[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 344 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 344

 To provide for the establishment of a pilot program to encourage the 
           employment of veterans in manufacturing positions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 14, 2015

    Ms. DelBene (for herself, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. 
DeFazio, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Lee, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
 Vargas, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Caardenas, Mrs. 
   Kirkpatrick, Ms. Brownley of California, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Kelly of 
 Illinois, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. 
  Esty, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Kuster, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Ben Ray 
    Lujaan of New Mexico, Mr. Carney, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Larsen of 
Washington, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Heck of Washington, Mr. Cohen, 
 Mr. Honda, Ms. Bass, and Ms. Bonamici) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the establishment of a pilot program to encourage the 
           employment of veterans in manufacturing positions.

    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 referred to as the ``Manufacturing Jobs for 
Veterans Act''.

SEC. 2. VETERANS MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment of Pilot Program.--To encourage the employment of 
eligible veterans in manufacturing, the Secretary of Labor, as part of 
the Veteran's Workforce Investment Program, shall carry out a pilot 
program to be known as the ``Veterans Manufacturing Employment 
Program''. Under the pilot program, the Secretary shall award 
competitive grants to three States for the establishment and 
administration of a State program to make grants to manufacturing 
employers and labor-management organizations that provide covered 
training, on-job training, apprenticeships, and certification classes 
to eligible veterans. Such a program shall be known as a ``State 
Manufacturing Employment Program''.
    (b) Eligibility for Grants.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
under the pilot program, a State shall submit to the Secretary an 
application that includes each of the following:
            (1) A proposal for the expenditure of grant funds to 
        establish and administer a public-private partnership program 
        designed to provide covered training, on-job training, 
        apprenticeships, and certification classes to a significant 
        number of eligible veterans and ensure lasting and sustainable 
        employment in well-paying jobs in manufacturing.
            (2) Evidence that the State has--
                    (A) a population of eligible veterans of an 
                appropriate size to carry out the State program;
                    (B) a robust and diverse manufacturing industry; 
                and
                    (C) the ability to carry out the State program 
                described in the proposal under paragraph (1).
            (3) Such other information and assurances as the Secretary 
        may require.
    (c) Use of Funds.--A State that is the recipient of a grant under 
this section shall use the grant for the following purposes:
            (1) Making grants to manufacturing employers and labor-
        management organizations to reimburse such employers and 
        organizations for the cost of providing covered training, on-
        job training, apprenticeships, and certification classes to 
        eligible veterans.
            (2) Conducting outreach to inform manufacturing employers, 
        labor-management organizations, and veterans, including 
        veterans in rural areas, of their eligibility or potential 
        eligibility for participation in the State program.
    (d) Conditions.--Under the pilot program, each grant to a State 
shall be subject to the following conditions:
            (1) The State shall repay to the Secretary, on such date as 
        shall be determined by the Secretary, any amount received under 
        the pilot program that is not used for the purposes described 
        in subsection (c).
            (2) The State shall submit to the Secretary, at such times 
        and containing such information as the Secretary shall require, 
        reports on the use of grant funds.
    (e) Employer Requirements.--In order to receive a grant made by a 
State under the pilot program, a manufacturing employer shall--
            (1) submit to the administrator of the State Manufacturing 
        Employment Program an application that includes--
                    (A) the rate of pay for each eligible veteran 
                proposed to be trained using grant funds;
                    (B) the average rate of pay for an individual 
                employed by the manufacturing employer in a similar 
                position who is not an eligible veteran; and
                    (C) such other information and assurances as the 
                administrator may require; and
            (2) agree to submit to the administrator, for each quarter, 
        a report containing such information as the Secretary may 
        specify.
    (f) Limitation.--None of the funds made available to a 
manufacturing employer through a grant under the pilot program may be 
used to provide training of any kind to a person who is not an eligible 
veteran.
    (g) Report to Congress.--Together with the report required to be 
submitted annually under section 4107(c) of title 38, United States 
Code, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot 
program for the year covered by such report. The report on the pilot 
program shall include a detailed description of activities carried out 
under this section and an evaluation of the program.
    (h) Administrative and Reporting Costs.--Of the amounts 
appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under 
subsection (j), 2 percent shall be made available to the Secretary for 
administrative costs associated with implementing and evaluating the 
pilot program under this section and for preparing and submitting the 
report required under subsection (f). The Secretary shall determine the 
appropriate maximum amount of each grant awarded under this section 
that may be used by the recipient for administrative and reporting 
costs.
    (i) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``covered training, on-job training, 
        apprenticeships, and certification classes'' means training, 
        on-job training, apprenticeships, and certification classes 
        that are--
                    (A) designed to provide the veteran with skills 
                that are particular to manufacturing and not directly 
                transferable to employment in another industry; and
                    (B) approved as provided in paragraph (1) or (2), 
                as appropriate, of subsection (a) of section 3687 of 
                title 38, United States Code.
            (2) The term ``eligible veteran'' means a veteran, as that 
        term is defined in section 101(3) of title 38, United States 
        Code, who is employed by a manufacturing employer and enrolled 
        or participating in a covered training, on-job training, 
        apprenticeship, or certification class.
            (3) The term ``manufacturing employer'' means a business 
        concern--
                    (A) that employs individuals in a trade or business 
                in manufacturing;
                    (B) the production facilities of which are located 
                in the United States; and
                    (C) the primary business of which is classified in 
                sector 31, 32, or 33 of the North American Industrial 
                Classification System.
    (j) Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020, for 
the purpose of carrying out the pilot program.
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