[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2526 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2526
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by
designating and supporting manufacturing communities, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 9, 2016
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Moran, Mr. Blumenthal, and
Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by
designating and supporting manufacturing communities, 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 ``Made in America Manufacturing
Communities Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Commerce.
(b) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary shall establish a
program to improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing
by--
(1) designating consortiums as manufacturing communities
under subsection (d); and
(2) supporting manufacturing communities, as so designated,
under subsection (c).
(c) Support for Designated Manufacturing Communities.--
(1) Preferential consideration.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(D), in any case in which a member of a consortium
designated as a manufacturing community under
subsection (d) seeks financial or technical assistance
under a participating program of a participating
agency, the head of such agency may give preferential
consideration to such member with respect to the
awarding of such financial or technical assistance if--
(i) such head considers the award of the
financial or technical assistance consistent
with the economic development strategy of the
consortium; and
(ii) the member otherwise meets all
applicable requirements for the financial or
technical assistance.
(B) Participating agencies.--For purposes of the
program, the participating agencies are the following:
(i) The Department of Agriculture.
(ii) The Department of Commerce.
(iii) The Department of Defense.
(iv) The Department of Education.
(v) The Department of Energy.
(vi) The Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
(vii) The Department of Labor.
(viii) The Department of Transportation.
(ix) The Appalachian Regional Commission.
(x) The Delta Regional Authority.
(xi) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(xii) The National Science Foundation.
(xiii) The Small Business Administration.
(C) Participating programs.--
(i) In general.--The head of each
participating agency shall identify each
program administered by such participating
agency that is applicable to the program
established under subsection (b).
(ii) Designation.--For purposes of this
section, a participating program is a program
identified under clause (i).
(D) Multiple members of the same consortium seeking
the same financial or technical assistance.--
(i) In general.--In a case in which a
participating agency receives applications for
the same financial or technical assistance from
more than one member of the same consortium
designated as a manufacturing community under
subsection (d), the head of such agency may
determine how preference is given under
subparagraph (A), including by requiring the
consortium to select which of the members
should be given preference.
(ii) Coordination.--In a case described in
clause (i) in which the head of the agency
determines that more than one member of a
consortium should be given preference under
subparagraph (A) for financial or technical
assistance, the head of the agency may require
such members to demonstrate coordination with
each other in developing their applications for
the financial or technical assistance.
(E) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the head of each
participating agency shall submit to the Secretary a
report specifying how the head will give preferential
consideration under subparagraph (A).
(2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary may make available
to each consortium designated as a manufacturing community
under subsection (d) a Federal point of contact to help the
members of the consortium access Federal funds and technical
assistance.
(3) Financial and technical assistance.--
(A) In general.--Under the program established
under subsection (b), the head of a participating
agency may award financial or technical assistance to a
member of a consortium designated as a manufacturing
community under subsection (d) as the head considers
appropriate for purposes of such program and consistent
with the economic development strategy of the
consortium.
(B) Use of funds.--
(i) In general.--A recipient of financial
or technical assistance under subparagraph (A)
may use the amount of such financial or
technical assistance to support an investment
in an ecosystem that will improve the
competitiveness of United States manufacturing.
(ii) Investments supported.--Investments
supported under this subparagraph may include
the following:
(I) Infrastructure.
(II) Access to capital.
(III) Promotion of exports and
foreign direct investment.
(IV) Equipment or facility
upgrades.
(V) Workforce training or
retraining.
(VI) Energy or process efficiency.
(VII) Business incubators.
(VIII) Site preparation.
(IX) Advanced research.
(X) Supply chain development.
(4) Coordination.--
(A) Coordination by secretary of commerce.--The
Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of the
participating agencies to identify programs under
paragraph (1)(C)(i).
(B) Inter-agency coordination.--The heads of the
participating agencies shall coordinate with each
other--
(i) to leverage complementary activities,
including from non-Federal sources such as
philanthropies; and
(ii) to avoid duplication of efforts.
(d) Designation of Manufacturing Communities.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (7), for
purposes of the program established under subsection (b), the
Secretary shall designate eligible consortiums as manufacturing
communities through a competitive process.
