[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2601 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2601

 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a 
  pilot program to facilitate education and training programs in the 
                    field of advanced manufacturing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 1, 2015

Mrs. Torres (for herself and Mr. Hoyer) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a 
  pilot program to facilitate education and training programs in the 
                    field of advanced manufacturing.

    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 ``Job Opportunities Between our Shores 
Act'' or the ``JOBS Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE 
              DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 169 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--Under a plan published under subsection 
        (b), the Secretary shall, through grants or contracts, carry 
        out demonstration and pilot projects for the purpose of 
        facilitating education and training programs in the field of 
        advanced manufacturing. Such projects shall--
                    ``(A) target skills and competency development in 
                communities with expected growth in advanced 
                manufacturing;
                    ``(B) provide education and training for available 
                jobs or job openings that are anticipated in advanced 
                manufacturing which result in an industry-recognized 
                and nationally portable credential, including an 
                educational certificate or degree, an occupational 
                license, an industry-sponsored certificate or 
                certification, as well as a registered apprenticeship 
                certificate or degree;
                    ``(C) educate individuals about opportunities for 
                career advancement within advanced manufacturing; and
                    ``(D) give priority to incumbent workers, 
                dislocated workers, and unemployed individuals.
            ``(2) Eligible entities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The following entities in any of 
                the several States or territories, in partnership with 
                a manufacturer who employs individuals with advanced 
                manufacturing skills, shall be eligible to receive a 
                grant or be party to a contract under a project 
                established under paragraph (1):
                            ``(i) An individual community or technical 
                        college, such as a public community college, a 
                        nonprofit community college, a tribally 
                        controlled college, or a tribally controlled 
                        university.
                            ``(ii) A community college district.
                            ``(iii) A State community college system.
                            ``(iv) A local workforce investment board, 
                        in partnership with one or more one-stop career 
                        centers, that specifies one or more community 
                        or technical colleges where education and 
                        training activities will occur.
                            ``(v) Other entity that would serve 
                        educationally underserved communities.
                    ``(B) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority 
                to any consortia of the entities described in 
                subparagraph (A) that leverage substantial non-Federal 
                funding for the program.
            ``(3) Application.--Applications from eligible entities 
        described in paragraph (2) shall be submitted at such time and 
        in such form and manner as the Secretary shall determine, but 
        shall include the following:
                    ``(A) A description of the eligible entity or 
                entities, evidence of each eligible entity's capacity 
                to carry out activities in support of the strategic 
                objectives described in paragraph (1), a description of 
                the expected participation and responsibilities of the 
                eligible entity, or each of the eligible entities in 
                the case of a consortium.
                    ``(B) A description of education and training 
                activities to be provided that will--
                            ``(i) develop skills and competencies 
                        demanded by advanced manufacturing firms;
                            ``(ii) lead to an employer- or industry-
                        recognized credential; and
                            ``(iii) educate individuals about 
                        opportunities for career advancement and wage 
                        growth within advanced manufacturing.
                    ``(C) A description of how the economy where the 
                entity resides would benefit, including--
                            ``(i) evidence of the growth of advanced 
                        manufacturing in State or locality;
                            ``(ii) the potential for additional job 
                        growth with investments in advanced 
                        manufacturing; and
                            ``(iii) exposure of incumbent or dislocated 
                        workers to new advanced manufacturing 
                        technology skill sets.
                    ``(D) A description of how the eligible entity 
                would employ evidence-based training models that 
                integrate academic instruction with training, including 
                on-the-job training in advanced manufacturing to meet 
                performance goals described in paragraph (6).
                    ``(E) A description of how the eligible entity will 
                coordinate with State or local workforce investment 
                boards and State or local economic development 
                officials.
            ``(4) Activities.--Activities to be carried out under a 
        project funded under paragraph (1) may include--
                    ``(A) classroom and on-site experiential learning;
                    ``(B) on-the-job training;
                    ``(C) training which fits into an industry-
                recognized competency model for advanced manufacturing;
                    ``(D) development and implementation of registered 
                apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs;
                    ``(E) coordination with local workforce investment 
                boards implementing and utilizing existing articulation 
                agreements with universities and other educational 
                partners;
                    ``(F) distance learning; and
                    ``(G) any other activity the Secretary considers 
                appropriate for training in advanced manufacturing.
            ``(5) Performance goals and measures.--
                    ``(A) Goals.--The goals of the activities described 
                in paragraph (4) shall be to--
                            ``(i) enhance the skill-sets of incumbent 
                        workers who live in communities with expected 
                        growth in advanced manufacturing, and for such 
                        workers to obtain an industry-recognized and 
                        nationally portable credential including an 
                        educational certificate or degree;
                            ``(ii) develop competencies for individuals 
                        with limited experience in advanced 
                        manufacturing;
                            ``(iii) strengthen community college 
                        partnerships with advanced manufacturing firms 
                        in an effort to meet firms' needs for 
                        adaptability in training of incumbent workers;
                            ``(iv) strengthen partnerships with local 
                        workforce investment boards and, if applicable, 
                        local education agencies; and
                            ``(v) help incumbent workers develop skills 
                        which lead to greater earnings.
                    ``(B) Measures.--The Secretary shall negotiate and 
                reach agreement with the eligible entities that receive 
                grants and assistance under this subsection on 
                performance measures that will be used to evaluate the 
                performance of the eligible entity in carrying out the 
                activities described in paragraph (4). Each performance 
                measure shall consist of such an indicator of 
                performance and may include--
                            ``(i) the number of workers, including 
                        dislocated workers and unemployed individuals, 
                        receiving employer- or industry-recognized 
                        credentials;
                            ``(ii) the number of workers, including 
                        dislocated workers and unemployed individuals, 
                        attaining basic skills, as described in an 
                        industry-recognized and nationally portable 
                        competency model for advanced manufacturing;
                            ``(iii) the number of incumbent workers 
                        whose training meets employer's worker-skill 
                        needs to enhance operations;
                            ``(iv) earnings growth as a result of 
                        additional training provided through 
                        partnership; and
                            ``(v) other measures the Secretary 
                        determines necessary to meet goals described in 
                        subparagraph (A).
            ``(6) Evaluation.--Beginning not later than 1 year after 
        the date of the first disbursement of funds under this 
        subsection, the Secretary shall provide for the continuing 
        evaluation of the programs funded under this subsection, as 
        required by section 172, and shall transmit a report of the 
        evaluation to Congress not later than 2 years after such 
        date.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as if enacted as 
part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et 
seq.).
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