zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
America Realizing the Informational Skills and Initiative of New Graduates Act of 2015 or the America RISING Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to jointly establish a program providing grants to:

 eligible employers to defray the cost of compensation they pay to recent graduates from institutions of higher education (IHEs); and such graduates to enable them to defray the cost of undertaking further postsecondary education at an IHE for up to 24 months in subjects relating to mathematics, science, engineering, or technology. Defines an "eligible employer" as a small business concern or a major corporation that has an operation located in an enterprise zone or in an area in which the unemployment rate exceeds the national average unemployment rate by more than 2%.

Allows college graduates who are participating in the program, either as grantees or beneficiaries of grants to their employers, to defer payment on their federal student loans under title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 until their participation in the program ends.

Requires graduates who are awarded a program grant to be eligible to receive federal student aid under title IV without regard to whether they have been or are delinquent on title IV loans.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Education
Long-Term Unemployed Hiring Incentive Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow through December 31, 2017, a work opportunity tax credit for hiring a qualified long-term unemployed individual.  Defines "qualified long-term unemployed individual" as any individual certified by the designated local agency as: (1) having exhausted, as of the hiring date, all rights to regular compensation under federal or state law; (2) having no rights to regular compensation with respect to the most recent week ending before the hiring date; and (3) not receiving compensation under the unemployment compensation law of Canada.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Ready-to-Compete Act

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to public telecommunications entities to coordinate the development, production, and distribution of innovative multiplatform educational programming and services for young children and youth and their parents, educators, and caregivers.

Requires grantees to award subcontracts or enter into agreements with public television stations and producers or distributors of educational programming for the operation of Ready-to-Learn programs.

Requires Ready-to-Learn programs to: (1) include programming that is aligned with state academic content and achievement standards; (2) include training and materials for educators and caregivers to facilitate their use of the programming and services; (3) address specific community and school needs, ascertained via ongoing community outreach programs; and (4) include programming in reading, social and emotional development, and at least one other topic in an academic or developmentally appropriate area.

Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to authorize the Secretary to award competitive grants to public television stations that partner with states, state workforce investment boards, or institutions of higher education to develop, disseminate, and provide on-line and on-air education and training services for adults.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Education
Renewable Energy Jobs Act 

This bill requires the Department of Labor to carry out a pilot program to train individuals for careers in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, specifically:

 the energy-efficient building, construction, or retrofits industry; the renewable electric power industry, including the wind, solar, and geothermal energy industries; or the energy efficiency assessment industry that serves the residential, commercial, or industrial sectors. Labor must also award grants under the program to the five states with the highest installed alternative energy power capacity, which is the amount of wind, solar, and geothermal power generation installed in a state.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Online Job Training Act of 2015

 Amends the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act to require the Secretary of Labor to award National Online Workforce Training Grants for workforce training programs using distance-learning technologies, such as the Internet. Requires such grants to be awarded on a competitive basis to educational institutions, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, state or local boards, or units of general local government which provide online workforce training.

Directs the Secretary to award one grant to an eligible institution of higher education to: (1) provide technical assistance to entities that receive grants, (2) collect and nationally disseminate the data gathered by entities that receive grants, and (3) disseminate best practices.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Education and Workforce Innovation Act

 Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a pilot program to award grants to eligible entities to carry out programs that provide direct skills and job training for individuals to enter and advance in high-growth, emerging, and in-demand industries, such as skilled labor and trade industries.

Defines an "eligible entity" as a private company involved in the manufacturing, production, or technology industries, in partnership with a junior or community college, postsecondary vocational institution, or secondary school.

Authorizes such an entity to use such a grant to develop and carry out a multiyear program to provide students enrolled in such a college, institution, or school with education and training to enter and advance in such industries, by providing: (1) customized training, (2) increased productivity and knowledge transfer, (3) a stable and predictable pipeline to a high-standard of employment upon graduation, (4) a proven model of success, and (5) an opportunity for career advancement.

Requires an eligible entity that is awarded a grant to provide matching funds from non-federal sources.

