[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2497 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2497

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to expand and improve transit 
                           training programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2009

    Mr. Nadler of New York introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 49, United States Code, to expand and improve transit 
                           training programs.

    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 ``Transportation Job Corps Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) There are millions of young people ages 16 through 24 
        who are neither in school nor in the labor force.
            (2) According to a report issued by the Community Service 
        Society in June 2008, entitled ``Out of Focus: A Snapshot of 
        Public Funding to Reconnect Youth to Education and 
        Employment'', the young people described in paragraph (1), 
        often referred to as disconnected youth, are largely youth of 
        color from poor communities and at risk of becoming permanently 
        disengaged from the labor market which threatens their ability 
        to break out of the cycle of poverty and contribute to our 
        economy and communities.
            (3) When our young people lack the skills that local 
        industries need and are unable to support themselves, we all 
        bear the financial costs.
            (4) In the coming years, the combination of public 
        transportation industry growth and an aging workforce will 
        produce sizeable new openings in the transit sector.
            (5) There is no pipeline of replacements on the horizon, 
        and the transit industry has been limited in its ability to 
        attract, recruit, and retain employees.
            (6) For the existing workforce, new technology is rapidly 
        changing the way transit agencies function, affecting every 
        sector of the workforce, including executive directors, mid-
        level managers, bus operators, and mechanics, yet relatively 
        few programs exist to provide training to workers so that they 
        can perform their jobs adequately, move up the career ladder, 
        and help the Nation's transit agencies operate at maximum 
        efficiency.

SEC. 3. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Workforce Development Program.--Title 49, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking section 5322; and
            (2) by inserting the following:

