American Workforce Recovery Act
Bill: H.R.2112 | Sponsor: Rep. Stefanik, Elise M. (R-NY)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
American Workforce Recovery Act
This bill directs the Department of Labor to provide funding to states and local areas to expand their employment training programs for employed and unemployed individuals, displaced workers, and to meet particular employment needs of employers.
Specifically, the bill gives states funding to broaden training options such as remote or virtual for employees and employers by eligible providers of training services.
The bill also grants funds to local areas to establish a Pandemic Reskilling Fund for dislocated workers participating in specified training services and career services for adults and dislocated workers.
Local areas may also establish individual training accounts to support on-the-job training and supportive services.
These individual training accounts must pay for training provided by eligible entities. Any remaining funds in an individual's account may be paid in cash to the individual if such individual obtains full-time, unsubsidized employment within six weeks after completion of the training and has been so employed for six weeks. An individual who fails to meet these requirements must return such funds to the local government for redistribution.
The Government Accountability Office must evaluate and report to Congress on (1) the flexibility provided through the individual training accounts; and (2) the overall effectiveness of the funds provided under this bill to promote the skill acquisition, employment, and retention of the individuals who were assisted with such funds, including individuals with barriers to employment.

To direct the Secretary of Labor to award funds to States to promote 
 the skill acquisition, employment, and retention of individuals, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Workforce Recovery Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE ALLOTMENTS AND LOCAL ALLOCATIONS.

    (a) State Allotments.--
            (1) Reservation for outlying areas.--From the amount made 
        available under section 6(a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
        of Labor shall reserve not more than \1/4\ of 1 percent of such 
        amount to provide assistance to the outlying areas.
            (2) State allotments.--After determining the amount to be 
        reserved under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allot the 
        remainder of the amount made available under section 6(a) for 
        that fiscal year to the States in accordance with clause (ii) 
        of section 132(b)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and 
        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3172(b)(2)(B)) for the activities 
        described in this Act, except that clause (iii) of such section 
        shall not apply to allotments made under this paragraph.
    (b) Within State Allocation.--
            (1) Reservation for state uses.--The Governor shall reserve 
        not more than 15 percent of the amount allotted to the State 
        under subsection (a)(2) for the State activities described in 
        section 3.
            (2) Allocations to local areas.--After determining the 
        amount to be reserved under paragraph (1) and not later than 30 
        days after receiving funds allotted under subsection (a)(2), 
        the Governor shall allocate the remainder of such allotment to 
        local areas in the State, on the basis of the allocation 
        formula prescribed by the Governor of the State under clause 
        (i) of section 133(b)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and 
        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3173(b)(2)(B)) for the program year 
        that is in effect on the date of such allocation.
            (3) Reallocation requirements.--Any amounts allocated to a 
        local area under paragraph (1) or (2) that remain unobligated 
        for 1 year after the date of allocation may be reallocated to 
        other local areas in the State by the Governor, as determined 
        by the Governor.

SEC. 3. STATE USES OF FUNDS.

    The State activities referred to in section 2(b)(1) are as follows:
            (1) Reviewing new applications from training providers 
        seeking to be included on the list of eligible providers of 
        training services under section 122(d) of the Workforce 
        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)) for such 
        State not later than 30 days after receipt of such application.
            (2) Evaluating the training providers included on the list 
        of eligible providers of training services under section 122(d) 
        of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
        3152(d)) for such State to determine if such providers have the 
        capacity to meet the job training needs of displaced workers 
        and the employment needs of employers in the State, including 
        the capacity of remote or virtual training options in such 
        State.
            (3) Carrying out activities to facilitate remote access to 
        employment and training activities, including career services, 
        through a one-stop center.
            (4) Improving the quality of local and regional labor 
        market information relating to in-demand industry sectors or 
        occupations, including by ensuring such information is up-to-
        date, searchable, comparable, informed by best practices on 
        public provision of credential information, and includes 
        information on skills required by in-demand industry sectors or 
        occupations in the local area.
            (5) Improving the public availability and accessibility of 
        the performance reports of eligible training providers required 
        under section 116(d)(4) of the Workforce Innovation and 
        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(d)(4)).
            (6) Carrying out any statewide employment and training 
        activities under section 134(a)(3)(A) of the Workforce 
        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(3)(A)).
            (7) Providing supplemental allocations to local areas most 
        in need of additional employment and training resources, as 
        determined by the Governor.

SEC. 4. LOCAL AREA USES OF FUNDS.

    (a) Uses of Funds.--
            (1) Required uses.--A local area receiving an allocation 
        under this Act shall use not less than 75 percent of the 
        allocation for the following:
                    (A) To provide the following training or jobs:
                            (i) Training services provided through 
                        individual training accounts described in 
                        subsection (b);
                            (ii) On-the-job training, for which the 
                        local board may take into account the impact of 
                        a qualifying emergency as a factor in 
                        determining whether to increase the amount of a 
                        reimbursement to an amount of up to 75 percent 
                        of the wage rate of a participant in accordance 
                        with section 134(c)(3)(H) of the Workforce 
                        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
                        3174(c)(3)(H)).
                            (iii) Customized training, for which the 
                        local board may take into account the impact of 
                        a qualifying emergency as a factor in 
                        determining the portion of the cost of training 
                        an employer shall provide.
                            (iv) Transitional jobs that meet the 
                        requirements of section 134(d)(5) of the 
                        Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
                        U.S.C. 3174(d)(5)).
                            (v) Training programs for incumbent workers 
                        carried out in accordance with section 
                        134(d)(4) of the Workforce Innovation and 
                        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(d)(4)).
                    (B) To establish a Pandemic Reskilling Fund for 
                dislocated workers participating in training services 
                described in clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph 
                (A).
            (2) Authorized uses.--A local area receiving an allocation 
        under this Act may use the allocation--
                    (A) to provide the career services described in 
                paragraph (2) of section 134(c) of the Workforce 
                Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)) 
                to adults and dislocated workers--
                            (i) which shall include the prioritization 
                        of the use of the assessments and the 
                        development of individual employment plans 
                        described in subclauses (I) and (II) of 
                        paragraph (2)(A)(xii) of such section 134(c), 
                        respectively;
                            (ii) be based on the most recent local and 
                        regional labor market information relating to 
                        in-demand industry sectors or occupations for 
                        such local area; and
                            (iii) carried out in coordination with 
                        reemployment activities conducted under section 
                        306 of the Social Security Act;
                    (B) to provide the employment and training 
                activities described in section 134(d)) of the 
                Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
                3174(d));
                    (C) to provide information to adults and dislocated 
                workers on employers seeking individuals to participate 
                in the on-the-job training described in subsection (b); 
                and
                    (D) for administrative costs to carry out the 
                requirements of this section, as long as not more than 
                10 percent of the allocation is used for such costs.
    (b) Individual Training Accounts.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 134(c)(3)(G) of 
        the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
        3174(c)(3)(G)), an individual training account established with 
        an allocation made under this Act may be used to support--
                    (A) on-the-job training if a work-based training 
                agreement is established by the individual and the 
                employer, and is approved by the one-stop operator 
                involved; or
                    (B) training services with a provider described in 
                paragraph (3).
            (2) Work-based training agreement.--
                    (A) Contents.--A work-based training agreement 
                referred to in paragraph (1)(A) shall establish the 
                length of training, the hourly wage rate of the 
                individual, the skills necessary for the job, and the 
                individual's current skill level as of the date of the 
                agreement, the skills to be learned during the 
                training, any recognized postsecondary credential that 
                may be acquired during the training, and the 
                reimbursement to be provided to the employer.
                    (B) Documentation requirements.--A work-based 
                training agreement that is approved by the one-stop 
                operator shall ensure that the individual provides the 
                one-stop operator involved with any documentation of 
                the wages earned by the individual while engaged in 
                such training for the purpose of reimbursement to the 
                employer.
            (3) Eligible training providers.--
                    (A) In general.--An individual training account 
                described in paragraph (1) established on behalf of an 
                individual shall pay for training provided through--
                            (i) a provider on the list of eligible 
                        providers of training services under section 
                        122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and 