Directs the Secretaries of Education and the Treasury to administer a five-year pilot program under which qualified investors enter into a pay-for-performance agreement under which they will provide funds to service providers to carry out workforce training programs that increase trade certifications or apprenticeships for unemployed individuals or dislocated workers.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Education
Skills Connection Act

 Directs the Secretary of Labor to create a searchable and publicly available database containing a registry of industry-recognized credentials, a skills database, and a jobs bank to enable programs that lead to such credentials to receive priority under:

 youth workforce investment programs, statewide employment and training programs, career and technical programs, and training programs for Trade Adjustment Assistance workers. Makes funds available from amounts appropriated for each fiscal year for the Workforce Innovation Fund for the costs of carrying out this Act.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Community College Energy Training Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, to create a program awarding grants to community colleges to provide workforce training and education in sustainable energy industries and practices, such as: (1) alternative energy; (2) high-performance green building construction, design, and redevelopment; (3) sustainable energy technologies; (4) water, energy, and resource conservation; (5) recycling and waste reduction; and (6) sustainable agriculture and farming.

Requires at least one-half of the grant funds to be awarded to community colleges with existing sustainability programs leading to certificates, credentials, or degrees in one or more of these industries or practices.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Energy
Workforce Development Tax Credit Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for: (1) 50% of wages (up to $2,000) paid to an apprenticeship employee during an apprenticeship period, and (2) 40% of wages (up to $6,000) paid to such an employee during a post-apprenticeship period. Defines "apprenticeship employee" as any employee employed by an employer pursuant to an apprentice agreement registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps Act 

 Authorizes the President, in order to relieve widespread unemployment, restore depleted natural resources in the United States, and advance public works programs, to establish a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens in the construction, maintenance, and carrying on of works of a public nature, such as forestation of U.S. and state lands, prevention of forest fires, floods, and soil erosion, and construction and repair of National Park System paths and trails.

Authorizes the President to extend Corps activities to state- and private-owned lands to prevent and control forest fires and floods and attacks of forest tree pests and diseases.

Requires the President, based on certain criteria, to give preference to the employment of additional persons in the Corps in the following order: (1) unemployed Armed Forces veterans (including Reserve members); (2) unemployed U.S. citizens who have exhausted their unemployment compensation; (3) unemployed U.S. citizens who are eligible for unemployment compensation immediately before employment in the Corps, including any additional compensation or extended compensation; and (4) other unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens.

Authorizes the President to provide housing and transportation for Corps employees. Prohibits discrimination in the hiring of Corps employees.

Date: 2015-04-22
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Promote Workforce Development for the Advancement of Manufacturers Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow manufacturing employers located in the United States a business-related tax credit for the manufacturing training expenses of their employees. Includes within the definition of "manufacturing training expenses" related course work, certification testing, and essential skill acquisition.

Date: 2015-04-22
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Promoting Opportunity for Disability Benefit Applicants Act 

This bill amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Commissioner of Social Security to give individuals denied OASDI and SSI benefits based on an adverse determination of disability any information on appropriate public or private entities that provide employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Social welfare
Opportunity Kindling New Options for Career and Knowledge Seekers Act or the Opportunity KNOCKS Act

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to deem approved by the Secretary of Labor any state laws that provide unemployment compensation to an individual for any week while in training, including: (1) any program on a state's eligible training provider list developed under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, or (2) any coursework necessary to attain a recognized postsecondary credential if that individual is likely to exhaust his or her regular unemployment compensation.

Defines "recognized postsecondary credential" as a credential consisting of an industry-recognized certificate, a certificate of completion of an apprenticeship, or an associate or baccalaureate degree.

Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 and the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to authorize a state unemployment compensation agency to elect to approve job training or educational programs for purposes of an individual receiving extended or emergency unemployment compensation while in training.

Date: 2015-05-01
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Youth Access to American Jobs Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to 10 eligible entities (partnerships among a local educational agency (LEA), a community college, and a state apprentice program or a joint-labor management training program) to carry out a program for students to:

 take science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and STEM-focused Career and Technical Education courses and other courses during grades 11 and 12 at a secondary school served by the LEA that prepare them for community college; enroll in a course of study related to the manufacturing field at the community college upon graduating from the secondary school; and enroll, for a two-year period, in the state apprenticeship program or the joint-labor management training program upon receiving an associate's degree from the community college.

Date: 2015-05-01
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
On-the-Job Training Tax Credit Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers who employ not more than 500 full-time employees during the taxable year an on-the-job training tax credit equal to the lesser of: 50% of the job training program expenditures for a full-time employee participating in a qualified training program, or $5,000.

