthony Breitzman and Diana Hicks for 
the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Admin-
istration, entitled ‘An Analysis of Small Business 
Patents by Industry and Firm Size’, found that 
‘Small firms are much more likely to develop emerg-
ing technologies than are large firms. This is per-
haps intuitively reasonable given theories on small 
firms effecting technological change, but the quan-
titative data here support this assertion. Specifically, 
although small firms account for only 8 percent of 
patents granted, they account for 24 percent of the 
patents in the top 100 emerging clusters.’. 
‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 
to— 
‘‘(1) prioritize expanding opportunities, through 
high-quality internships or other returnships in 
STEM fields for unemployed or underemployed 
workers, particularly workers from underrepresented 
populations and workers from rural areas, who are 
mid-career skilled workers seeking to return or tran-
sition to in-demand industry sectors or occupations 
within the STEM workforce, at positions and com-
pensation above entry level; and 
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‘‘(2) establish grant funding and other incen-
tives for small-sized and medium-sized companies in 
in-demand industry sectors or occupations to estab-
lish programs that provide on-the-job evaluation, 
education, and training for mid-career skilled work-
ers described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) MEDIUM-SIZED
ENTERPRISE.—The term 
‘medium-sized’, used with respect to an enterprise, 
means an entity that employs more than 499 and 
fewer than 10,000 employees. 
‘‘(2) RESTART 
GRANT.—The term ‘RE-
START grant’ means a grant made under sub-
section (d). 
‘‘(3) RETURNSHIP.—The term ‘returnship’ shall 
mean any internship, apprenticeship, re-entry oppor-
tunity, direct hiring opportunity with support, or 
other similar opportunity designed to provide work-
ers seeking to return or transition to the STEM 
workforce with positions that— 
‘‘(A) are above entry level; 
‘‘(B) provide salaries, stipends, or other 
payments, and benefits, that are above entry 
level; and 
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‘‘(C) provide training that leads workers 
toward full-time careers and provides pathways 
toward advancement and leadership. 
‘‘(4) RURAL
AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 
means an area that is not an urban area (within the 
meaning of the notice of final program criteria enti-
tled ‘Urban Area Criteria for the 2010 Census’ (76 
Fed. Reg. 53030 (August 24, 2011))). 
‘‘(5) SMALL-SIZED
ENTERPRISE.—The term 
‘small-sized’, used with respect to an enterprise, 
means an entity that employs more than 49 and 
fewer than 500 individuals. 
‘‘(6) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM-
PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 
6621 note). 
‘‘(7) UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATION.—The 
term ‘underrepresented population’ means a group 
that is underrepresented in science and engineering, 
as determined by the Secretary of Education under 
section 637.4(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula-
tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act). 
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‘‘(8) UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED INDI-
VIDUAL.—The term ‘unemployed or underemployed 
individual’ means— 
‘‘(A) an unemployed or underemployed in-
dividual as defined by the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics; and 
‘‘(B) a displaced or furloughed worker. 
‘‘(d) GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 
available to carry out this section, the Secretary 
shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 
entities, to carry out returnship programs that pro-
vide opportunities above entry level in STEM fields 
for mid-career skilled workers, and achieve the pur-
poses described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) PERIODS.—The Secretary shall award the 
grants for an initial period of not less than 3 years 
and not more than 5 years. 
‘‘(3) AMOUNTS.—In awarding grants under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall award a grant— 
‘‘(A) for a small-sized enterprise, in an 
amount so that each annual payment for the 
grant is not less than $100,000 or more than 
$1,000,000; and 
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‘‘(B) for a medium-sized enterprise or con-
sortium, in an amount so that each annual pay-
ment for the grant is not less than $500,000 or 
more than $5,000,000. 
‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re-
ceive a RESTART grant under this section, an enti-
ty shall— 
‘‘(A)(i) be located in the United States and 
have significant operations and employees with-
in the United States; 
‘‘(ii) not be a debtor in a bankruptcy pro-
ceeding, 
within 
the 
meaning 
of 
section 
4003(c)(3)(D)(i)(V) of the CARES Act (15 
U.S.C. 9042(c)(3)(D)(i)(V)) or under a State 
bankruptcy law; and 
‘‘(iii) be within an in-demand industry sec-
tor or occupation in a STEM field; and 
‘‘(B) be— 
‘‘(i) a small-sized enterprise; 
‘‘(ii) a medium-sized enterprise; or 
‘‘(iii) a consortium of small-sized or 
medium-sized enterprises. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 
desires to partner with a provider in order to 
carry out a returnship program under this sec-
tion shall enter into an arrangement with an el-
igible provider. 
‘‘(B) PROVIDER.—To be eligible to enter 
into such an arrangement, a provider— 
‘‘(i) may or may not directly employ 
skilled workers in STEM fields but— 
‘‘(I) shall have expertise in 
human 
resources-related 
activities, 
such as identifying or carrying out 
staffing with skilled workers or under-
represented populations; and 
‘‘(II) shall be capable of pro-
viding 
high-quality 
education 
and 
training services; and 
‘‘(ii) may be— 
‘‘(I)(aa) an institution of higher 
education (as defined in section 101 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1001)); or 
‘‘(bb) a non-degree-granting in-
stitution that is governed by the same 
body that governs an institutions of 
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higher education described in item 
(aa); 
‘‘(II) a public, private for-profit, 
or private nonprofit service provider, 
approved by the local board; 
‘‘(III) a joint labor-management 
organization; 
‘‘(IV) an eligible provider of 
adult education and literacy activities 
under title II; or 
‘‘(V) an established nonprofit or-
ganization that conducts research or 
provides training on technical, social 
and 
emotional, 
and 
employability 
skills and knowledge aligned to the 
needs of adult learners and workers. 
‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 
RESTART grant to carry out a returnship program, 
an entity shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary at such time and in such manner as the Sec-
retary may reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Such an application shall in-
clude— 
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‘‘(A) a description of the demand for 
skilled workers in STEM fields and how the 
RESTART grant will be used to help meet that 
demand; 
‘‘(B) a description of how the program will 
lead to employment of unemployed or under-
employed individuals, particularly workers from 
underrepresented populations or from rural 
areas, who seek to return or transition to the 
STEM workforce; 
‘‘(C) if the entity has entered into or plans 
to enter into an arrangement with an eligible 
provider as described in subsection (e)(2) to 
carry out a returnship program, information 
identifying the eligible provider, and a descrip-
tion of how the arrangement will help the entity 
build the knowledge and skills of skilled workers 
participating in the program; 
‘‘(D) a description of how the eligible enti-
ty will develop and establish, or expand, a 
returnship program that adds to the number of 
full-time employees employed by the entity, but 
does not displace full-time employees currently 
(as of the date of submission of the application) 
employed by the entity; 
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‘‘(E) an assurance that any new or exist-
ing returnship program developed and estab-
lished, or expanded, with the grant funds will 
last for at least 10 weeks and provide com-
pensation to participants in the form of a sal-
ary, stipend, or other payment, and benefits, 
that are offered to full-time employees with 
equivalent experience and expertise, such as 
health care or child care benefits; and 
‘‘(F) if the returnship program leads to a 
recognized postsecondary credential, informa-
tion on the quality of the program that leads to 
the credential. 
‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give priority to entities 
who 
are 
proposing 
programs 
that 
prioritize 
returnships for workers from underrepresented pop-
ulations or from rural areas. 
‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity that receives a 
grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 
carry out a returnship program, of not less than 10 
weeks, through which the entity provides for— 
‘‘(A) 
the 
education 
and 
training 
of 
returnship participants; and 
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‘‘(B) the services of existing employees (as 
of the date the program begins) of the entity 
who are working with returnship participants in 
an educational, training, or managerial role, to 
maximize the retention rate and effectiveness of 
the returnship program. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC USES.—The grant funds may be 
used— 
‘‘(A) to pay for the evaluation, and entry 
into the program, and education and training of 
returnship participants, including payment for 
the duration of the program for the participants 
for— 
‘‘(i) equipment, travel, and (as nec-
essary) housing; 
‘‘(ii) mentorship and career coun-
seling; and 
‘‘(iii) salaries, stipends, or payments, 
and benefits, described in subsection 
(f)(2)(E); 
‘‘(B) to supplement, and not supplant, the 
compensation of those existing employees of the 
entity who are directly supporting a returnship 
program through the work described in para-
graph (1)(B); and 
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‘‘(C) to enter into an arrangement with an 
eligible provider to carry out a returnship pro-
gram. 
‘‘(3) EXISTING
EMPLOYEES.—Not more than 
20 percent of the grant funds may be used to pro-
vide compensation for the existing employees per-
forming the work described in paragraph (1)(B). 
‘‘(4) COORDINATION WITH STATE WORKFORCE 
BOARDS.—An entity that receives a grant under this 
section shall coordinate activities with the State 
workforce development board established under sec-
tion 101, to ensure collaboration and alignment of 
workforce programs. 
‘‘(h) REPORTING
AND
EVALUATION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(1) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—An entity 
that receives a grant under this section for a 
returnship program shall prepare, certify the con-
tents of, and submit to the Secretary an annual re-
port containing data regarding— 
‘‘(A) the total number of the participants, 
and the number of such participants disaggre-
gated by sex, race, and ethnicity; 
‘‘(B) the total number of the participants 
transitioned into full-time employment, and the 
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number of such transitioned participants disag-
gregated by sex, race, and ethnicity; and 
‘‘(C) if the returnship program includes 
participants in an internship, the conversion 
rate of the internship participants to employees, 
for the total number of those participants and 
the conversion rate of those participants disag-
gregated by sex, race, and ethnicity. 
‘‘(2) EVALUATION AND REPORT BY THE SEC-
RETARY.—Not later than 180 days after receiving 
the annual reports from grant recipients under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A)(i) prepare a report that presents the 
data collected through the reports, including 
data disaggregated by sex, race, and ethnicity, 
and an evaluation based on that data of the 
best practices for effectively implementing 
returnship (including internship) programs; and 
‘‘(ii) submit the report to the Committee 
on Education and Labor of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 
and 
‘‘(B) post information on a website on best 
practices described in subparagraph (A)(i). 
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‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 
through 2026.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 
section 1(b) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the item relating to section 
172 as the item relating to section 173; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 171 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 172. Grants to support skilled workers in returning or transitioning to 
the STEM workforce.’’. 
Æ 
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