[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3063 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3063

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a grant program to 
 address forestry workforce development needs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2023

Mr. King (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Graham, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Klobuchar, 
Mr. Merkley, and Mrs. Shaheen) introduced the following bill; which was 
read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                                Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a grant program to 
 address forestry workforce development needs, 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 ``Jobs in the Woods Act''.

SEC. 2. FORESTRY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Career pathway.--The term ``career pathway'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 
        and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
            (2) Eligible area.--The term ``eligible area'' means an 
        area that--
                    (A) is a nonmetropolitan area that qualifies as a 
                low-income community (as defined in section 45D(e) of 
                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986);
                    (B) has access to or has a plan to achieve 
                broadband service with--
                            (i) at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps 
                        upload speeds;
                            (ii) latency sufficiently low for real-
                        time, interactive applications; and
                            (iii) network reliability of not more than 
                        48 hours of outage time over any 365-day 
                        period; and
                    (C) has a population of 20,000 or fewer 
                inhabitants.
            (3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) a nonprofit organization;
                    (B) a State;
                    (C) an Indian Tribe;
                    (D) a unit of local government; and
                    (E) an institution of higher education (as defined 
                in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1001)).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a competitive 
grant program to make grants to eligible entities to carry out career 
pathway training programs in eligible areas with respect to forestry 
operations and forestry products industries.
    (c) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 
        an application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
        such information as the Secretary may require, which shall 
        include--
                    (A) a demonstrated capacity to carry out a career 
                pathway training program in accordance with subsection 
                (b);
                    (B) a demonstration of need for such program within 
                a region;
                    (C) a projection of the extent of reach intended 
                for such program;
                    (D) a plan to ensure that such program is 
                sustainable; and
                    (E) a plan for the implementation of such program.
            (2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that--
                    (A) propose to carry out activities to address the 
                issues of an aging workforce and youth migration;
                    (B) will partner with secondary schools (as defined 
                in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) to engage 
                students; and
                    (C) demonstrate the ability to assist with forestry 
                workforce placement and hiring.
    (d) Term; Amount.--A grant made under this section shall be--
            (1) for a period of not more than 4 years; and
            (2) in an amount that is--
                    (A) not less than $500,000; and
                    (B) not more than $2,000,000.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028.
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