Defines "qualified training program" as a written plan of study and training that is either: (1) an apprenticeship program registered and certified with the Department of Labor under the National Apprenticeship Act; (2) a program licensed, registered, or certified by the workforce investment board or apprenticeship agency or council of a state or administered in compliance with state apprenticeship laws; (3) a program conducted by a vocational or technical education school, community college, industrial or trade training organization, or labor organization; (4) a program which conforms to apprentice training programs developed or administered by an employer trade group or committee; or (5) an industry-sponsored or -administered program which is clearly identified and commonly recognized.

Terminates such credit after 2017.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Flexibility to Promote Reemployment Act 

 Amends title III (Grants to States for Unemployment Compensation Administration) of the Social Security Act, with respect to grants to states by the Department of Labor for reemployment demonstration projects, to allow grants to up to 10 states per year instead of a maximum of 10 states altogether.

Allows a designee of a state governor, instead of only the governor, to apply for such a grant.

Extends the allowable project period through December 31, 2019.

Allows direct disbursements under a project to employers who hire individuals receiving unemployment compensation to include disbursements promoting retention.

Requires the Department to approve completed grant applications in the order of receipt.

Revises requirements for termination of a project to require the Department to:

 notify a state in writing with sufficient detail describing any violation of the substantive terms or conditions of a project justifying its termination, and determine that the state has not taken action to correct the violation within 90 days after notification. Directs the Department to evaluate the impact of each demonstration project, using existing data sources and methodology appropriate to determine project effects, including the effect on individual skill levels, earnings, and employment retention.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Job Opportunities Between our Shores Act or the JOBS Act

 Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to make grants to or enter into contracts with eligible entities to carry out demonstration and pilot projects that provide education and training programs for jobs in advanced manufacturing.

Prescribes requirements for project activities and performance goals and measures.

Date: 2015-06-01
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the termination date for the work opportunity tax credit, thus making such credit permanent.

Date: 2015-06-12
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
American Worker Mobility Act of 2015

 Authorizes the Department of Labor to grant a relocation subsidy of up to $10,000 to an individual who:

 has been totally unemployed for at least 26 consecutive weeks; has exhausted all rights to state or federal unemployment compensation; has not received a relocation subsidy for the two-year period preceding the subsidy application; and is able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work. Prescribes subsidy program requirements.

Directs the Department to issue regulations to prevent program fraud or abuse.

Date: 2015-06-12
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Maritime and Energy Workforce Technical Training Enhancement Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to award grants to enable eligible community colleges and other public institutions of higher education to expand upon existing programs in maritime and energy workforce technical training, including by admitting more students, training faculty, expanding facilities, creating new maritime career pathways from associate degree to baccalaureate degree programs, and awarding credit for prior learning experience, or increasing cooperation with specified federal departments or the National Science Foundation. DOE shall give priority to institutions that have entered into a partnership with one of such departments.

 DOE may also award a grant to a nonprofit organization with a track record of at least 10 years of expertise in working with community colleges on developing workforce development programs, to provide assistance in carrying out this Act.

Recipients shall use grant amounts for:

 training related to maritime or energy transportation, logistics, and supply chain management or to shipbuilding and ship repair; enhancement of academic and workforce training programs for maritime and energy employment; salary supplementation for faculty in maritime or energy training and education; operation and maintenance of maritime or energy related equipment and technology for use in instructional programs; acquisition of marine vessels and other assets and equipment for use in maritime or energy related training and education; renovation or construction of buildings to house maritime or energy training and education programs; and tuition reimbursement for successful completion of a maritime or energy course, program, or certification. The bill defines an "eligible institution" as a community college or other public postsecondary educational institution located in close proximity to marine or port facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, or Great Lakes that offers a maritime training and education program and that has an established association with a port authority and appropriate government agencies.

DOE shall award a grant to to enable up to 10 eligible institutions to: (1) establish Centers of Excellence in Maritime and Energy Workforce Technical Training; and (2) improve and expand maritime and energy workforce training opportunities for veterans, members of the Armed Forces, federal employees, and civilians by implementing new programs in specified training areas, including port related transportation systems and job placement in maritime and energy related employment fields.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprenticeship Programs Act or the LEAP Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit of $1,500 for hiring an apprenticeship employee who has not attained age 25 at the close of the taxable year or $1,000 for an apprenticeship employee who has attained age 25. Allows such credit for no more than two taxable years with respect to any apprenticeship employee. Defines "apprenticeship employee" as an employee who is employed in an officially-recognized apprenticeable occupation pursuant to an apprentice agreement registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency.

