[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6935 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6935

To direct the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Chairperson 
 of the National Endowment for the Arts, to award grants for arts and 
                      creative workforce programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2024

  Ms. Leger Fernandez (for herself, Mr. Obernolte, Mr. Lieu, and Ms. 
   Pingree) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Chairperson 
 of the National Endowment for the Arts, to award grants for arts and 
                      creative workforce 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 ``Creative Workforce Investment Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL GRANTS FOR ARTS AND CREATIVE WORKFORCE PROGRAMS.

    Subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3221 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 172 (29 U.S.C. 3227) as 
        section 173; and
            (2) by inserting after section 171 (29 U.S.C. 3226) the 
        following:

``SEC. 172. NATIONAL GRANTS FOR ARTS AND CREATIVE WORKFORCE PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--From the amounts appropriated under 
subsection (f), the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairperson of 
the National Endowment for the Arts, shall award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out the arts and 
creative workforce programs described in subsection (c)(1).
    ``(b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary and the 
Chairperson an application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary and the Chairperson may require, 
which shall include--
            ``(1) a description of the arts and creative workforce 
        program the eligible entity plans to carry out with the grant, 
        including--
                    ``(A) cost estimates;
                    ``(B) timelines;
                    ``(C) a description of the final product and how 
                such product will be made accessible to the public;
                    ``(D) the proposed number of employees the program 
                will employ, including a description of the creative 
                workers the program will employ;
                    ``(E) the number of such proposed employees who 
                have barriers to employment and a description of such 
                barriers; and
                    ``(F) whether the eligible entity will be working 
                in coordination with a State board or a local board to 
                employ individuals under the program, and a description 
                of such coordination; and
            ``(2) a good-faith certification that--
                    ``(A) during the grant period and during the 2-year 
                period beginning after the such grant period--
                            ``(i) the eligible entity will not 
                        outsource or offshore jobs for the arts and 
                        creative workforce program carried out with the 
                        grant; and
                            ``(ii) the eligible entity will not 
                        abrogate existing collective bargaining 
                        agreements of employees of such program;
                    ``(B) the eligible entity will remain neutral in 
                any union organizing effort by the employees of such 
                program during the grant period; and
                    ``(C) in carrying out such program, the eligible 
                entity will comply with the wage and safety standards 
                described in subsections (m) and (n) of section 5 of 
                the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 954).
    ``(c) Uses of Funds.--
            ``(1) Arts and creative workforce programs.--An eligible 
        entity that receives a grant under this section shall use such 
        grant to carry out an arts and creative workforce program 
        that--
                    ``(A) shall--
                            ``(i) provide art or arts programming that 
                        is made publicly available and accessible to 
                        other individuals by the eligible entity; and
                            ``(ii) employ individuals in the labor 
                        market area served by the eligible entity, 
                        which may include the use of such grant to 
                        cover the cost of wages for such individuals; 
                        and
                    ``(B) may include--
                            ``(i) outdoor events for the community 
                        (such as concerts, street fairs, art fairs, 
                        community arts events, performances, live 
                        music, or other arts-based activities);
                            ``(ii) interviews and written stories that 
                        capture and document the history of the United 
                        States--
                                    ``(I) through photographs, 
                                narratives, storytelling, murals, 
                                films, plays, and other media; and
                                    ``(II) that illuminate marginalized 
                                narratives and histories of all 
                                individuals, regardless of income, age, 
                                race, religion, legal status, sexual 
                                orientation, or gender identity;
                            ``(iii) temporary or permanent visual, 
                        literary, or performative public artworks 
                        celebrating community identity, such as--
                                    ``(I) 2- and 3-dimensional visual 
                                artworks such as murals, painted 
                                benches, sculptures, and statues;
                                    ``(II) interactive or sound-based 
                                artworks; and
                                    ``(III) performative artworks like 
                                concerts, readings, festivals, or 
                                displays of dance or theater;
                            ``(iv) poetry, writing, photography, 
                        theater, visual or media arts, or dance 
                        exhibitions; and
                            ``(v) programs and works that support the 
                        arts in both schools and community cultural 
                        spaces (including arts-integrated teaching, 
                        place-based arts and cultural practice, 
                        intergenerational education, oral histories, 
                        and the preservation of folk traditions that 
                        elevate a community's history and culture, 
                        including on Tribal land).
            ``(2) Limitation on administrative costs.--Not more than 5 
        percent of the funds appropriated under subsection (f) for a 
        fiscal year may be used for administrative costs by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the first grant is 
awarded under this section, and each year thereafter, the Secretary 
shall report to Congress on the outcomes of the programs funded under 
this section for the preceding year, including--
            ``(1) the number of grants awarded for such year to 
        eligible entities, disaggregated by the type of eligible entity 
        listed in subsection (g)(2); and
            ``(2) a description of each program assisted with such a 
        grant, including--
                    ``(A) the geographic location of the program;
                    ``(B) the length of employment of each individual 
                who is employed by the program;
                    ``(C) the percentage of such individuals who are in 
                unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after 
                exit from the program;
                    ``(D) the percentage of such individuals who are in 
                unsubsidized employment during the fourth quarter after 
                exit from the program; and
                    ``(E) the median earnings of such individuals who 
                are in unsubsidized employment during the second 
                quarter after exit from the program.
    ``(e) Copyright Ownership.--In accordance with section 200.315 of 
title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), and 
notwithstanding section 2900.13 of such title (or any successor 
regulation), an author of a copyrightable work created under any 
program funded under this section retains the right of ownership under 
title 17, United States Code, of such work. The Federal Government 
may--
            ``(1) obtain, reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work 
        produced under this section; and
            ``(2) authorize another to receive, reproduce, publish, or 
        otherwise use the work for a Federal purpose.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $300,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal years 
2024 through 2026.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Creative worker.--The term `creative worker'--
                    ``(A) means any individual who earns (or previously 
                earned) income through creative, cultural, or artistic-
                based pursuits to produce ideas, content, goods, and 
                services (including educational services), without 
                regard to whether such income is earned through 
                employment as an independent contractor or as an 
                employee for an employer; and
                    ``(B) may include an art director, artist, 
                animator, sculptor, writer, author, poet, photographer, 
                musician, singer, producer, director, actor, announcer, 
                storyteller, comedian, dancer, architect, designer, 
                programmer, choreographer, or a technician, backstage 
                or behind-the-scenes staff, curator, arts or community 
                arts educator, or other support staff member who makes 
                creative work possible.
            ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a State;
                    ``(B) a local area (or local board);
                    ``(C) an entity described in section 166(c);
                    ``(D) a public or private nonprofit agency or 
                organization (including a consortium of such agencies 
                or organizations) that employs, or supports the 
                employment of, creative workers; or
                    ``(E) a State workforce agency.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR THE NEA.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Chairperson of the 
National Endowment for the Arts such sums as may be necessary for such 
Chairperson to provide the consultation required under section 172 of 
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, as amended by section 2.

SEC. 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act is amended by striking the item relating to section 172 and 
inserting the following:

``172. National grants for arts and creative workforce programs.
``173. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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