[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1170 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1170

    To establish a training voucher system, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 11, 1997

   Ms. Snowe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a training voucher system, 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 ``Working American Training Voucher 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Governor.--The term ``Governor'' means the chief 
        executive of any State.
            (2) Private industry council.--The term ``private industry 
        council'' means a council nominated, appointed, and certified 
        in accordance with section 103 of the Job Training Partnership 
        Act (29 U.S.C. 1513).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (4) Service delivery area.--The term ``service delivery 
        area'' means a service delivery area designated in accordance 
        with section 101 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 
        1511).
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 
        the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic 
        of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 
        and the Republic of Palau.
            (6) State educational agency.--The term ``State educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 14101 of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (7) Training entity.--The term ``training entity'' means an 
        administrative entity, as defined in section 4 of the Job 
        Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1503).

SEC. 2. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

    The Secretary shall make allotments to States that have State plans 
approved under section 4 to enable the States to assist training 
entities in service delivery areas in carrying out training voucher 
programs under this Act.

SEC. 3. ALLOTMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.

    (a) Allotment.--
            (1) Territories.--From the amount made available under 
        section 8 for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not 
        more than \1/4\ of 1 percent to make grants to the United 
        States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 
        of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall 
        Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic 
        of Palau. The Secretary shall issue regulations specifying the 
        requirements of this Act that shall apply to funds made 
        available through such grants.
            (2) State reservation.--After determining the amounts to be 
        reserved under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allot not 
        less than 90 percent of the remainder to the States for 
        allocation to service delivery areas within each State. Each 
        State shall allocate to each service delivery area within the 
        State the amount determined by the Secretary for such service 
        delivery area pursuant to the formula contained in subsection 
        (b). The remaining 10 percent shall be used by the State in 
        accordance with subsection (c).
    (b) Allocation to Service Delivery Areas.--
            (1) Formula.--Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2), 
        of the amounts allocated to service delivery areas for this Act 
        for each fiscal year--
                    (A) 33\1/3\ percent shall be allocated on the basis 
                of the relative number of unemployed individuals in 
                areas of substantial unemployment in each service 
                delivery area as compared to the total number of 
                unemployed individuals in areas of substantial 
                unemployment in all service delivery areas in all 
                States;
                    (B) 33\1/3\ percent shall be allocated on the basis 
                of the relative excess number of unemployed individuals 
                in each service delivery area as compared to the total 
                excess number of unemployed individuals in all service 
                delivery areas in all States; and
                    (C) 33\1/3\ percent shall be allocated on the basis 
                of the relative number of economically disadvantaged 
                adults in each service delivery area as compared to the 
                total number of economically disadvantaged adults in 
all service delivery areas in all States.
            (2) Limitations.--
                    (A) Minimum percentage.--No service delivery area 
                shall receive an allocation percentage for a fiscal 
                year that is less than 90 percent of the allocation 
                percentage of the service delivery area for the 
                preceding fiscal year.
                    (B) Maximum percentage.--No service delivery area 
                shall receive an allocation percentage for a fiscal 
                year that is more than 130 percent of the allocation 
                percentage of the service delivery area for the 
                preceding fiscal year.
                    (C) State minimum.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B), the total allocation under this subsection 
                for all service delivery areas in any State for a 
                fiscal year shall not be less than \1/4\ of 1 percent 
                of the total allocation under this subsection for all 
                service delivery areas in all States for the fiscal 
                year.
                    (D) Allocation percentage.--
                            (i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii), for purposes of subparagraphs (A) 
                        and (B), the allocation percentage of a service 
                        delivery area for a fiscal year shall be the 
                        percentage of funds allocated to the service 
                        delivery area under this subsection.
                            (ii) Fiscal year 1997.--For purposes of 
                        subparagraphs (A) and (B), the allocation 
                        percentage of a service delivery area for 
                        fiscal year 1997 shall be the percentage of 
                        funds allocated to the service delivery area 
                        under part A of title II of the Job Training 
                        Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
            (3) Recipient.--The training entity in a service delivery 
        area shall receive each allocation made to the area under this 
        subsection.
    (c) State Activities.--The remaining 10 percent of funds available 
for allotment to States under this part for each fiscal year may be 
used for State administrative and oversight activities.
    (d) Definitions and Rule.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this section:
                    (A) Area of substantial unemployment.--The term 
                ``area of substantial unemployment'' means any area 
                that is of sufficient size and scope to sustain a 
                program carried out under this Act and that has an 
                average rate of unemployment of at least 6.5 percent 
                for the most recent 12 months, as determined by the 
                Secretary. For purposes of this subparagraph, 
                determinations of areas of substantial unemployment 
                shall be made once each fiscal year.
                    (B) Economically disadvantaged adult.--The term 
                ``economically disadvantaged adult'' means an 
                individual who is age 22 through 72 and who has 
                received an income, or is a member of a family that has 
                received a total family income, for the 6-month period 
                prior to application for the program involved that, in 
                relation to family size, does not exceed the higher 
                of--
                            (i) the poverty line (as defined by the 
                        Office of Management and Budget, and revised 
                        annually in accordance with section 673(2) of 
                        the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 
                        (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)), for an equivalent period; 
                        or
                            (ii) 70 percent of the lower living 
                        standard income level, for an equivalent 
                        period.
                    (C) Excess number.--The term ``excess number'' 
                means, with respect to the excess number of unemployed 
                individuals in a service delivery area, the number of 
                unemployed individuals in excess of 4.5 percent of the 
                civilian labor force in the service delivery area, or 
                the number of unemployed individuals in excess of 4.5 
                percent of the civilian labor force in areas of 
                substantial unemployment in such service delivery area.
                    (D) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the 
                several States, the District of Columbia, and the 
                Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            (2) Special rule.--For the purposes of this section, the 
        Secretary shall, as appropriate and to the extent practicable, 
        exclude college students and members of the Armed Forces from 
        the determination of the number of economically disadvantaged 
        adults.