Requires the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate with the heads of federal agencies to: (1) determine which government publications could be available on government websites and no longer printed, (2) devise a strategy to reduce overall government printing costs over the 10-year period beginning with FY2016, (3) establish government-wide guidelines on employee printing, and (4) issue guidelines for publicly disclosing information about the publication of government documents.

Date: 2015-07-16
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Jobs Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a qualified small employer a business-related tax credit for the cost of hiring up to 5 new employees who work for such employer, on average, at least 30 hours per week. The bill defines "qualified small employer" as an employer who: (1) has a place of business in a county with an annual unemployment rate that is at least 1% greater than the national rate for the preceding calendar year; and (2) did not employ fewer than 2, or more than 100, employees in the preceding calendar year. The bill allows an employer who is a tax-exempt organization to claim such credit. The credit is not available for wages paid after December 31, 2017.

Date: 2015-07-23
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Workers Opportunity and Retraining Competitive Grant Program Act of 2015 or the WORC Grant Program Act of 2015

 Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Department of Labor to establish a manufacturing worker scholarship program to award competitive grants to states to provide scholarships of up to $2,000 per year (not to exceed two years) to dislocated workers or unemployed individuals through state and local boards to support their transition into manufacturing positions.

Date: 2015-07-28
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Widening Internet Readiness for Employment Development Act or the WIRED Act

 Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to revise one-stop delivery system requirements.

Requires the Department of Labor to establish certain standards and best practices for the provision of employment and training services for adults and dislocated workers on Internet websites maintained by one-stop delivery systems.

Requires the one-stop delivery system, at a minimum, to make those services accessible through an Internet website that:

 is unique to the particular one-stop system, and meets and incorporates those standards and best practices.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
21st Century Energy Workforce Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a National Center of Excellence for the 21st Century Workforce Advisory Board to: (1) support and develop training and science education programs, (2) align apprenticeship programs and industry certifications to further develop succession planning in the energy sector, (3) integrate educational standards to develop foundational skills for elementary and secondary education and postsecondary education to create a pipeline between education and career, and (4) support the replication of existing model energy curricula.

DOE shall also establish a pilot program to award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for job training to obtain an industry-recognized credential.

Grant amounts are limited to $1 million for any one year. The federal share of the cost of a job training and education program using a grant shall be up to 65%, while the non-federal share may not be less than 50% cash.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprenticeship Programs Act or the LEAP Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit of $1,500 for hiring an apprentice who has not attained age 25 at the close of the taxable year or $1,000 for an apprentice who has attained age 25. Allows such credit for no more than two taxable years with respect to any apprentice. Defines "apprentice" as an employee who is employed in an officially-recognized apprenticeable occupation pursuant to an apprentice agreement registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor or a recognized state apprenticeship agency.

Date: 2015-07-31
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Jobs Now Act of 2015

 Amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Department of Labor to carry out a two-year pilot program to award competitive grants to general local government units or community-based organizations to retain, employ, or train employees who provide them a public service.

Prescribes program requirements, including that:

 each unit or organization grantee give priority to the retention, employment, and training of veterans, individuals with disabilities, individuals who receive unemployment benefits, or dislocated workers; and Labor give priority to the award of grants to units and organizations with high unemployment, foreclosure, and poverty rates.

Date: 2015-09-17
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Small Business Relief and Job Creation Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow small business employers whose gross receipts in the preceding taxable year did not exceed $20 million or who did not employ more than 100 full-time employees during the preceding taxable year a work opportunity tax credit for hiring unemployed individuals as full-time employees (at least 30 hours per week) during 2016 or 2017. The bill doubles the rate of such credit for employers located in counties with high unemployment rates.

Date: 2015-09-18
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Healthy Employee Loss Prevention Act of 2015 or the HELP Act

 Authorizes the following groups to petition for eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance to the Critical Employment Advisory Commission (established by this Act) and the governor of a state:

 a group of adversely affected workers; the certified or recognized union or other duly authorized representative of such workers; or employers of such workers, one-stop operators or one-stop partners, including state employment security agencies, or the state dislocated worker unit, on their behalf. Defines "adversely affected worker" to mean an individual who, because of lack of work in adversely affected employment, has been been totally or partially separated from such employment, or has been totally separated from employment with the company in a subdivision of which adversely affected employment exists.

