21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act
Bill: H.R.3054 | Sponsor: Rep. Lieu, Ted (D-CA)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
21st Century Federal Writers' Project Act
This bill creates a grant program in the Department of Labor to provide eligible entities with funds to assist individuals who are unemployed or underemployed in order to document in writing and images American society and the broad impacts and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
In addition, Labor must (1) establish a repository of works developed through the grant program in which grantees submit completed works from subgrantees, including giving credit to each writer or artist, and make such works available to the public; and (2) forward the completed work to the Library of Congress to archive such material.
The Library must establish an archive program in its American Folklife Center for collection and public availability, in a digital format of such written and visual works.

To establish a grant program in the Department of Labor to assist 
 unemployed and under employed workers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

    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 ``21st Century Federal Writers' 
Project Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 1935, during the Great Depression, President 
        Franklin Delano Roosevelt established The Federal Writers' 
        Project of the New Deal Era. This program was organized to 
        employ writers, editors, historians, researchers, journalists, 
        librarians, broadcasters, photographers, and others to document 
        American society.
            (2) The Federal Writers Project employed up to 10,000 
        people between its founding in 1935 during the Great Depression 
        and the publication of its first guides in 1943.
            (3) The original Federal Writers' Project had many 
        successes, such as--
                    (A) the American Guide Series, which covered 48 
                States, 40 cities, 18 regions and territories and 
                countless counties, with John Steinbeck calling the 
                Series, ``the most comprehensive account of the United 
                States ever got together, and nothing since has even 
                approached it. It was compiled during the depression by 
                the best writers in America'';
                    (B) creating opportunities for writers who went on 
                to become some of America's greatest authors, including 
                Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, and Zora 
                Neale Hurston;
                    (C) developing the Slave Narrative Project, the 
                largest project to document the experience of formerly 
                enslaved people, which included oral histories and 
                photography telling the story of 10,000 Americans in 17 
                States;
                    (D) creating over 1,000 books and pamphlets 
                covering local and regional histories, folklore 
                collections, humor, ethnic studies, and nature studies.
            (4) The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline of local 
        newspapers and other local news outlets, with more than 60 
        local newsrooms closing over the course of 2020 and other 
        newsrooms enduring cutbacks. More than 200 counties have no 
        daily or weekly newspaper and 68 percent of these counties are 
        nonmetro areas, home to small towns and rural communities.
            (5) Following the death of more than 550,000 people due to 
        COVID-19 and more than a year of physical restrictions, the 
        United States has experienced a historic period with a profound 
        and lasting impact on society.
            (6) The original Federal Writers' Project provided the 
        opportunity to observe and document the Great Depression. 
        Further, the impact of COVID-19, including the lives lost, 
        should be documented by a renewed Federal Writers' Project.

SEC. 3. DOL GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, working through the Employment 
Training Administration, shall establish a grant program to provide 
eligible entities with funds to assist individuals who are unemployed 
or under employed in order to document in writing and images American 
society and the broad impacts and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 
the United States.
    (b) Grant Features.--In administering the grant program under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine the parameters of the 
grant program, the amount and duration of grant awards, with an 
individual grant award not to exceed 7.5 percent of the total amounts 
of available grant funds, and the eligibility of individuals to receive 
funds from a grant recipient (using the Standard Occupational 
Classification for categories 25-000 and 27-000).
    (c) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary of 
Labor at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require and 
be--
            (1) a nonprofit institution of higher education or a 
        nonprofit organization each of which has experience in writing, 
        researching, collecting, curating, and disseminating 
        educational information;
            (2) a newsroom that may be a nonprofit or for profit 
        entity;
            (3) a public or nonprofit library; or
            (4) a communications union or guild.
    (d) Geographic Diversity.--In selecting the recipients for a grant 
under this section the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, 
ensure equitable geographic distribution, including urban and rural 
areas.
    (e) Repository.--The Secretary shall establish a repository of 
works developed through the grant program in which grantees submit 
completed works from subgrantees, including giving credit to each 
writer or artist. and make such works available to the public. Not 
later than 90 days after receipt of a completed work, the Secretary 
shall forward such work to the Librarian of Congress to archive such 
material in accordance with subsection (f).
    (f) Archive.--The Librarian of Congress shall establish an archive 
program in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to 
collect and make publicly available in a digital format, including 
giving credit to each writer or artist, written and visual works 
collected by the Secretary under subsection (e).
    (g) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Grantee reporting.--The Secretary shall develop 
        reporting guidelines for grant recipients to include, at a 
        minimum, information regarding--
                    (A) the amount of funds received by each grantee, 
                the amount provided to subgrantees, the number of 
                projects completed;
                    (B) the race, ethnicity, age, location in terms of 
                local or rural, and regional diversity of subgrantees;
                    (C) the number of requests made to review the 
                completed projects (when available); and
                    (D) such other data the Secretary considers 
                important.
            (2) Reporting to congress.--Not less than once each year 
        while the program is in operation, the Secretary shall submit a 
        report summarizing the data collected under paragraph (1) to 
        the Committees on Appropriations and Education and Labor of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations 
        and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate.
    (h) Administrative Costs.--The Secretary may withhold 5 percent of 
funds made available to carry out this program for administrative 
costs. An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section may 
reserve not more than 10 percent of funds received to administer its 
program.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
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