[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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