Title: Supporting Older Workers Act
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Supporting Older Workers Act
This bill allows states to use allocated Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds for statewide training activities to support older workers. Specifically, the bill authorizes training activities that coordinate with existing programs for older workers, support the development of activities that enhance the skills of older individuals, or enhance economic choices available to older individuals.
The bill also requires the Department of Labor to award grants to states and local areas to hire WIOA coordinators for older worker and establishes the Older Workers Bureau.
The Government Accountability Office must study how well existing state and local performance accountability measures under WIOA measure the success of older individuals.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5531 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5531

 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to promote the 
        employment of older individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 2021

  Ms. Newman (for herself, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Bonamici, and Ms. Garcia of 
    Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to promote the 
        employment of older 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 ``Supporting Older Workers Act''.

SEC. 2. INCENTIVE GRANTS AND ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE OLDER 
              WORKERS.

    Section 134(a)(3)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(3)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (viii)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of item (ee);
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                                            ``(gg) programs under the 
                                        Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 
                                        U.S.C. 3001 et seq.); and'';
            (2) in clause (xi), by inserting before the semicolon the 
        following: ``, including for such performance that serves 
        individuals with barriers to employment'';
            (3) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (xiii);
            (4) in clause (xiv), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(xv) supporting the development of 
                        alternative, evidence-based programs and other 
                        activities that enhance the choices available 
                        to older individuals (including options for 
                        self-employment and other wage-earning 
                        activities that lead to economic self-
                        sufficiency), and enhance skills (such as 
                        digital literacy) in older individuals.''.

SEC. 3. SPECIALIZED CENTERS; OLDER WORKERS LOCAL AND STATE COORDINATOR 
              GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Specialized Centers in One-Stop Delivery Systems.--Section 
121(e)(2)(C) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
3151(e)(2)(C)) is amended by inserting ``older individuals,'' after 
``youth,''.
    (b) Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce 
        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by redesignating section 172 (29 U.S.C. 3227) 
                as section 173; and
                    (B) by inserting after section 171 (29 U.S.C. 3226) 
                the following:

``SEC. 172. OLDER WORKERS LOCAL AND STATE COORDINATOR GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Authority To Award Grants.--From the amounts appropriated to 
carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to States and local areas to hire an older worker 
coordinator or coordinators to--
            ``(1) use a person-centered approach to increase 
        recruitment, job training, and job placement for older 
        individuals throughout the State or local area, including 
        through outreach (such as through job fairs for older 
        individuals and programming) to employers who may hire older 
        individuals;
            ``(2) promote coordination of available supportive services 
        for older individuals, including services available through 
        area agencies on aging (as defined in section 102 of the Older 
        Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002) or under the Older 
        Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.)), and which may 
        include coordination with labor organizations, community 
        colleges, small business development centers (as defined in 
        section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), women's 
        business centers (described under section 29 of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656)), non-profit organizations, 
        community-based organizations, or community centers; and
            ``(3) document and share best practices for serving older 
        workers.
    ``(b) Reporting.--Not later than 3 years after the first grant is 
awarded under this section, the Secretary shall report to Congress on 
the performance in serving older individuals by States and local areas 
with one or more older worker coordinators.''.
            (2) Table of contents.--The table of contents of the 
        Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is amended by striking 
        the item relating to section 172 and inserting the following:

``172. Older Workers Local and State Coordinator Grant Program.
``173. Authorization of appropriations.''.

SEC. 4. OLDER WORKERS BUREAU.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of Labor 
an Older Workers Bureau.
    (b) Assistant Secretary of the Older Workers Bureau.--The President 
shall appoint an Assistant Secretary of the Older Workers Bureau--
            (1) to carry out the mission of the Older Workers Bureau; 
        and
            (2) who shall be directed and supervised by the Secretary 
        of Labor.
    (c) Mission.--The mission of the Older Workers Bureau is lead and 
coordinate the Federal response to advance employment, economic 
success, and well-being of older individuals through policy 
development, research and reporting, and technical assistance. The 
Assistant Secretary of the Older Workers Bureau may administer grants 
and contracts in support of such mission.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the establishment of the 
Older Workers Bureau, and every 2 years thereafter, the Assistant 
Secretary of the Older Workers Bureau shall submit to Congress a report 
that--
            (1) catalogs Federal programs, including programs outside 
        the Department of Labor, that support the employment, and the 
        economic success and well-being, of older individuals; and
            (2) identifies issues affecting older individuals in the 
        workforce that may be improved with Federal support and 
        coordination.

SEC. 5. GAO STUDY.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a 
report on how accurately the State and local performance accountability 
measures under section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3141) measure the success of older individuals, 
including older individuals who pursue self-employment or bridge 
employment prior to retirement, with a particular focus on older 
individuals who have additional barriers to employment and dislocated 
older individuals.

SEC. 6. OLDER INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``older individual'' has the meaning given 
the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
(29 U.S.C. 3102).
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