[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 480 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 480

    To establish the Office of Regional Economic Adjustment in the 
Department of Commerce, to assist regions affected by sudden and severe 
    economic dislocation by coordinating Federal, State, and local 
     resources for economic adjustment and by providing technical 
                  assistance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2009

   Mr. Brown introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish the Office of Regional Economic Adjustment in the 
Department of Commerce, to assist regions affected by sudden and severe 
    economic dislocation by coordinating Federal, State, and local 
     resources for economic adjustment and by providing technical 
                  assistance, 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 ``Regional Economic Recovery 
Coordination Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to assist eligible regions affected by 
sudden and severe economic dislocation by--
            (1) identifying and coordinating Federal, State, and local 
        economic development resources;
            (2) providing technical assistance in support of regional 
        economic development strategies; and
            (3) integrating public and private economic development 
        strategies for such regions.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Regional Economic Adjustment appointed under 
        section 4(b).
            (2) Eligible region.--The term ``eligible region'' means a 
        region that--
                    (A) has been certified by the Director under 
                section 5(a); and
                    (B) has established a Regional Economic and 
                Workforce Development Coordinating Committee under 
                section 6(a).
            (3) Mass layoff.--The term ``mass layoff'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 2 of the Worker Adjustment and 
        Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101).
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Regional Economic Adjustment established under section 4(a).
            (5) Plant closing.--The term ``plant closing'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 2 of the Worker Adjustment 
        and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101).
            (6) Rural community.--The term ``rural community'' means a 
        community that has a rural-urban continuum code of 4, 5, 6, 7, 
        8, or 9, as defined by the Economic Research Service of the 
        Department of Agriculture.
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
            (8) Sudden and severe economic dislocation.--The term 
        ``sudden and severe economic dislocation'' has the same meaning 
        as such term when used in section 209(a) of the Public Works 
        and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149).
            (9) Urban community.--The term ``urban community'' means a 
        community that has a rural-urban continuum code of 1, 2, or 3, 
        as defined by the Economic Research Service of the Department 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. OFFICE OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of 
Commerce an office to be known as the ``Office of Regional Economic 
Adjustment''.
    (b) Director.--The Director of the Office of Regional Economic 
Adjustment shall be the head of the Office. The Director shall be 
appointed by the Secretary from among individuals qualified to perform 
the duties of the position.
    (c) Personnel.--The Office shall have such staff as may be 
necessary to carry out the functions described in subsection (d).
    (d) Functions.--The functions of the Office are as follows:
            (1) To provide leadership, support, and coordination for a 
        comprehensive management program to address economic 
        dislocation in eligible regions.
            (2) To assist the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
        Economic Development in making the central information 
        clearinghouse maintained under section 502(1) of the Public 
        Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3192(1)) 
        readily accessible to States and eligible regions so that such 
        States and regions can easily obtain information regarding 
        economic adjustment assistance available to them under Federal 
        law.
            (3) To coordinate the Federal response to eligible regions 
        undergoing sudden and severe economic dislocation by--
                    (A) identifying all Federal, State, and local 
                resources that are available to assist such regions in 
                recovering from sudden and severe economic dislocation;
                    (B) ensuring that all Federal agencies offering 
                economic adjustment assistance to such regions do so in 
                a targeted, integrated manner that ensures that 
                officials of such regions are aware of all available 
                Federal assistance for the economic adjustment of such 
                regions;
                    (C) ensuring timely consultation and cooperation 
                between Federal, State, and regional officials 
                concerning economic adjustment for such regions;
                    (D) identifying and strengthening existing agency 
                mechanisms designed to assist such regions in economic 
                adjustment and workforce redeployment;
                    (E) applying, to the extent practicable, consistent 
                policies, practices, and procedures in the 
                administration of Federal programs that are used to 
                assist with the economic adjustment of such regions;
                    (F) creating, maintaining, and using a uniform 
                economic database to analyze regional economic 
                adjustment activities; and
                    (G) upon request by an eligible region, assigning a 
                Federal economic recovery coordinator to work with the 
                region in accordance with section 7.
            (4) To provide comprehensive technical assistance to any 
        eligible region seeking to--
                    (A) identify serious economic problems in such 
                region that result from a sudden and severe economic 
                dislocation;
                    (B) integrate the major groups and organizations 
                significantly affected by the economic adjustment of 
                such region;
                    (C) access Federal, State, and local resources 
                designed to assist in the economic adjustment and 
                workforce development of such region;
                    (D) explore layoff aversion strategies, including 
                employee ownership and alternate financing; and
                    (E) diversify and strengthen the economy of the 
                region.
            (5) To establish an interagency regional economic 
        adjustment working group, consisting of the representatives of 
        any Federal department or agency with responsibility for 
        economic adjustment or workforce development, including 
        representatives of the following:
                    (A) The Department of Agriculture.
                    (B) The Department of Defense.
                    (C) The Department of Education.
                    (D) The Department of Labor.
                    (E) The Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development.
                    (F) The Department of Health and Human Services.
                    (G) The Small Business Administration.
                    (H) The Department of the Treasury.
                    (I) The Department of Commerce.
                    (J) The National Economic Council.

SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION.

