[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 687 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 687

   To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize a State to reimburse 
 certain costs incurred by the State in providing training to workers 
after a petition for certification of eligibility for trade adjustment 
           assistance has been filed, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2017

Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Franken, and Mr. Casey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize a State to reimburse 
 certain costs incurred by the State in providing training to workers 
after a petition for certification of eligibility for trade adjustment 
           assistance has been filed, 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 ``Workforce Training Enhancement Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The viability of the domestic steel industry is crucial 
        to the United States economy and national security.
            (2) The steel and taconite iron mining industries have been 
        severely impacted by the foreign dumping and overproduction of 
        steel and are continually faced with unfair trade practices.
            (3) In 2014, United States imports of steel and steel 
        products increased by 36 percent and captured 28 percent of the 
        total United States steel market. In 2015, United States 
        imports of steel and steel products continued to increase, and 
        captured 29 percent of the total United States steel market.
            (4) In 1974, Congress enacted the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
        U.S.C. 2101 et seq.), which established the trade adjustment 
        assistance for workers program under chapter 2 of title II of 
        that Act (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) to assist workers who have 
        been adversely affected by trade.
            (5) The trade adjustment assistance for workers program 
        provides vital benefits and services to workers whose 
        employment has been adversely affected by foreign trade. Those 
        benefits and services include education and training, income 
        support, relocation assistance, job search assistance, and the 
        health coverage tax credit.
            (6) Since the inception of the trade adjustment assistance 
        for workers program, more than 5,000,000 United States workers 
        have been certified as eligible for benefits and services under 
        the program.
            (7) As of September 30, 2015, the trade adjustment 
        assistance for workers program had served more than 2,200,000 
        workers.
            (8) In fiscal year 2015, the Department of Labor certified 
        413 petitions for eligibility for the trade adjustment 
        assistance for workers program, which provided access to trade 
        adjustment assistance benefits for 57,631 workers.
            (9) In 2015, more than 13,000 new participants were 
        enrolled in the trade adjustment assistance for workers program 
        and the program provided services and benefits to more than 
        47,000 workers.
            (10) From fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2015, the 
        average processing time for a petition under the trade 
        adjustment assistance for workers program was 49.1 days and the 
        average processing time for fiscal year 2015 was 47.2 days.
            (11) The trade adjustment assistance for workers program 
        provides vital educational and training services to help trade-
        affected workers to acquire new skills and prepare for new 
        employment.
            (12) In order to empower workers who have been adversely 
        affected by foreign trade, States should have the option of 
        providing the funding for vital educational and training 
        programs for workers while their petitions for certifications 
        of eligibility for trade adjustment assistance are pending.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF STATES TO REIMBURSE CERTAIN COSTS OF PROVIDING 
              TRAINING TO WORKERS AFTER A PETITION FOR TRADE ADJUSTMENT 
              ASSISTANCE IS FILED.

    (a) In General.--Section 236(a)(6) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2296(a)(6)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C)(i) If the conditions described in clause (ii) are met, a 
State may use the funds distributed to the State under paragraph (2) to 
reimburse the costs of providing training to a worker before the worker 
is approved for training under paragraph (1) paid by--
            ``(I) the State from funds provided by the State;
            ``(II) the State or local workforce development areas 
        within the State from funds available under subtitle B of title 
        I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
        3151 et seq.); or
            ``(III) an eligible entity under section 170 of that Act 
        (29 U.S.C. 3225) in the State from funds available under that 
        section.
    ``(ii) The conditions described in this clause are met if--
            ``(I) as of the date of the reimbursement under clause (i) 
        the worker is covered by a certification for eligibility under 
        subchapter A; and
            ``(II) the training the costs of which are being 
        reimbursed--
                    ``(aa) commenced after the date on which the total 
                or partial separations of the group of workers covered 
                by the certification for eligibility began or 
                threatened to begin; and
                    ``(bb) meets the requirements for approval of 
                training under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 236(a)(4)(B) of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(4)(B)) is amended by striking ``No'' and 
inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (6)(C), no''.
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