``SEC. 5322. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) National Joint Workforce Development Council.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of the Transportation Job Corps Act of 2009, 
        the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration shall 
        establish a National Joint Workforce Development Council 
        (referred to in this section as the `National Council').
            ``(2) Composition.--
                    ``(A) Voting members.--Two representatives, one 
                representing labor and one representing management, 
                from each Regional Workforce Development Board 
                described in subsection (c), shall be elected by 
                majority vote of labor and management representatives 
                respectively, on each Regional Board, to serve on the 
                National Council.
                    ``(B) Ex officio members.--The Administrator shall 
                appoint as non-voting ex officio members to the 
                National Council--
                            ``(i) up to 10 members, such as 
                        representatives of transit trade associations, 
                        non-profit organizations, research 
                        organizations, community colleges and 
                        universities, private industry, and any other 
                        group or individual the Administrator believes 
                        would contribute to the National Council;
                            ``(ii) a representative of the 
                        International Transportation Learning Center 
                        which administers the transit career ladder 
                        training program authorized pursuant to section 
                        3046 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
                        Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
                        for Users (49 U.S.C. 5338 note); and
                            ``(iii) an individual who has expertise in 
                        youth development programs.
            ``(3) Duties.--The National Council shall with a national 
        focus--
                    ``(A) conduct a prevue national study on transit 
                workforce development issues;
                    ``(B) identify skills gaps in transit agency 
                maintenance departments and develop programs to train 
                maintenance employees and fixed route and paratransit 
                operators;
                    ``(C) develop programs to address the recruitment 
                and retention of managerial and non-managerial 
                employees;
                    ``(D) initiate relationships with nontransportation 
                sector industries, associations, and groups in the 
                public and private sector to develop best practices in 
                training and skills development and determine 
                appropriate ways to collaborate on behalf of 
                disconnected youth;
                    ``(E) conduct research on transit workforce 
                development issues and develop best practices for 
                recruitment, training, and retention of employees;
                    ``(F) conduct research on the extent of labor 
                market disconnection among disconnected youth and 
                assess the provision of employment services for such 
                youth;
                    ``(G) make recommendations to the Secretary and to 
                public transit agencies regarding how to expand current 
                employment training programs, outreach programs to 
                increase minority and female employment in public 
                transportation activities, and apprenticeship programs;
                    ``(H) develop programs and make recommendations to 
                public transit agencies to address issues related to 
                workplace quality of life issues, including 
                absenteeism, scheduling, child care, and other issues 
                that may be necessary to improve recruitment and 
                retention of employees;
                    ``(I) maintain and update routinely an electronic 
                library, consisting of such materials as online 
                courseware and training manuals, white papers, research 
                materials, and other related items;
                    ``(J) provide periodic assessments to the 
                Secretary, on studies and programs carried out on the 
                national level;
                    ``(K) coordinate research and program development 
                of the Regional Boards pursuant to subsection (c), to 
                reduce duplication and assure complimentary research 
                goals; and
                    ``(L) make recommendations to the Secretary for 
                guidance on grant programs carried out in subsection 
                (d) taking into account the recommendations of the 
                Regional Boards.
    ``(b) Regional Workforce Development Councils.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
        of enactment of the Transportation Job Corps Act of 2009, the 
        Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration shall 
        establish a workforce development council in each of its 10 
        regions.
            ``(2) Composition.--
                    ``(A) Selection of regional councils.--The 
                management of each public transit agency and the labor 
                organization representing the majority of employees at 
                each such transit agency in a region shall select one 
                representative for the council established under 
                paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Election of governing board.--The selected 
                individuals from each transit agency shall elect, by 
                majority vote from among members of such council, a 
                governing board for the region, including a co-
                chairperson from among the representatives from labor 
                and a co-chairperson from among the representatives 
                from management.
    ``(c) Regional Governing Boards.--
            ``(1) Composition of governing boards.--The governing board 
        for each region shall be composed of not more than 10 members 
        elected by the Council pursuant to subsection (b)(2).
            ``(2) Duties.--The governing board for each region shall on 
        a regional basis--
                    ``(A) identify skills gaps in transit agency 
                maintenance departments and develop programs to train 
                maintenance employees and fixed route and paratransit 
                operators on a regional basis;
                    ``(B) develop programs to address the recruitment 
                and retention of managerial and nonmanagerial 
                employees;
                    ``(C) initiate relationships with nontransportation 
                sector industries, associations, and groups in the 
                public and private sector to develop best practices in 
                training and skills development and determine 
                appropriate ways to collaborate on behalf of 
                disconnected youth;
                    ``(D) conduct research on transit workforce 
                development issues and develop best practices for 
                recruitment, training, and retention of employees;
                    ``(E) conduct research on the extent of labor 
                market disconnection among disconnected youth and 
                assess the provision of employment services for such 
                youth;
                    ``(F) make recommendations to the Secretary and to 
                public transit agencies regarding how to expand current 
                employment training programs, outreach programs to 
                increase minority and female employment in public 
                transportation activities, and apprenticeship programs;
                    ``(G) develop programs and make recommendations to 
                public transit agencies to address issues related to 
                workplace quality of life issues, including 
                absenteeism, scheduling, child care, and other issues 
                that may be necessary to improve recruitment and 
                retention of employees;