(2) Eligible consortiums.--
(A) In general.--For purposes of this section, an
eligible consortium is a consortium that--
(i) represents a region defined by the
consortium in accordance with subparagraph (B);
(ii) includes at least one--
(I) institution of higher
education;
(II) a private sector entity; and
(III) a government entity;
(iii) may include one or more--
(I) private sector partners;
(II) institutions of higher
education;
(III) government entities;
(IV) economic development and other
community and labor groups;
(V) financial institutions; or
(VI) utilities;
(iv) has, as a lead applicant--
(I) a district organization (as
defined in section 300.3 of title 13,
Code of Federal Regulations, or
successor regulation);
(II) an Indian tribe (as defined in
section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consortium
of Indian tribes;
(III) a State or a political
subdivision of a State, including a
special purpose unit of a State or
local government engaged in economic or
infrastructure development activities,
or a consortium of political
subdivisions;
(IV) an institution of higher
education or a consortium of
institutions of higher education; or
(V) a public or private nonprofit
organization or association that is
acting in cooperation with officials of
a political subdivision of a State.
(B) Regions.--For purposes of this section and
subject to approval by the Secretary, a consortium may
define the region that it represents pursuant to
paragraph (2)(A)(i), except that a region so defined
shall be--
(i) large enough to contain critical
elements of the key technologies or supply
chain prioritized by the consortium; and
(ii) small enough to enable close
collaboration among members of the consortium.
(3) Duration.--Each designation under paragraph (1) shall
be for a period of 2 years.
(4) Renewal.--
(A) In general.--Upon receipt of an application
submitted under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may, as
the Secretary considers appropriate, renew a
designation made under paragraph (1) for a period of 2
years.
(B) Application for renewal.--An eligible
consortium seeking a renewal under subparagraph (A)
shall submit to the Secretary an application therefor
at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require.
(C) Modifications authorized.--The Secretary may
renew a designation under subparagraph (A) for an
eligible consortium that--
(i) has changed its own composition, either
by adding or removing members; or
(ii) submits under subparagraph (B) a
revision to the plan submitted under clause
(iv) of paragraph (5)(B) or the strategy
submitted under clause (v) of such paragraph.
(D) Evaluation for renewal.--In determining whether
to renew a designation of an eligible consortium under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall assess the eligible
consortium using the following criteria:
(i) The performance of the consortium
against the terms of the consortium's most
recent designation under paragraph (1) and any
post-designation awards the consortium may have
received.
(ii) The progress the consortium has made
with respect to project-specific metrics the
consortium proposed in the consortium's
application for the most recent designation
under paragraph (1), particularly with respect
to those metrics that were designed to help
communities track their own progress.
(iii) Whether any changes to the
composition of the eligible consortium, as
described in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), or
revisions to the plan or strategy described in
clause (ii) of such subparagraph would improve
the competitiveness of United States
manufacturing.
(iv) Such other criteria as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(5) Application for designation.--
(A) In general.--An eligible consortium seeking a
designation under paragraph (1) shall submit to the
Secretary an application therefor at such time and in
such manner as the Secretary may require.
(B) Contents.--Each application submitted to the
Secretary by an eligible consortium shall contain the
following:
(i) Description of the regional boundaries
of the consortium.
(ii) A description of the manufacturing
concentration of the consortium, including an
assessment of how the manufacturing
concentration of the consortium competitively
ranks nationally according to measures relating
to employment, sales, location quotients for an
industry's level of concentration, or such
other measures as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(iii) An integrated assessment of the local
industrial ecosystem of the region of the
consortium, which may include assessment of
workforce and training, supplier network,
research and innovation, infrastructure or site
development, trade and international
investment, operational improvements, and
capital access components needed for
manufacturing activities in such region.
(iv) An evidence-based plan for developing
components of such ecosystem (selected by the
consortium) by making--
(I) specific investments to address
gaps in such ecosystem; and
(II) the manufacturing of the
region of the consortium uniquely
competitive.
(v) A description of the investments the
consortium proposes and the implementation
strategy the consortium intends to use to
address gaps in such ecosystem.
(vi) A description of outcome-based
metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that the
consortium will track and the evaluation
methods the consortium will use while
designated as a manufacturing community to
gauge performance of the strategy of the
consortium to improve the manufacturing in the
region of the consortium.
(vii) Such other matters as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(6) Evaluation of applications.--The Secretary shall
evaluate each application received under paragraph (5) with
respect to the following:
(A) Whether the applicant demonstrates a
significant level of regional cooperation in their
proposal.
(B) How the manufacturing concentration of the
applicant competitively ranks nationally according to
measures described in paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
(7) Certain communities previously recognized.--Subject to
subparagraph (B), each consortium that was designated as a
manufacturing community by the Secretary in carrying out the
Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative
of the Department of Commerce before the date of the enactment
of this Act shall be deemed a manufacturing community
designated under this subsection as long as such consortium is
still designated as a manufacturing community by the Secretary
as part of such initiative.
(e) Receipt of Transferred Funds.--The Secretary may accept amounts
transferred to the Secretary from the head of another participating
agency to carry out this section.
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