Jobs for Economic Recovery Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8509 To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employment, training, and supportive services program for unemployed and underemployed indi- viduals and individuals with barriers to employment, to provide employ- ment services to individuals who are unemployed or underemployed as a result of COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 2, 2020 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employ- ment, training, and supportive services program for un- employed and underemployed individuals and individuals with barriers to employment, to provide employment services to individuals who are unemployed or under- employed as a result of COVID–19, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8509 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT TO SOCIAL SECU- 1 RITY ACT; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 3 ‘‘Jobs for Economic Recovery Act of 2020’’. 4 (b) AMENDMENTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Ex- 5 cept as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this 6 Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment 7 to or repeal of a section or other provision, the reference 8 shall be considered to be made to that section or other 9 provision of the Social Security Act. 10 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 11 this Act is as follows: 12 Sec. 1. Short title; amendment to Social Security Act; table of contents. Sec. 2. Purpose. Sec. 3. Employment, training, and supportive services program. Sec. 4. Employee retention work opportunity credit. Sec. 5. Conforming amendments. Sec. 6. Effective date; regulations. SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 13 The purposes of this Act are the following: 14 (1) To provide immediate funding for sub- 15 sidized employment programs that will create job op- 16 portunities for individuals who have become unem- 17 ployed or underemployed as a result of COVID–19 18 when it is safe to provide such opportunities, taking 19 into account the need to prevent the spread or recur- 20 rence of COVID–19. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8509 IH (2) To expand subsidized employment programs 1 that reconnect unemployed and underemployed 2 workers to the workforce. 3 (3) To drive economic recovery by allowing for 4 sufficient state and local flexibility to create or ex- 5 pand programs that place workers in jobs that fill 6 community-specific workforce gaps and meet em- 7 ployer needs. 8 (4) To prevent long-term joblessness and struc- 9 tural unemployment and provide work opportunities 10 for individuals with barriers to employment. 11 SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND SUPPORTIVE SERV- 12 ICES PROGRAM. 13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title XII 15 the following: 16 ‘‘TITLE XIII—REEMPLOYMENT 17 AND OTHER JOB-RELATED 18 ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS 19 ‘‘SEC. 1301. PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS; ADMINISTRATION. 20 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to pro- 21 vide funds to States, Indian tribes, local governments, and 22 nonprofit organizations to initiate and expand the provi- 23 sion of employment services, training and other services 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8509 IH and activities, and supportive services for eligible individ- 1 uals in order to— 2 ‘‘(1) promote subsidized employment programs 3 for public, private for-profit, private non-profit, and 4 employment social enterprise sector jobs that enable 5 unemployed or underemployed individuals to earn in- 6 come and connect to the workforce; 7 ‘‘(2) expand the availability of jobs during eco- 8 nomic downturns or in areas with high unemploy- 9 ment or poverty; 10 ‘‘(3) provide economically and socially disadvan- 11 taged individuals and individuals with barriers to 12 employment (such as the long-term unemployed, 13 people with criminal records, former foster youth, 14 and other economically and socially disadvantaged 15 populations) with wages and the ability to gain job 16 experience; 17 ‘‘(4) provide employers with new pathways into 18 the workforce development system enabling them to 19 have a greater role in the training and hiring of new 20 workers and labor market re-entrants and facili- 21 tating their transition from subsidized job place- 22 ments to unsubsidized employment; and 23 ‘‘(5) allow for sufficient flexibility for States, 24 Indian tribes, local governments, and nonprofit orga- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8509 IH nizations to design programs targeted at community- 1 specific workforce gaps and employer needs. 2 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 3 ‘‘(1) ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER EM- 4 PLOYMENT AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES.—The term 5 ‘adult and dislocated worker employment and train- 6 ing activities’ means adult and dislocated worker 7 employment and training activities funded under 8 chapter 3 of subtitle B of title I of the Workforce 9 Innovation and Opportunity Act. 10 ‘‘(2) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘dis- 11 located worker’ has the meaning given that term in 12 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 13 tunity Act. 14 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 15 individual’ means an individual who, on the basis of 16 an assessment by the State, has been determined to 17 be unlikely to find unsubsidized employment due 18 to— 19 ‘‘(A) being an individual with a barrier to 20 employment; 21 ‘‘(B) being a dislocated worker; or 22 ‘‘(C) a period of economic downturn or ad- 23 verse local or national economic conditions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8509 IH ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT SERVICES.—The term ‘em- 1 ployment services’ means a subsidized job placement 2 (including a transitional job described in section 3 134(d)(5) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 4 tunity Act) in the public, private for-profit, private 5 non-profit, or employment social enterprise sector 6 and includes payment or reimbursement of employer 7 subsidies for wages, the employer share of payroll 8 taxes, employer costs for unemployment insurance, 9 employer costs for workers’ compensation premiums, 10 and costs attributable to supervision and other ad- 11 ministration directly related to the employment of an 12 eligible individual in the subsidized job placement. 13 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 14 has the meaning given that term in section 419(4). 15 ‘‘(6) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 16 MENT.—The term ‘individual with a barrier to em- 17 ployment’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 18 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 19 Act and includes an individual who is an offender 20 (as defined in such section). 