Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1446 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1446
5	5	To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to identify or
6	6	develop assessments to measure the prior knowledge, skills, competencies,
7	7	and experiences of an individual, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY21, 2025
10	10	Mr. A
11	11	LLENintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
12	12	on Education and Workforce
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
15	15	to identify or develop assessments to measure the prior
16	16	knowledge, skills, competencies, and experiences of an
17	17	individual, and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Validate Prior Learn-4
22	22	ing to Accelerate Employment Act’’. 5
23	23	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
24	24	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
25	25	•HR 1446 IH
26	26	SEC. 2. ASSESSMENTS TO MEASURE THE PRIOR KNOWL-1
27	27	EDGE, SKILLS, COMPETENCIES, AND EXPERI-2
28	28	ENCES OF AN INDIVIDUAL. 3
29	29	(a) S
30	30	TATEWIDEEMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGAC-4
31	31	TIVITIES.—Section 134(a)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innova-5
32	32	tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(2)(B)) is 6
33	33	amended— 7
34	34	(1) in clause (v)(VI), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 8
35	35	end; 9
36	36	(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the 10
37	37	end and inserting a semicolon; and 11
38	38	(3) by adding at the end the following: 12
39	39	‘‘(vii) coordinating with industry orga-13
40	40	nizations, employers (including small and 14
41	41	mid-sized employers), training providers, 15
42	42	local boards, and institutions of higher 16
43	43	education to identify or develop com-17
44	44	petency-based assessments that are a valid 18
45	45	and reliable method of measuring and col-19
46	46	lecting information on the knowledge, 20
47	47	skills, and abilities of individuals who are 21
48	48	adults or dislocated workers for the pur-22
49	49	pose of— 23
50	50	‘‘(I) awarding, based on the 24
51	51	knowledge, skills, and abilities of such 25
52	52	an individual— 26
53	53	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
54	54	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
55	55	•HR 1446 IH
56	56	‘‘(aa) a recognized postsec-1
57	57	ondary credential that is used by 2
58	58	employers in the State for re-3
59	59	cruitment, hiring, retention, or 4
60	60	advancement purposes; or 5
61	61	‘‘(bb) credit toward a recog-6
62	62	nized postsecondary credential 7
63	63	aligned with an in-demand indus-8
64	64	try sector or occupation in the 9
65	65	State; 10
66	66	‘‘(II) developing individual em-11
67	67	ployment plans under subsection 12
68	68	(c)(2)(A)(xii)(II) that identify— 13
69	69	‘‘(aa) in-demand industry 14
70	70	sectors or occupations that re-15
71	71	quire knowledge, skills, and abili-16
72	72	ties that are similar to the knowl-17
73	73	edge, skills, and abilities of such 18
74	74	an individual to secure employ-19
75	75	ment in such sectors or occupa-20
76	76	tions; and 21
77	77	‘‘(bb) any upskilling needed 22
78	78	to secure such employment; or 23
79	79	‘‘(III) helping such an individual 24
80	80	communicate the knowledge, skills, 25
81	81	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
82	82	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
83	83	•HR 1446 IH
84	84	and abilities of the individual to pro-1
85	85	spective employers through skills- 2
86	86	based resumes, profiles, or portfolios; 3
87	87	and 4
88	88	‘‘(viii) disseminating to local areas 5
89	89	and employers information relating to the 6
90	90	assessments described in clause (vii), in-7
91	91	cluding— 8
92	92	‘‘(I) any credential or credit 9
93	93	awarded pursuant to items (aa) and 10
94	94	(bb) of clause (vii)(I); 11
95	95	‘‘(II) the industry organizations, 12
96	96	employers, training providers, and in-13
97	97	stitutions of higher education located 14
98	98	within the State that recognize the 15
99	99	knowledge, skills, and abilities of such 16
100	100	an individual that are validated by 17
101	101	such assessments; 18
102	102	‘‘(III) how such assessments may 19
103	103	be provided to, and accessed by, such 20
104	104	an individual through the one-stop de-21
105	105	livery system; and 22
106	106	‘‘(IV) information on how the de-23
107	107	velopment of the individual employ-24
108	108	ment plans under subsection 25
109	109	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
110	110	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
111	111	•HR 1446 IH
