Older Workers’ Bureau Act
Bill: H.R.9327 | Sponsor: Rep. Beyer, Donald S., Jr. (D-VA)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Older Workers' Bureau Act
This bill establishes an Older Workers' Bureau in the Department of Labor. The bureau must promote employment opportunities and inclusive workplaces for older workers through research, policy development, outreach, and grant programs.

To establish in the Department of Labor an Older Workers' Bureau, to 
 establish grant programs related to employment of older workers, 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 ``Older Workers' Bureau Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Of the 9 million jobs expected to be added by 2030, 
        more than half, 4.7 million, will be filled by workers over 55, 
        according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
            (2) From 1995 to 2020, the share of older workers more than 
        doubled, to nearly 25 percent from 12 percent.
            (3) About 40 percent of middle-class older workers will be 
        downwardly mobile into poverty or near poverty in the next ten 
        years when they reach their sixties in part because of lack of 
        employment or low wages.
            (4) The labor market experience of older workers is shaped 
        by structural ageism, which carries unproven beliefs that older 
        workers are not trainable, move slow, are expensive, and get 
        sick too often.
            (5) Older workers who have less formal education, earn 
        lower wages, or who are Black or Hispanic tend to experience 
        much worse health than those who are more advantaged and need 
        more accommodation at work and safer working conditions.
            (6) Physically and psychologically difficult working 
        conditions are widespread and damaging for older workers.
            (7) Older workers are more likely to be involuntary part 
        time, gig, or temporary workers than for prime age workers.
            (8) Nearly 30 percent of older women work in low wage jobs 
        and most are considered working poor.
            (9) Concern about age discrimination amongst older workers 
        has reached its highest level in nearly decades.
            (10) More than 1,000,000 older workers were pushed out or 
        voluntarily left the labor force during the COVID-19 pandemic.
            (11) While some older workers have returned to the labor 
        force since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have 
        struggled to obtain work and others fear returning to unsafe 
        working conditions.
            (12) The labor force participation rate and employment 
        population ratio of older workers both declined due to the 
        COVID-19 pandemic and neither have fully recovered.
            (13) Older workers need specific policy consideration and 
        assistance that could be met by establishing an Older Workers' 
        Bureau within the Department of Labor.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to promote productive, 
inclusive, and welfare-enhancing employment opportunities and 
workplaces for older workers through research, policy development, 
outreach, and grant programs.

SEC. 3. OLDER WORKER'S BUREAU.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of Labor 
a bureau to be known as the ``Older Workers' Bureau'' (in this section 
referred to as the ``Bureau'').
    (b) Personnel.--
            (1) Director.--
                    (A) Appointment.--Not later than one after the date 
                of enactment of this Act, the President shall appoint a 
                Director to lead the Bureau.
                    (B) Inclusion in executive schedule.--Section 5315 
                of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
                the end the following:
    ``Director of the Older Workers' Bureau, Department of Labor.''.
            (2) Staff.--The Secretary of Labor, acting through the 
        Director, shall employ such staff as the Secretary determines 
        necessary to carry out the functions of the Bureau, at such 
        rates of pay as the Secretary may provide.
    (c) Functions.--The Bureau shall promote the welfare, improve the 
working conditions, increase the efficiency, and advance the employment 
opportunities of older workers, including by carrying out the following 
functions:
            (1) Research and coordination relating to--
                    (A) age discrimination and how age discrimination 
                is addressed;
                    (B) the wages paid to older workers, including 
                whether such wages appropriately reflect experience;
                    (C) the job security of older workers, including--
                            (i) the probability of job loss; and
                            (ii) whether there are resources available 
                        in the event of job loss;
                    (D) the state of retirement readiness of older 
                workers and the impact of Federal policies regarding 
                retirement for older workers; and
                    (E) the impact of Federal policies towards the 
                equity (including with respect to race, sex, education, 
                and residence) of older workers and their retirement.
            (2) Policy development.
            (3) Outreach and education.
            (4) Grant program administration.
            (5) Coordinating Federal research relating to older 
        workers.
            (6) Improving access to data on the economic situation of 
        older workers in the labor force or those marginally attached 
        to the labor force.
    (d) Office Quarters.--The Secretary of Labor shall furnish 
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment as the Secretary 
determines necessary to carry out the functions of the Bureau.
    (e) Report.--The Director--
            (1) shall submit to the Secretary of Labor annual reports 
        that--
                    (A) describe the activities of the Bureau, 
                including with respect to the functions described in 
                subsection (c); and
                    (B) make recommendations to promote the welfare, 
                improve the working conditions, increase the 
                efficiency, and advance the employment opportunities of 
                older workers; and
            (2) may publish each such report, as directed by the 
        Secretary.
    (f) Applicability.--The Secretary of Labor shall take such actions 
as are necessary to ensure the Bureau is operational not later than one 
year after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (g) Older Worker Defined.--In this Act, the term ``older worker'' 
means an individual at least 55 years of age who is employed, seeking 
employment, or marginally attached to the labor force.

SEC. 4. RESEARCH GRANTS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Older Workers' 
Bureau is established, the Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Older Workers' Bureau, shall carry out a program to award, on a 
competitive basis, grants to facilitate--
            (1) research into gaps in existing literature and research 
        (as determined by the Secretary); and
            (2) targeted studies designed to direct policies.

SEC. 5. GRANTS TO COMBAT STRUCTURAL AGEISM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which 
the Older Workers' Bureau is established, the Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Older Workers' Bureau, shall carry out a program to 
award, on a competitive basis, grants to covered institutions to--
            (1) facilitate activities, services, and programs to 
        improve the welfare of older workers;
            (2) combat structural ageism;
            (3) improve employment opportunities for older workers; and
            (4) create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
    (b) Priority.--In making grants under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall give priority to a covered institution that is located in an area 
that has no traditional employment or training programs specifically 
targeted to disadvantaged older workers.
    (c) Prohibition on Discriminatory Grants.--The Secretary may not 
make a grant to a covered institution if the Secretary determines that 
such grant would encourage other forms of discrimination.
    (d) Covered Institutions Defined.--For the purposes of this 
section, the term ``covered institution'' means any of the following:
            (1) An employer.
            (2) An employer association.
            (3) A labor union.
            (4) A nonprofit with expertise in older workers.
            (5) A worker organization.
            (6) Other institutions determined appropriate by the 
        Secretary.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    To carry out sections 4 and 5, there is authorized to be 
appropriated $7,000,000 for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2023.
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