21 ‘‘(7) INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAIN- 22 ING.—The term ‘integrated education and training’ 23 has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the 24 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8509 IH ‘‘(8) PAYROLL TAXES.—The term ‘payroll 1 taxes’ means taxes under section 3111, 3221, 3301, 2 or 3321 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 3 any similar State or local tax imposed on employers. 4 ‘‘(9) PERIOD OF ECONOMIC DOWNTURN.—The 5 term ‘period of economic downturn’ means, with re- 6 spect to a State, a period of 1 or more consecutive 7 months during which, for each month of such pe- 8 riod— 9 ‘‘(A) the average rate of total unemploy- 10 ment in the United States (seasonally adjusted) 11 for the most recent 3 months for which data is 12 available is at least 5.5 percent; or 13 ‘‘(B) the average rate of total unemploy- 14 ment in such State (seasonally adjusted) for the 15 most recent 3 months for which data for all 16 States is available is at least 5.5 percent. 17 ‘‘(10) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘supportive 19 services’ has the meaning given that term in 20 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 21 portunity Act. 22 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL SERVICES.—Such term 23 includes any of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8509 IH ‘‘(i) Stipends for an eligible individual 1 provided with unpaid training services. 2 ‘‘(ii) Legal services. 3 ‘‘(iii) Other supplemental services nec- 4 essary for an eligible individual to partici- 5 pate in the State program funded under 6 this title. 7 ‘‘(11) STATE EXPENDITURES.—The term ‘State 8 expenditures’ means all State or local funds that are 9 expended by the State or a local agency including 10 State or local funds that are matched or reimbursed 11 by the Federal Government and State or local funds 12 that are not matched or reimbursed by the Federal 13 Government. 14 ‘‘(12) TIER-1 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 15 (c), the term ‘tier-1 practice’ means a practice 16 that— 17 ‘‘(A) offers a new or potentially effective 18 strategy for addressing widely shared workforce 19 challenges; and 20 ‘‘(B) has not been systematically studied 21 but is supported by a strong logic model. 22 ‘‘(13) TIER-2 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 23 (c), the term ‘tier-2 practice’ means a practice that 24 will expand knowledge about the efficacy of a work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8509 IH force strategy and provide more information about 1 the feasibility of implementing proven workforce 2 strategies in different contexts and is, with respect 3 to a State— 4 ‘‘(A) a practice that has been implemented 5 by a State program and evaluated by a State or 6 by a third party and the evaluation results indi- 7 cate potential for positive impacts on partici- 8 pant or system-wide outcomes; or 9 ‘‘(B) a practice that has not been pre- 10 viously implemented by the State, but is sup- 11 ported by evidence of positive change and has 12 been evaluated before using a pre- and post-as- 13 sessment comparison between intervention and 14 comparison groups and suggests some statis- 15 tically significant evidence of positive change 16 ‘‘(14) TIER-3 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 17 (c), the term ‘tier-3 practice’ means with respect to 18 a State, a practice that— 19 ‘‘(A) previously has been implemented by a 20 program funded by a State; and 21 ‘‘(B) previously has been evaluated using a 22 random assignment or quasi-experimental de- 23 sign and the evaluation findings indicate some 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8509 IH statistically significant positive impacts on par- 1 ticipant or system wide outcomes. 2 ‘‘(15) TRAINING AND OTHER SERVICES OR AC- 3 TIVITIES.—The term ‘training and other services or 4 activities’ means any of the following services or ac- 5 tivities if provided in conjunction with, including in 6 preparation for, a subsidized job placement and de- 7 termined by the State as necessary to significantly 8 increase the likelihood that the job placement will be 9 successful for the employer and employee and may 10 improve the prospect of obtaining and retaining un- 11 subsidized jobs: 12 ‘‘(A) Services provided through adult and 13 dislocated worker employment and training ac- 14 tivities. 15 ‘‘(B) Integrated education and training. 16 ‘‘(C) Education directly related to employ- 17 ment. 18 ‘‘(D) Vocational and employment services 19 integrated with trauma-informed substance use 20 disorder treatment, in collaboration with a sub- 21 stance use disorder treatment provider. 22 ‘‘(E) Casework and job coaching. 23 ‘‘(F) Union-provided employment services, 24 including labor-management training. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8509 IH ‘‘(c) OUTCOME MEASURES REQUIRED.—A practice 1 shall not be considered to be a tier-1, tier-2, or tier-3 prac- 2 tice unless the practice is intended, studied, or evaluated 3 for purposes of making meaningful improvements in vali- 4 dated measures of important outcomes for eligible individ- 5 uals and their families, such as recidivism, health, employ- 6 ment, and economic well-being over the short and long- 7 term. 8 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to section 1302(d), 9 the program under this title shall be administered by the 10 Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for the Admin- 11 istration for Children and Families within the Department 12 of Health and Human Services and in consultation with 13 the Secretary of Labor as appropriate. 14 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATED ENTITLEMENT.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This title establishes an en- 16 titlement to payments under this title for States, In- 17 dian tribes and tribal consortiums, and local govern- 18 ments with plans approved under this title. 19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 21 retary to carry out this title for each fiscal year be- 22 ginning with fiscal year 2020, such sums as are nec- 23 essary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Nov 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8509.IH H8509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8509 IH ‘‘SEC. 1302. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible for pay- 2 ment under section 1304 unless the State has submitted 3 to the Secretary a plan that describes— 4 ‘‘(1) the State’s strategy for creating or ex- 5 panding programs that offer subsidized employment 6 for eligible individuals and moving such individuals 7 into unsubsidized employment; 8 ‘‘(2) how such strategy fits with the State’s 9 overall strategy for, and assessment of, the State’s 10 workforce needs; 11 ‘‘(3) the employment services, training and 12 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]