[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3270 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3270

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to provide grants to improve the 
      job skills necessary for employment in specific industries.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 1998

    Mr. Moran of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Davis of Virginia, Ms. 
   Stabenow, Mr. Adam Smith of Washington, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Hooley of 
  Oregon, Ms. Christian-Green, and Mr. Rush) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to provide grants to improve the 
      job skills necessary for employment in specific industries.

    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 ``Regional Skills Training Alliances 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and in 
consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall provide grants to 
eligible entities described in subsection (b) to assist such entities 
to improve the job skills necessary for employment in specific 
industries.
    (b) Eligible Entities Described.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible entity described in this 
        subsection is a consortium that--
                    (A) shall consist of representatives from not less 
                than 10 businesses (or a nonprofit organization that 
                represents not less than 10 businesses); and
                    (B) may consist of representatives from one or more 
                of the following:
                            (i) Labor organizations.
                            (ii) State and local government.
                            (iii) Educational institutions.
                            (iv) Nonprofit organizations that represent 
                        businesses.
            (2) Additional requirement.--To the maximum extent 
        practicable, each business, organization, or government that 
        forms an eligible entity under paragraph (1) shall be located 
        in the same geographic region of the United States.
    (c) Priority for Small Businesses.--In providing grants under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 
that consist of a majority of representatives from small businesses.
    (d) Maximum Amount of Grant.--The amount of a grant provided to an 
eligible entity under subsection (a) may not exceed $1,000,000 for any 
fiscal year.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

    The Secretary may not provide a grant under section 2 to an 
eligible entity unless such entity submits to the Secretary an 
application containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
require.

SEC. 4. USE OF AMOUNTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may not provide a grant under 
section 2 to an eligible entity unless such entity agrees to use 
amounts received from such grant to improve the job skills necessary 
for employment by businesses in the industry with respect to which such 
entity was established.
    (b) Conduct of Program.--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the program described in 
        subsection (a), the eligible entity may provide for--
                    (A) an assessment of training and job skill needs 
                for the industry;
                    (B) development of a sequence of skill standards 
                that are benchmarked to advanced industry practices;
                    (C) development of curriculum and training methods;
                    (D) purchase, lease, or receipt of donations of 
                training equipment;
                    (E) identification and development of training 
                providers;
                    (F) development of apprenticeship programs; and
                    (G) development of training programs for dislocated 
                workers.
            (2) Additional requirement.--In carrying out the program 
        described in subsection (a), the eligible entity shall provide 
        for development and tracking of performance outcome measures.
    (c) Administrative Costs.--The eligible entity may use not more 
than 50 percent of the amount of a grant to pay for administrative 
costs associated with the program described in subsection (a).

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.

    The Secretary may not provide a grant under section 2 to an 
eligible entity unless such entity agrees that--
            (1) it will make available non-Federal contributions toward 
        the costs of carrying out activities under section 4 in an 
        amount that is not less than $2 for each $1 of Federal funds 
        provided under a grant under section 2; and
            (2) of such non-Federal contributions, not less than $1 of 
        each such $2 shall be from businesses participating in the 
        eligible entity.

SEC. 6. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the 
Secretary of Commerce.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001.
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