                        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)) for the 
                        State of the local area; or
                            (ii) a training provider that is not on 
                        such list--
                                    (I) in a case in which the State 
                                board or local board approves such 
                                provider upon a determination that the 
                                individual is seeking training for an 
                                in-demand industry sector or occupation 
                                in the local area for which such 
                                provider has demonstrated 
                                effectiveness; or
                                    (II) in a case in which an employer 
                                identifies such provider as having the 
                                ability to help the individual acquire 
                                the skills necessary to be hired by 
                                such employer, and for which the 
                                employer covers not less than 20 
                                percent of the training cost.
                    (B) Performance reports.--To receive a payment 
                under an individual training account described in 
                paragraph (1), a training provider described in 
                subparagraph (A)(ii) shall submit the necessary 
                information to be included in the performance report 
                with respect to such provider under section 116(d)(4) 
                of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
                U.S.C. 3141(d)(4)).
    (c) Pandemic Reskilling Fund.--
            (1) In general.--For dislocated workers receiving training 
        services under subsection (a)(1), the local area shall 
        establish a Pandemic Reskilling Fund that the individual can 
        access to receive reimbursement for supportive services 
        necessary for the individual to participate in the training.
            (2) One-stop operator.--The one-stop operator involved 
        shall--
                    (A) have the discretion to approve an individual's 
                supportive services expenses and make payments from the 
                individual's Pandemic Reskilling Fund; and
                    (B) provide information, in formats that are usable 
                by and understandable to one-stop center customers, 
                relating to the availability of other supportive 
                services and funding for such services in the local 
                area.
            (3) Amount per individual.--The Pandemic Reskilling Fund 
        shall provide the following reimbursement amounts:
                    (A) $1,000 for a dislocated worker who is a low-
                income individual.
                    (B) $500 for a dislocated worker who is not covered 
                under subparagraph (A).
            (4) Completion incentive and reallocation.--
                    (A) Completion incentive.--Any funds remaining in a 
                Pandemic Reskilling Fund of an individual shall be 
                provided in cash to the individual if--
                            (i) not later than 6 weeks after an 
                        individual completes the training for which 
                        such Fund was established, the individual 
                        obtains full-time, unsubsidized employment; and
                            (ii) the individual has been so employed 
                        for 6 weeks.
                    (B) Reallocation.--With respect to any funds 
                remaining in the Pandemic Reskilling Fund of an 
                individual who does not meet the requirements of 
                subparagraph (A), after completion of the training for 
                which such Fund was established, such funds shall be 
                returned to the local area for redistribution by such 
                area.
    (d) Eligible Individuals.--The requirements of section 134(c)(3)(B) 
of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
3174(c)(3)(B)) shall not apply in determining an individual's 
eligibility to receive training services funded under this section.

SEC. 5. GAO REPORT.

    Not later than one year following the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) conduct an evaluation of the--
                    (A) flexibility provided through individual 
                training accounts established under this Act; and
                    (B) the overall effectiveness of the funds provided 
                under this Act with respect to promoting the skill 
                acquisition, employment, and retention of the 
                individuals who were assisted with such funds, 
                including individuals with barriers to employment, 
                disaggregated--
                            (i) by each subpopulation of such 
                        individuals; and
                            (ii) by race, ethnicity, sex, and age.
            (2) submit the results of the evaluation to Congress.

SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $7,000,000,000 to carry out this Act.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Qualifying emergency.--The term ``qualifying 
        emergency'' has the meaning given the term in section 3502(a) 
        of the CARES Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 note).
            (2) Supportive services.--The term ``supportive services'' 
        means services such as transportation, child care, dependent 
        care, housing, technology and equipment, and needs-related 
        payments, that are necessary to enable an individual to 
        participate in activities authorized under this Act.
            (3) WIOA definitions.--Except as otherwise provided, a term 
        used in this Act that is defined in section 3 of the Workforce 
        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102) shall have the 
        meaning given that term in such section.
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