Directs the Commission to certify a group of adversely affected workers as eligible for adjustment assistance if:

 they were coal miners, coal utility workers, or other workers in the coal industry or a coal-dependent industry; a significant number of the company's workers have become, or are threatened to become, totally or partially separated or have experienced, or are threatened to experience, a significant reduction in wages; and the company's sales or production, or both, have caused a shift contributing to the worker's separation or threat of separation. Requires any complete or partial separation or reduction in wages to be directly attributable to:

 actions by the federal government, the low-cost of other forms of energy, the existence of state-to-state electricity market competition, or other reasons the Commission determines. Requires the payment of a readjustment allowance to an adversely affected worker covered by an eligibility certification who files an application for any week of unemployment, provided certain conditions have been met.

Requires the Commission to:

 make available employment and case management services, directly or through state agreements, to adversely affected workers as well as adversely affected incumbent workers; and approve training for such workers in cases where suitable employment is not available. Authorizes states to use certain funds for adversely affected workers for payment of job search and relocation allowances.

Establishes the Commission and the Transition Adjustment Assistance Fund to carry out this Act.

Date: 2015-10-06
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Community College to Career Fund Act

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Department of Labor to award competitive grants to eligible community colleges, four-year public institutions of higher education, tribal colleges or universities, private or nonprofit two-year institutions of higher education in specified U.S. territories, or a consortium of any of them, in partnership with employers or an employer or industry partnership representing multiple employers, in order to develop, offer, improve, and provide educational or career training programs for workers.

The governor of the state in which at least one of these entities is located shall establish criteria for an educational or career training program leading to a recognized postsecondary credential for which an eligible entity submits a grant proposal.

Date: 2015-10-29
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprenticeship Programs Act or the LEAP Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit of $1,500 for hiring an apprenticeship employee who has not attained age 25 at the close of the taxable year or $1,000 for hiring an apprenticeship employee who has attained age 25. The credit is available for no more than two taxable years with respect to any apprenticeship employee.

An "apprenticeship employee" means any employee who is: (1) a party to an apprenticeship agreement registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor or a recognized state apprenticeship agency; and (2) employed by the employer in the occupation identified in the apprenticeship agreement, whether or not the employer is a party to such agreement.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Displaced Jobs Relief Act of 2015

This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974 to increase from $16 million to $50 million the authorization of appropriations for each of FY2016 through FY2021 to the Department of Commerce for trade adjustment assistance for firms.

Date: 2015-12-01
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Manufacturing Skills Act of 2015

 This bill requires the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Defense and the Director of the National Science Foundation to jointly establish a Manufacturing Skills Partnership to administer and carry out a program to award competitive, three-year grants to enable up to five states and five metropolitan areas to carry out proposals to promote reforms in workforce education and skill training for manufacturing.

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall:

 acting through the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, conduct an audit of all federal education and skills training programs related to manufacturing to ensure that states and metropolitan areas are able to align federal resources with the labor demands of their primary manufacturing industries; and work with states and metropolitan areas to determine how federal funds can be more tailored to meet their different needs.

Date: 2015-12-03
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
American Unemployed Worker Investment Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend the work opportunity tax credit through 2017; (2) allow a small business employer (i.e., an employer who employs more than 10 but fewer than 25 full-time employees throughout the taxable year) an increased work opportunity tax credit for hiring a qualified unemployment compensation recipient; and (3) allow tax-exempt organizations a work opportunity tax credit for hiring qualified unemployment compensation recipients.

The bill defines "qualified unemployment compensation recipient" as any individual who is certified as: (1) not being a student for at least six months during the one-year period ending on the hiring date, (2) being in receipt of unemployment compensation on the hiring date, and (3) having a hiring date during the two-year period which begins on the enactment of this Act.

The bill denies such credit unless: (1) the qualified unemployment compensation recipient is employed for not less than 35 hours per week for not less than 1 year, and (2) the number of full-time employees of the employer receiving such credit is increased by 1 for at least 1 year.

