[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 267 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 267

 To provide funding for summer and year-round youth jobs and training 
                               programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 15, 2009

  Mrs. Murray (for herself and Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide funding for summer and year-round youth jobs and 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 ``Summer and Year-Round Jobs for Youth 
Stimulus Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. SUMMER AND YEAR-ROUND YOUTH JOBS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) a $1,000,000,000 investment in summer and year-round 
        employment for youth, through the program supported under this 
        section, can create up to 1,000,000 jobs for economically 
        disadvantaged youth and stimulate local economies;
            (2) there is a serious and growing need for employment 
        opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth (including 
        young adults), as demonstrated by statistics from the Bureau of 
        Labor Statistics stating that, in December 2008--
                    (A) the unemployment rate increased to 7.2 percent, 
                as compared to 4.9 percent in December 2007;
                    (B) the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds 
                rose to 20.8 percent, as compared to 16.9 percent in 
                December 2007; and
                    (C) the unemployment rate for African-American 16- 
                to 19-year-olds increased to 33.7 percent, as compared 
                to 28 percent in December 2007;
            (3) research from Northwestern University has shown that 
        every $1 a youth earns has an accelerator effect of $3 on the 
        local economy;
            (4) summer and year-round jobs for youth help supplement 
        the income of families living in poverty;
            (5) summer and year-round jobs for youth provide valuable 
        work experience for economically disadvantaged youth;
            (6) often, a summer job provided under the Workforce 
        Investment Act of 1998 is an economically disadvantaged youth's 
        introduction to the world of work;
            (7) according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at 
        Northeastern University, early work experience is a very 
        powerful predictor of success and earnings in the labor market, 
        and early work experience raises earnings over a lifetime by 10 
        to 20 percent;
            (8) participation in a youth jobs program can contribute to 
        a reduction in criminal and high-risk behavior for youth; and
            (9)(A) youth jobs programs benefit both youth and 
        communities when designed around principles that promote 
        mutually beneficial programs;
            (B) youth benefit from jobs that provide them with work 
        readiness skills and that help them make the connection between 
        responsibility on the job and success in adulthood; and
            (C) communities benefit when youth are engaged 
        productively, providing much-needed services that meet real 
        community needs.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``green-collar 
industries'' means industries throughout the economy of the United 
States--
            (1) that promote energy efficiency, energy conservation, 
        and environmental protection, including promoting renewable 
        energy and clean technology;
            (2) that offer jobs with substantial pay and benefits; and
            (3) that are industries in which there is likely to be 
        continued demand for workers.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Labor for youth activities under the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), 
$1,000,000,000, which shall be available for the period of January 1, 
2009 through December 31, 2010, under the conditions described in 
subsection (d).
    (d) Conditions.--
            (1) Use of funds.--The funds appropriated under subsection 
        (c) shall be used for youth jobs and training programs, to 
        provide opportunities referred to in subparagraphs (C), (D), 
        (E), and (F) of section 129(c)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
        2854(c)(2)) and, as appropriate, opportunities referred to in 
        subparagraphs (A) and (G) of such section, except that no such 
        funds shall be spent on unpaid work experiences.
            (2) Limitation.--Such funds shall be distributed in 
        accordance with sections 127 and 128 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
        2852, 2853), except that no portion of such funds shall be 
        reserved to carry out 128(a) or 169 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
        2853(a), 2914).
            (3) Priority.--In using funds made available under this 
        section, a local area (as defined in section 101 of such Act 
        (29 U.S.C. 2801)) shall give priority to providing--
                    (A) work experiences in public and nonprofit sector 
                green-collar industries;
                    (B) work experiences in other viable industries, 
                including health care; and
                    (C) job referral services for youth to work 
                experiences in green-collar industries in the private 
                sector or work experiences in other viable industries 
                in the private sector, for which the employer involved 
                agrees to pay the wages and benefits, consistent with 
                Federal and State child labor laws.
            (4) Measure of effectiveness.--The effectiveness of the 
        activities carried out with such funds shall be measured, under 
        section 136 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2871), only with performance 
        measures based on the core indicators of performance described 
        in section 136(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
        2871(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I)), applied to all youth served through the 
        activities.
    (e) Age-Related.--As used in this Act, and in the provisions 
referred to in subsections (c) and (d) for purposes of this Act--
            (1) a reference to a youth refers to an individual who is 
        not younger than age 14 and not older than age 24, and meets 
        any other requirements for that type of youth; and
            (2) a reference to a youth activity refers to an activity 
        covered in subsection (d)(1) that is carried out for a youth 
        described in paragraph (1).
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