(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States of the United States, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, 
Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 
Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands. 
TITLE I—MANUFACTURING 
SKILLS PROGRAM 
SEC. 101. MANUFACTURING SKILLS PROGRAM. 
(a) MANUFACTURING SKILLS PARTNERSHIP.—The 
Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of 
Education, Secretary of the Department of Defense, and 
Director of the National Science Foundation shall jointly 
establish a Manufacturing Skills Partnership consisting of 
the Secretaries and the Director, or their representatives. 
The Partnership shall— 
(1) administer and carry out the program es-
tablished under this title; 
(2) establish and publish guidelines for the re-
view of applications, and the criteria for selection, 
for grants under this title; and 
(3) submit an annual report to Congress on— 
(A) the eligible entities that receive grants 
under this title; and 
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(B) the progress such eligible entities have 
made in achieving the milestones identified in 
accordance with section 102(b)(2)(H). 
(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 
to carry out this title, the Partnership shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to 
enable the eligible entities to carry out their pro-
posals submitted in the application under section 
102(b)(2), in order to promote reforms in workforce 
education and skill training for manufacturing in the 
eligible entities. 
(2) GRANT DURATION.—A grant awarded under 
paragraph (1) shall be for a 3-year period, with 
grant funds under such grant distributed annually in 
accordance with subsection (c)(2). 
(3) SECOND
GRANTS.—If amounts are made 
available to award grants under this title for subse-
quent grant periods, the Partnership may award a 
grant to an eligible entity that previously received a 
grant under this title after such first grant period 
expires. The Partnership shall evaluate the perform-
ance of the eligible entity under the first grant in 
determining whether to award the eligible entity a 
second grant under this title. 
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SEC. 102. APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that desires to 
receive a grant under this title shall— 
(1) establish a task force, consisting of leaders 
from the public, nonprofit, and manufacturing sec-
tors, representatives of labor organizations, rep-
resentatives of elementary schools and secondary 
schools, and representatives of institutions of higher 
education, to apply for and carry out a grant under 
this title; and 
(2) submit an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the 
Partnership may require. 
(b) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The application de-
scribed in subsection (a)(2) shall include— 
(1) a description of the task force that the eligi-
ble entity has assembled to design the proposal de-
scribed in paragraph (2); 
(2) a proposal that— 
(A) identifies, as of the date of the applica-
tion— 
(i) the current strengths of the State 
or metropolitan area represented by the el-
igible entity in manufacturing; and 
(ii) areas for new growth opportuni-
ties in manufacturing; 
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(B) identifies, as of the date of the appli-
cation, manufacturing workforce and skills chal-
lenges preventing the eligible entity from ex-
panding in the areas identified under subpara-
graph (A)(ii), such as— 
(i) a lack of availability of— 
(I) strong career and technical 
education; 
(II) 
educational 
programs 
in 
science, technology, engineering, or 
mathematics; or 
(III) a skills training system; or 
(ii) an absence of customized training 
for existing industrial businesses and sec-
tors; 
(C) identifies challenges faced within the 
manufacturing sector by underrepresented and 
disadvantaged workers, including veterans, in 
the State or metropolitan area represented by 
the eligible entity; 
(D) provides strategies, designed by the el-
igible entity, to address challenges identified in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C) through tangible 
projects and investments, with the deep and 
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sustainable involvement of manufacturing busi-
nesses; 
(E) identifies and leverages innovative and 
effective career and technical education or skills 
training programs in the field of manufacturing 
that are available in the eligible entity; 
(F) leverages other Federal funds in sup-
port of such strategies; 
(G) reforms State or local policies and gov-
ernance, as applicable, in support of such strat-
egies; and 
(H) holds the eligible entity accountable, 
on a regular basis, through a set of transparent 
performance measures, including a timeline for 
the grant period describing when specific mile-
stones and reforms will be achieved; and 
(3) a description of the source of the matching 
funds required under subsection (d) that the eligible 
entity will use if selected for a grant under this title. 
(c) AWARD BASIS.— 
(1) SELECTION BASIS AND MAXIMUM NUMBER 
OF GRANTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Partnership shall 
award grants under this title, by not earlier 
than January 1, 2016, and not later than 
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March 31, 2016, to the eligible entities that 
submit the strongest and most comprehensive 
proposals under subsection (b)(2). 
(B) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTS.—For 
any grant period, the Partnership shall award 
not more than 5 grants under this title to eligi-
ble entities representing States and not more 
than 5 grants to eligible entities representing 
metropolitan areas. 
(2) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Partnership shall 
award grants under this title in an amount that 
averages, for all grants issued for a 3-year 
grant period, $10,000,000 for each year, sub-
ject to subparagraph (C) and paragraph (3). 
(B) AMOUNT.—In determining the amount 
of each grant for an eligible entity, the Partner-
ship shall take into consideration the size of the 
industrial base of the eligible entity. 
(C) INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIATIONS.—For 
any grant period for which the amounts avail-
able to carry out this title are insufficient to 
award grants in the amount described in sub-
paragraph (A), the Partnership shall award 
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