Date: 2015-12-03
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Workforce Training Enhancement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974, with respect to trade adjustment assistance (TAA) for training to adversely affected workers, to authorize a state to use certain funds distributed by the Department of Labor to reimburse the costs of providing training to an adversely affected worker before the worker is approved for training under the Act if those costs have been paid by:

 the state from state funds, the state or local workforce development areas within the state from funds available for workforce investment activities and providers under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or another entity eligible in the state under the national dislocated worker grants program from funds available for that program. The use of funds under this Act shall be conditioned, however, on the worker's coverage by a certification for TAA eligibility for training meeting approval requirements which commenced after the date on which the total or partial separations of the group of workers covered by the certification for eligibility began or threatened to begin.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Reducing Long-Term Unemployment Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend until December 31, 2017, the suspension of employment and railroad retirement taxes for employers who hire unemployed individuals.  The aggregate reduction in taxes from such suspension is limited to $5,000 per employee.

The bill modifies the unemployment requirement to require a signed affidavit from the unemployed individual that, during the entire 27-week period ending on the hiring date, such individual: (1) was receiving federal or state unemployment compensation, or (2) was unemployed and would have received unemployment compensation except for having exhausted the right to receive such compensation during such period.

Date: 2016-02-23
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Investing in Older Americans Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) permanent and expand it to include the hiring of older long-term unemployment recipients.

(The WOTC permits employers that hire individuals with certain personal characteristics to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.)

A qualified older long-term unemployment recipient is an individual who is certified by the designated local agency as:

 being at least 55 years of age on the hiring date, and qualified as a long-term unemployment recipient under current law by being unemployed for at least 27 consecutive weeks and receiving state or federal unemployment compensation during that period. The bill limits to $14,000 the amount of the qualified first-year wages which may be taken into account under the WOTC for a qualified older long-term unemployment recipient.

Date: 2016-04-15
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Helping Individuals with Reemployment and Entrepreneurial Development Act or the HIRED Act

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to include assistance to dislocated workers through increased outreach about small business opportunities and consultation about starting a small business among the rapid response activities to assist such workers in obtaining reemployment which a state, or state-designated entity, provides in the event of a permanent closure or mass layoff at a plant, facility, or enterprise, or a natural or other disaster, resulting in mass job dislocation.

A state may in such an event allocate up to 10% of funds reserved by the state governor for statewide rapid response activities to provide outreach about small business opportunities and consultation about starting a small business.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Moving to Work Reform and Expansion Act of 2016

This bill amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 to revise the public housing/section 8 (rental voucher) Moving to Work demonstration program.

The bill makes the program permanent and replaces its current purposes with the purpose to develop measures to promote employment and economic independence for:

 families with children whose head of household is working, seeking work, or preparing for work; able-bodied individuals; and persons with disabilities who are able to work on a limited basis. Any number of public housing agencies (PHAs) may participate in the program.

The plan in a PHA's application to participate shall include criteria for:

 a speedy process to determine a tenant's temporary hardship exemption from program requirements; and an informal administrative hearing or grievance process, made public on tenant request, before eviction or termination of assistance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shall establish standards for a 10-year participation by all PHAs that have not been designated as troubled during the most recent two fiscal years.

These PHAs must include in their applications lists of innovative proposals designed to reduce the cost and increase the cost-efficiency of housing, and of innovative ways to assist families and accomplish annual goals.

HUD shall review and process applications to enable the transition to the program of at least 25 PHAs per year, with reserved spots for small and rural PHAs.

Each PHA shall:

 submit annually to HUD budget plans meeting specified requirements, and hold as many meetings as necessary to give all assisted families a good-faith opportunity to hear and comment on the budget plan and related PHA reports. HUD shall review annually the activities of each participating PHA and determine its impact, effectiveness, and progress toward meeting program goals.

HUD shall not terminate the program participation of any PHA except upon certain findings concerning performance, including persistent failure to meet the goals identified in its application or failure to cure a material deficiency in performance.

The Government Accountability Office shall review the program every eight years.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Housing and community development
Job Opportunity and Business Services Act or the JOBS Act

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to require the reports to the Department of Labor each state, local board, and any other recipient of funds under the Act is required to make to include information regarding programs and activities carried out under the Act pertaining to the advertising budget, and a description of the advertising, for which the funds received were used.

The bill also exempts from the prohibition against using funds received under the Act for lobbying purposes, and from specified other restrictions, the use of such funds for public relations and advertising costs for program outreach or activities otherwise related to carrying out the Act's purposes.

