[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3761 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3761

   To provide special rules for disaster relief employment under the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 for individuals displaced by Hurricane 
                                Katrina.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2005

 Mr. Boustany (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Marchant, Mr. 
 Jindal, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Alexander) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide special rules for disaster relief employment under the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 for individuals displaced by Hurricane 
                                Katrina.

    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 ``Flexibility for Displaced Workers 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL RULES FOR NATIONAL EMERGENCY GRANTS RELATED TO 
              HURRICANE KATRINA.

    (a) Use of Grants for Projects Outside Disaster Area.--Funds 
provided to States under section 173(a)(2) of the Workforce Investment 
Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2918(a)(2)) to address the effects of Hurricane 
Katrina may be used to provide disaster relief employment under section 
173(d)(1) of such Act on projects that provide assistance in areas 
outside of the disaster area (as such term is defined in section 
173(a)(2) of such Act).
    (b) Expanded Eligibility for Disaster Relief Employment.--Funds 
provided to States under section 173(a)(2) of the Workforce Investment 
Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2918(a)(2)) to address the effects of Hurricane 
Katrina may be used to provide disaster relief employment and other 
assistance under section 173(d)(1) of such Act, or public sector 
employment authorized under subsection (c) of this Act, to individuals 
affected by Hurricane Katrina, including those who have relocated from 
States in which a major disaster was declared under section 102 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5122) due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, who were 
unemployed at the time of the disaster or who are without employment 
history, in addition to individuals who are eligible for such 
employment under section 173(d)(2) of Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
    (c) Authorization for General Public Sector Employment.--Funds 
provided to States under section 173(a)(2) of the Workforce Investment 
Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2918(a)(2)) to address the effects of Hurricane 
Katrina may be used to provide temporary employment to eligible 
individuals in public sector entities for a period not to exceed 6 
months in addition to disaster relief employment described in section 
173(d)(1) of such Act.
    (d) Extension of the Duration of Disaster Relief Employment.--The 
Secretary of Labor may extend the duration of employment under this Act 
and under section 173(d) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 
U.S.C. 2918(d)) for up to an additional 6 months due to extraordinary 
circumstances.
    (e) Eligibility for Needs-Related Payments.--Funds provided to 
States under section 173(a)(2) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
(29 U.S.C. 2918(a)(2)) to address the effects of Hurricane Katrina may 
be used to provide needs-related payments (described in section 
134(e)(3) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2864(e)(3))) to eligible individuals 
who do not qualify for (or have ceased to qualify for) unemployment 
compensation, and who are not employed on a project described under 
section 173(d) of such Act, for the purpose of enabling such 
individuals to participate in activities under paragraphs (2), (3), or 
(4) of section 134(d) of such Act.
    (f) Use of Available Funds.--With the approval of the Secretary of 
Labor, any State may use funds that remain available for expenditure 
under any grants awarded to the State under section 173 of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2918) to provide any 
assistance authorized under such section or under this section to 
assist workers affected by Hurricane Katrina, including workers who 
have relocated from States in which an emergency or major disaster was 
declared under section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) due to the effects of 
Hurricane Katrina.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Mobile One-Stop Centers.--It is the sense of Congress that 
States that operate mobile one-stop centers, established as part of the 
one-stop delivery system authorized under section 121 of the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2841), should, where possible, make 
such centers available for use in the areas affected by Hurricane 
Katrina, and areas where large numbers of victims of Hurricane Katrina 
have been relocated.
    (b) Expanded Operational Hours.--It is the sense of Congress that 
one-stop operators (as such term is defined in section 101 of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998) should increase access for 
individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina to the one-stop delivery 
system authorized under section 121 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2841), 
including through the implementation of expanded operational hours at 
one-stop centers and on-site services for individuals in temporary 
housing locations.
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