                    ``(H) provide periodic assessments to the Secretary 
                and to the National Joint Workforce Development Council 
                established under subsection (a), on studies and 
                programs carried out on the regional level; and
                    ``(I) make recommendations to the National Joint 
                Workforce Development Council for guidance on grant 
                programs carried out under subsection (d).
            ``(3) Ex officio members.--
                    ``(A) Possible appointments.--The Administrator--
                            ``(i) shall appoint representatives in 
                        accordance with subparagraph (B); and
                            ``(ii) may appoint non-voting ex officio 
                        members to each regional governing board from 
                        among representatives of nonprofit 
                        organizations, research organizations, and any 
                        other groups or individuals the Administrator 
                        believes would contribute to the board.
                    ``(B) Appointments for international transportation 
                learning center and federal transit administrators.--
                The Administrator shall appoint as a non-voting ex 
                officio member to the regional governing board of the 
                respective region--
                            ``(i) one or more representatives of the 
                        International Transportation Learning Center 
                        which administers the transit career ladder 
                        training program authorized by section 3046 of 
                        the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
                        Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users 
                        (Public Law 109-59);
                            ``(ii) the Federal Transit Administrators 
                        of each of the 10 regions; and
                            ``(iii) an individual who has expertise in 
                        youth development programs.
    ``(d) Grant Programs.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Administrator and taking into account the recommendations of 
        the National Council under subsection (a) and the Regional 
        Governing Boards under subsection (c), shall establish grant 
        programs as follows:
                    ``(A) Transit youth opportunity.--
                            ``(i) Basic skills education and pre-
                        apprenticeship skills.--
                                    ``(I) Applications.--The 
                                Administrator shall accept applications 
                                for grants from nonprofit organizations 
                                and public or privately funded 
                                educational institutions providing 
                                academic or technical instruction to 
                                encourage and introduce youth 
                                disconnected to a variety of careers in 
                                the transit industry by providing such 
                                youth with basic skills education, if 
                                necessary, and pre-apprenticeship 
                                skills.
                                    ``(II) Priority.--The Administrator 
                                shall give priority for such grants to 
                                organizations with a proven record of 
                                success in providing disconnected youth 
                                with basic education and pre-
                                apprenticeship skills.
                            ``(ii) Apprenticeships.--The Administrator 
                        shall accept applications from partnerships of 
                        transit agencies and the unions representing 
                        non-managerial employees for grants to develop 
                        local and regional labor-management 
                        apprenticeship programs aligned with national 
                        transit industry apprenticeship programs for a 
                        variety of transit-related jobs, by giving 
                        priority to individuals who have successfully 
                        completed a pre-apprenticeship program pursuant 
                        to clause (i).
                    ``(B) Transit worker education and retention 
                grants.--
                            ``(i) Applications.--The Administrator 
                        shall accept applications from--
                                    ``(I) in the case of non-managerial 
                                employees, partnerships of transit 
                                agencies and the unions representing 
                                non-managerial employees; and
                                    ``(II) in the case of managerial 
                                employees, from providers of management 
                                and technical programs for the delivery 
                                of such programs and the related costs 
                                of attendee participation.
                            ``(ii) Use of grant funds.--Funds for a 
                        grant under this subparagraph may be used--
                                    ``(I) to develop education programs 
                                in a variety of training settings for 
                                transit employees from diverse 
                                population groups to maintain and 
                                improve job skills and advance employee 
                                development across a career span; and
                                    ``(II) assisting individuals to 
                                obtain education and training required 
                                to enter the transit profession and 
                                advance within such profession, such as 
                                by providing career counseling and 
                                mentoring.
                    ``(C) Workforce diversity grants.--The 
                Administrator shall accept applications from 
                partnerships of transit agencies and the unions 
                representing non-managerial employees for a grant to 
                develop special projects to increase education 
                opportunities within the transit industry for 
                individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, 
                including racial and ethnic minorities under-
                represented among transit management, by providing 
                student scholarships or stipends, pre-entry 
                preparation, and retention activities.
            ``(2) Grant requirements.--A grant under this section shall 
        be subject to all requirements of a grant under section 5307.
    ``(e) Funding.--In addition to the amounts set forth in section 
5315(d), there are authorized to be appropriated--
            ``(1) to carry out subsections (a), (b), and (c), 
        $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2011; and
            ``(2) to carry out subparagraphs of subsection (d), 
        $90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
    ``(f) Certification.--The Administrator shall develop a category on 
`Workforce Development' on its annual Certifications and Assurances for 
Federal Transit Administration Assistance Programs in accordance with 
section 5323(n), and include such category as one of the areas of 
certification beginning in fiscal year 2010. Such category shall 
require transit agencies to develop short-range and long-range planning 
with regard to workforce development matters, with a particular focus 
on the recruitment, retention, and training of managerial and non-
managerial employees.
    ``(g) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`disconnected youth' means individuals ages 16 through 24 who are out 
of school and not employed and composed primarily of youth of color 
from poor communities and at risk of becoming permanently disengaged 
from the labor market which threatens their ability to break out of the 
cycle of poverty and contribute to our economy and communities.''.
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