STEM RESTART Act
Bill: H.R.2784 | Sponsor: Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy (D-PA)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
STEM Restoring Employment Skills through Targeted Assistance, Re-entry, and Training Act or the STEM RESTART Act
This bill establishes a new national program to support mid-career workers in reentering the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce, including workers from underrepresented or rural populations, by awarding grants to certain small- and medium-sized businesses to assist such workers in reentering the workforce at positions above entry level.

To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create a new 
national program to support mid-career workers, including workers from 
  underrepresented populations, in reentering the STEM workforce, by 
  providing funding to small- and medium-sized STEM businesses so the 
businesses can offer paid internships or other returnships that lead to 
                      positions above entry level.

    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 ``STEM Restoring Employment 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 Workforce 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 RETURNING 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. Employers will likely shed less skilled workers and 
        replace 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 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 comparison, 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 disabled or retired, the remaining 3,600,000 women 
        may be candidates to return to work.
            ``(5) The Center for Talent Innovation's research 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 difficulties of former STEM 
        employees seeking to return to work, as the programs provide a 
        probationary 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 employer 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, Honeywell, Northrop 
        Grumman, Ingersoll Rand, and The Procter & Gamble Company have 
        taken the initiative to try to close the gender gap among STEM 
        professionals by providing mid-career internships for returning 
        technical professionals. However, a 2008 study by Anthony 
        Breitzman and Diana Hicks for the Office of Advocacy of the 
        Small Business Administration, entitled `An Analysis of Small 
        Business Patents by Industry and Firm Size', found that `Small 
        firms are much more likely to develop emerging technologies 
        than are large firms. This is perhaps intuitively reasonable 
        given theories on small firms effecting technological change, 
        but the quantitative 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 transition 
        to in-demand industry sectors or occupations within the STEM 
        workforce, at positions and compensation above entry level; and
            ``(2) establish grant funding and other incentives for 
        small-sized and medium-sized companies in in-demand industry 
        sectors or occupations to establish programs that provide on-
        the-job evaluation, education, and training for mid-career 
        skilled workers 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 `RESTART grant' means a 
        grant made under subsection (d).
            ``(3) Returnship.--The term `returnship' shall mean any 
        internship, apprenticeship, re-entry opportunity, direct hiring 
        opportunity with support, or other similar opportunity designed 
        to provide workers 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
                    ``(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 entitled `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 meaning given the term 
        in section 2 of the America COMPETES 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 Regulations (as in effect on the date of 
        enactment of this Act).
            ``(8) Unemployed or underemployed individual.--The term 
        `unemployed or underemployed individual' means--
                    ``(A) an unemployed or underemployed individual as 
                defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 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 provide opportunities above entry 
        level in STEM fields for mid-career skilled workers, and 
        achieve the purposes 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
                    ``(B) for a medium-sized enterprise or consortium, 
                in an amount so that each annual payment for the grant 
                is not less than $500,000 or more than $5,000,000.
    ``(e) Eligibility.--
            ``(1) Eligible entities.--To be eligible to receive a 
        RESTART grant under this section, an entity shall--
                    ``(A)(i) be located in the United States and have 
                significant operations and employees within the United 
                States;
                    ``(ii) not be a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding, 
                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 sector 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.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An eligible entity that desires 
                to partner with a provider in order to carry out a 
                returnship program under this section shall enter into 
                an arrangement with an eligible 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 
                                underrepresented populations; and
                                    ``(II) shall be capable of 
                                providing 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 
                                institution that is governed by the 
                                same body that governs an institutions 
                                of 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 
                                organization 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 Secretary at such time and in such manner 
        as the Secretary may reasonably require.
            ``(2) Contents.--Such an application shall include--
                    ``(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 underemployed 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 description 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 entity 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;
                    ``(E) an assurance that any new or existing 
                returnship program developed and established, or 
                expanded, with the grant funds will last for at least 
                10 weeks and provide compensation to participants in 
                the form of a salary, 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, information 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 populations 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
                    ``(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 necessary) 
                        housing;
                            ``(ii) mentorship and career counseling; 
                        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 paragraph (1)(B); and
                    ``(C) to enter into an arrangement with an eligible 
                provider to carry out a returnship program.
            ``(3) Existing employees.--Not more than 20 percent of the 
        grant funds may be used to provide compensation for the 
        existing employees performing 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 section 101, to ensure collaboration and 
        alignment of workforce programs.
    ``(h) Reporting and Evaluation Requirements.--
            ``(1) Report to the secretary.--An entity that receives a 
        grant under this section for a returnship program shall 
        prepare, certify the contents of, and submit to the Secretary 
        an annual report containing data regarding--
                    ``(A) the total number of the participants, and the 
                number of such participants disaggregated by sex, race, 
                and ethnicity;
                    ``(B) the total number of the participants 
                transitioned into full-time employment, and the number 
                of such transitioned participants disaggregated 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 disaggregated by sex, race, and 
                ethnicity.
            ``(2) Evaluation and report by the secretary.--Not later 
        than 180 days after receiving the annual reports from grant 
        recipients under paragraph (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 Representatives, 
                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).
    ``(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 section 171 the 
        following:

``Sec. 172. Grants to support skilled workers in returning or 
                            transitioning to the STEM workforce.''.
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