SEC. 4. STATE PLAN.

    In order for a State to receive an allotment under this Act, the 
Governor of the State shall develop and submit a State plan to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the State plan shall 
contain--
            (1) information describing the use of all resources 
        provided to the State and the service delivery areas in the 
        State under this Act; and
            (2) information identifying an entity within the State, 
        which may be the State educational agency, that will certify 
        training programs as eligible to receive vouchers under this 
        Act.

SEC. 5. LOCAL PLAN.

    In order for a service delivery area in a State to receive an 
allocation under this Act, the private industry council for the area 
shall ensure the preparation, and submission to the Governor of the 
State, of a local plan at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Governor may require. At a minimum, the local 
plan shall contain information describing the manner in which the 
training entity will carry out a training voucher program in the area. 
The local plan shall be developed, submitted, approved, and subject to 
oversight in accordance with the requirements of section 103 of the Job 
Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1513) for job training plans.

SEC. 6. USE OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--A training entity that receives an allocation for 
a service delivery area under this Act shall use the funds made 
available through the allocation to distribute training vouchers to 
eligible employees, to enable the employees to participate in training 
programs that are certified as described in section 4(2). The training 
entity may not provide training programs under this Act.
    (b) Vouchers.--The amount of a voucher made available under 
subsection (a) shall be the lesser of--
            (1) the amount necessary to pay for such a certified 
        training program for an employee for 1 year; or
            (2) $1000.
    (c) Eligible Employee.--To be eligible to apply for a training 
voucher in a State under this Act, an employee shall--
            (1) be employed by an employer who has 200 or fewer 
        employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar 
        weeks in the current or preceding calendar year; or
            (2) in the case of an employee who applies during a period 
        for which the Governor of the State has provided a waiver under 
        section 7(c), be employed by an employer described in such 
        section.
    (d) Application.--To be eligible to receive a training voucher 
under this Act, an employee shall submit an application to the training 
entity at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
the entity may require. At a minimum, the application shall contain 
information demonstrating that the employer of the employee approves of 
the training program for which the voucher will be used.

SEC. 7. WAIVER AUTHORITY OF GOVERNOR.

    (a) Report.--Not later than the 90th day of a fiscal year, each 
training entity in a State shall submit to the Governor a report 
containing information on--
            (1) the amount of funds that the entity has received 
        through an allocation made under section 3 for the fiscal year 
        and has obligated for activities described in this Act; and
            (2) if the entity has not obligated all of the funds 
        received, the reasons that a portion of the funds remains 
        unobligated.
    (b) Determination.--Not later than the 120th day of the fiscal 
year, the Governor shall determine whether to waive the requirements of 
section 6(c)(1) for employees in the State for the remainder of the 
fiscal year.
    (c) Waiver.--If the Governor waives the requirements, an employee 
shall be eligible to apply to receive a training voucher under this Act 
if the employee is employed by an employer who has 500 or fewer 
employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in 
the current or preceding calendar year.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 
$1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 1998 and each subsequent fiscal year.
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