Date: 2016-06-16
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Apprenticeship Improvement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to make entities that provide pre-apprenticeship programs eligible to receive funds for training servicesunder that Act.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Jobs, On-the-Job "Earn While You Learn" Training, and Apprenticeships for African-American Young Men Act

This bill requires the Department of Labor to request labor unions, general contractors, and businesses that will rebuild infrastructure, transportation systems, technology and computer networks, and energy distribution systems to actively recruit, hire, and provide on-the-job training to African American men ages 18 to 39 through existing jobs, apprenticeships, and "earn while you learn" programs. Labor must help coordinate such recruitment.

The jobs, training, and apprenticeships must be conducted in conjunction with Labor, labor unions and associations involved in infrastructure rebuilding, and the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee.

Labor unions, contractors, and businesses involved with such infrastructure or systems must recruit by seeking assistance from the African American community, churches, the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 100 Black Men of America, high school and college job placement offices, and media outlets.

Date: 2016-09-14
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprenticeship Programs Act or the LEAP Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit of $1,500 for hiring an apprentice who has not attained age 25 at the close of the taxable year or $1,000 for an apprentice who has attained age 25. Allows such credit for no more than two taxable years with respect to any apprentice. Defines "apprentice" as an employee who is employed in an officially-recognized apprenticeable occupation pursuant to an apprentice agreement registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor or a recognized state apprenticeship agency.

Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate with the heads of federal and independent agencies to: (1) determine which government publications could be available on government websites and no longer printed, (2) devise a strategy to reduce overall government printing costs over the 10-year period beginning with FY2015, (3) establish government-wide guidelines on employee printing, and (4) issue guidelines for publicly disclosing information about the publication of government documents.

Date: 2015-02-25
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit for up to $5,000 for the training of a qualified individual in a qualified apprenticeship program. Defines a "qualified individual" as an individual who: (1) is an apprentice participating in a qualified apprenticeship program, (2) has been employed in such a program for a period of at least seven months that ends within the taxable year, and (3) is not a highly compensated employee or a seasonal worker.

 Defines a "qualified apprenticeship program" as a program that: (1) provides qualified individuals with on-the-job training and instruction for a qualified occupation (i.e., a skilled trade occupation in a high-demand mechanical, technical, health care, or technology field); (2) is registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor; and (3) maintains records relating to the qualified individual.

Allows a premature distribution, without penalty, from a tax-qualified retirement plan to an employee who is serving as a mentor. Defines a "mentor" as a working individual who: (1) has attained age 55; (2) works reduced hours and engages in mentoring activities for at least 20% of such hours; and (3) is responsible for the training and education of employees or students in an area of expertise for which such individual has a professional credential, certificate, or degree.

Date: 2015-04-15
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Taxation
WIOA Technical Amendments Act

This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to revise requirements for local workforce development area boards involved in statewide workforce investment activities as well as youth, adult, and dislocated worker employment and training activities.

A state may use as an alternative workforce development board only a local entity (including a local council, regional workforce development board, or similar entity) that was in existence the day before enactment of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Currently such an alternative local entity is eligible for designation as a local workforce development board if it has been in existence as late as the day before the enactment of the WIOA on July 22, 2014.

Certain technical amendments are made to performance accountability requirements for statewide and local workforce investment programs.

The Department of Labor shall ensure that states receive an allotment for a fiscal year for adult employment and training activities and for dislocated worker employment and training activities and statewide workforce investment activities equal to at least 90% of the state's allotment for the preceding fiscal year.

This bill amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 with respect to the terms of service requirements for members of the National Council on Disability, making them (unchanged in detail) effective only as of July 21, 2014.

Date: 2015-04-21
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment
21st Century Energy Workforce Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a National Center of Excellence for the 21st Century Workforce Advisory Board to: (1) support and develop training and science education programs, (2) align apprenticeship programs and industry certifications to further develop succession planning in the energy sector, (3) integrate educational standards to develop foundational skills for elementary and secondary education and postsecondary education to create a pipeline between education and career, and (4) support the replication of existing model energy curricula.

DOE shall also establish a pilot program to award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for job training to obtain an industry-recognized credential.

Grant amounts are limited to $1 million for any one year. The federal share of the cost of a job training and education program using a grant shall be up to 65%, while the non-federal share may not be less than 50% cash.

Date: 2015-05-12
Topic: Labor (Employment Training)
Subject: Labor and employment