    (a) Certification.--Not later than 15 days after the Secretary 
receives a notice under section 3(e) of the Worker Adjustment and 
Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(e)) with respect to a plant 
closing or mass layoff, the Director shall certify for purposes of this 
Act the region in which the plant closing or mass layoff is located if 
1 or more of the following conditions apply:
            (1) Number of job losses.--
                    (A) Urban community.--In the case that the region 
                is comprised of an urban community, not fewer than 500 
                individuals employed in such community have received 
                written notices under section 3 of the Worker 
                Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 
                2102) in the most recent 6-month period for which data 
                are available.
                    (B) Rural community.--In the case that the region 
                is comprised of a rural community, not fewer than 300 
                individuals employed in such community have received 
                such written notices in the most recent 6-month period 
                for which data are available.
            (2) Percent of workforce unemployed.--The unemployment rate 
        for the region is not less than 1 percent greater than the 
        national unemployment rate for the most recent 12-month period 
        for which data are available through the Bureau of Labor 
        Statistics.
    (b) Notification to Certified Regions.--Not later than 15 days 
after the Director certifies a region under subsection (a), the 
Director shall notify the Governor of the State of such region and the 
officials of the region--
            (1) of such certification;
            (2) of the provisions of this Act;
            (3) how to access the central information clearinghouse 
        maintained under section 502(1) of the Public Works and 
        Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3192(1)); and
            (4) how to obtain the technical assistance described in 
        section 4(d)(4).

SEC. 6. REGIONAL ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COORDINATING 
              COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--A region may establish a committee in 
accordance with the provisions of this section to be known as a 
``Regional Economic and Workforce Development Coordinating Committee'' 
(in this section referred to as a ``Committee'').
    (b) Composition of a Committee.--
            (1) Local participation.--A Committee established by a 
        region under subsection (a) shall be composed of 
        representatives of the groups significantly affected by sudden 
        and severe economic dislocation in such region, such as--
                    (A) State, tribal, municipal, county, and regional 
                governments;
                    (B) planning boards;
                    (C) local businesses;
                    (D) labor and health organizations;
                    (E) 2-year institutions of higher education (as 
                defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001));
                    (F) vocational institutions; and
                    (G) religious and other community-based groups that 
                provide assistance to the workers of the region and the 
                families of such workers.
            (2) Federal participation.--A Committee of a region shall 
        have as ex officio members the following:
                    (A) A Federal economic recovery coordinator 
                assigned by the Director under section 7(a) to such 
                region.
                    (B) Such representatives of Federal agencies as the 
                coordinator described in subparagraph (A) considers 
                necessary.
            (3) Existing organization.--A region may designate an 
        existing organization in the region as a Committee for purposes 
        of this Act if the organization meets the requirements under 
        paragraphs (1) and (2).
    (c) Duties.--The duties of a Committee of a region are as follows:
            (1) To ascertain the severity of the economic dislocation 
        of the region, including consideration of measures of 
        unemployment rates and employment opportunities.
            (2) To assess the capacity of the region to respond to such 
        economic dislocation and the needs of such region as such 
        region undertakes economic adjustment, taking into 
        consideration such factors as the following:
                    (A) The number of jobs lost as a result of the 
                economic dislocation.
                    (B) The size of the region.
                    (C) The diversity of industries in the region.
                    (D) The skills of the labor force in the region.
                    (E) The condition of the labor market of the 
                region.
                    (F) The availability of financial resources in the 
                region.
                    (G) The quality and availability of educational 
                facilities, including 2-year institutions of higher 
                education and vocational institutions, that serve the 
                region.
            (3) To facilitate a dialogue between concerned interests in 
        the region, represent the impacted region, and ensure all 
        interests in the region work collaboratively toward collective 
        goals without duplication of effort or resources.
            (4) To create an executive council with an equitable 
        representation of regional interests to ensure coordination and 
        cooperation among all stakeholders of the region.

SEC. 7. FEDERAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY COORDINATORS.

    (a) Assignment.--Upon the request of an eligible region, the 
Director shall assign a Federal economic recovery coordinator to such 
region to carry out the duties described in subsection (b).
    (b) Duties.--The duties of a Federal economic recovery coordinator 
assigned under subsection (a) to an eligible region are as follows:
            (1) To provide technical assistance to the eligible region 
        and assist in the development of a comprehensive economic 
        development strategy (as used in sections 203 and 302 of the 
        Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
        3143 and 3162)) for such region, including applying for 
        applicable grants to develop or implement such plan.
            (2) At the local or regional level, to coordinate the 
        response of all Federal agencies offering economic adjustment 
        assistance to the eligible region.
            (3) Serve as an ex officio member of the Regional Economic 
        and Workforce Development Coordinating Committee of such region 
        established under section 6(a).
            (4) To act as a liaison between the Regional Economic and 
        Workforce Development Coordinating Committee established by the 
        eligible region and all Federal agencies that offer economic 
        adjustment assistance to eligible regions, including the 
        following:
                    (A) The Department of Agriculture.
                    (B) The Department of Defense.
                    (C) The Department of Education.
                    (D) The Department of Labor.
                    (E) The Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development.
                    (F) The Department of Health and Human Services.
                    (G) The Small Business Administration.
                    (H) The Department of the Treasury.
                    (I) The National Economic Council.
                    (J) The Department of Commerce.
            (5) To report regularly to the Director regarding the 
        progress of economic adjustment in the eligible region.
            (6) To perform such other duties as the Secretary or the 
        Director consider appropriate.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such 
sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 
2011.

SEC. 9. NOTICE TO THE SECRETARY.

    Section 3 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 
(29 U.S.C. 2102) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Notice to the Secretary.--Not later than 60 days after a 
plant closing or mass layoff, the employer involved shall submit to the 
Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Commerce separate notifications 
of the closing or layoff and the number of employees affected by such 
closing or layoff.''.
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