112	112	(c)(2)(A)(xii)(II) can include an iden-1
113	113	tification of the information described 2
114	114	in items (aa) and (bb) of clause 3
115	115	(vii)(III).’’. 4
116	116	(b) A
117	117	LLOWABLE STATEWIDEEMPLOYMENT AND 5
118	118	T
119	119	RAININGACTIVITIES.—Section 134(a)(3)(A) of the 6
120	120	Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 7
121	121	3174(a)(3)(A)) is amended— 8
122	122	(1) in clause (xiii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 9
123	123	end; 10
124	124	(2) in clause (xiv), by striking the period at the 11
125	125	end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12
126	126	(3) by adding at the end the following: 13
127	127	‘‘(xv) supporting employers in the 14
128	128	State seeking to implement skills-based 15
129	129	hiring practices to evaluate individuals 16
130	130	based on the demonstrated knowledge, 17
131	131	skills, and abilities of such individuals, as 18
132	132	an alternative to relying on postsecondary 19
133	133	degree requirements in the hiring process, 20
134	134	which may include— 21
135	135	‘‘(I) technical assistance on the 22
136	136	use and validation of employment as-23
137	137	sessments, such as the competency- 24
138	138	based assessments identified or devel-25
139	139	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
140	140	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
141	141	•HR 1446 IH
142	142	oped by the State pursuant to para-1
143	143	graph (2)(B)(vii); and 2
144	144	‘‘(II) support in the creation of 3
145	145	skills-based job descriptions.’’. 4
146	146	(c) A
147	147	UTHORIZEDLOCALEMPLOYMENT AND TRAIN-5
148	148	INGACTIVITIES.—Section 134(c)(2)(A) of the Workforce 6
149	149	Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 7
150	150	3174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 8
151	151	(1) in clause (iii), by inserting before the semi-9
152	152	colon the following: ‘‘, including a determination 10
153	153	(which shall consider factors including prior work 11
154	154	experience, military service, education, and in-de-12
155	155	mand industry sectors and occupations in the local 13
156	156	area) of whether such an individual would benefit 14
157	157	from a competency-based assessment identified or 15
158	158	developed by the State pursuant to subsection 16
159	159	(a)(2)(B)(vii) to accelerate the time to obtaining em-17
160	160	ployment that leads to economic self-sufficiency or 18
161	161	career advancement’’; and 19
162	162	(2) in clause (xii)(I)(aa), by inserting before the 20
163	163	semicolon the following: ‘‘, including a competency- 21
164	164	based assessment identified or developed pursuant to 22
165	165	subsection (a)(2)(B)(vii)’’. 23
166	166	(d) P
167	167	ERMISSIBLELOCALEMPLOYMENT AND TRAIN-24
168	168	INGACTIVITIES.—Section 134(d)(1)(A) of the Workforce 25
169	169	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
170	170	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
171	171	•HR 1446 IH
172	172	Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 1
173	173	3174(d)(1)(A)) is amended— 2
174	174	(1) in clause (ix)(II)— 3
175	175	(A) in item (cc), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 4
176	176	end; 5
177	177	(B) in item (dd), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 6
178	178	end; and 7
179	179	(C) by adding at the end the following: 8
180	180	‘‘(ee) technical assistance or 9
181	181	other support to employers seek-10
182	182	ing to implement skills-based hir-11
183	183	ing practices, which may include 12
184	184	technical assistance on the use 13
185	185	and validation of employment as-14
186	186	sessments, including competency- 15
187	187	based assessments developed or 16
188	188	identified by the State pursuant 17
189	189	to subsection (a)(2)(B)(vii), and 18
190	190	support in the creation of skills- 19
191	191	based job descriptions.’’; 20
192	192	(2) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 21
193	193	(3) in clause (xii), by striking the period at the 22
194	194	end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23
195	195	(4) by adding at the end the following: 24
196	196	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
197	197	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
198	198	•HR 1446 IH
199	199	‘‘(xiii) competency-based assessments 1
200	200	for individuals upon the initial assessment 2
201	201	of skill levels pursuant to subsection 3
202	202	(c)(2)(A)(iii), or upon completion of train-4
203	203	ing services or other learning experi-5
204	204	ences.’’. 6
205	205	Æ
206	206	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1446.IH H1446
207	207	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB