To aid dislocated workers and rebuild communities devastated by international trade, and for other purposes.

July 31 (legislative day, JULY 21), 2003

Mr. EDWARDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

To aid dislocated workers and rebuild communities devastated by international trade, 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 `Economic Revitalization Act'.

SEC. 2. ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION ZONES.

(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter:

`Subchapter Z--Economic Revitalization Zones

`Sec. 1400M. Designation of economic revitalization zones.

`Sec. 1400N. Incentives for economic revitalization zones.

`SEC. 1400M. DESIGNATION OF ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION ZONES.

`(a) Designation-

`(1) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this title, the term `economic revitalization zone' means any area--

`(A) which is nominated by 1 or more local governments and the State or States in which it is located for designation as an economic revitalization zone (hereafter in this section referred to as a `nominated area'), and

`(B) which the Secretary of Labor designates as an economic revitalization zone.

`(2) NUMBER OF DESIGNATIONS- Not more than 10 nominated areas may be designated as economic revitalization zones.

`(3) LIMITATION ON DESIGNATIONS-

`(A) PUBLICATION OF REGULATIONS- The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe by regulation no later than 3 months after the date of the enactment of this section--

`(i) the procedures for nominating an area under paragraph (1)(A), and

`(ii) the parameters relating to the size characteristics of an economic revitalization zone.

`(B) TIME LIMITATIONS- The Secretary of Labor may designate nominated areas as economic revitalization zones only during the 180-day period beginning on the first day of the first month following the month in which the regulations described in subparagraph (A) are prescribed.

`(C) PROCEDURAL RULES- The Secretary of Labor shall not make any designation of a nominated area as an economic revitalization zone under paragraph (2) unless--

`(i) the local governments and the States in which the nominated area is located have the authority to nominate such area for designation as an economic revitalization zone,

`(ii) a nomination regarding such area is submitted in such a manner and in such form, and contains such information, as the Secretary of Labor shall by regulation prescribe, and

`(iii) the Secretary of Labor determines that any information furnished is reasonably accurate.

`(4) PRIORITY- The Secretary of Labor shall give priority to nominated areas which--

`(A) are located in States that have experienced employment in a trade-affected industry decline by more than 50 percent since 1993, and

`(B) have suffered the loss of more than 1000 jobs in the trade-affected industry within the preceding year.

`(b) PERIOD FOR WHICH DESIGNATION IS IN EFFECT-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Any designation of an area as an economic revitalization zone shall remain in effect during the period beginning on the earliest practicable date, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, and ending on the earliest of--

`(A) December 31, 2014,

`(B) the termination date designated by the State and local governments in their nomination, or

`(C) the date the Secretary of Labor revokes such designation under the terms of paragraph (2) or after determining that such revocation is necessary to protect the public interest.

`(2) REVOCATION OF DESIGNATION- The Secretary of Labor may revoke the designation under this section of an area if such Secretary determines that the local government or the State in which the area is located has modified the boundaries of the area.

`(c) AREA AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Labor may designate a nominated area as an economic revitalization zone under subsection (a) only if the area meets the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection.

`(2) AREA REQUIREMENTS- A nominated area meets the requirements of this paragraph if--

`(A) the area is within the jurisdiction of 1 or more local governments in 1 or more trade-affected States, and

`(B) the boundary of the area is continuous.

`(3) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS- A nominated area meets the requirements of this paragraph if the States and the local governments in which it is located certify in writing (and the Secretary of Labor, after such review of supporting data as the Secretary deems appropriate, accepts such certification) that--

`(A) the average unemployment rate in the area for the most recent period for which data is available on the date of the nomination of such area is at least 150 percent of the average national unemployment rate for such period,

`(B) of the total employment in the area during 1993--

`(i) more than 10 percent consisted of employment in a trade-affected industry located in such area, or

`(ii) more than 15 percent consisted of employment in all of the trade-affected industries located in such area, and

`(C) employment in a trade-affected industry located in such area decreased by more than 20 percent during the period from 1993 through 2002.

`(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES- For purposes of this subchapter--

`(1) TRADE-AFFECTED STATE- The term `trade-affected State' means any State in which the total number of workers located in such State who were certified through the trade adjustment assistance and the NAFTA transitional adjustment assistance programs under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 during the period from 1994 through 2002 was not less than an amount equal to 2.5 percent of the State's total labor force in 1994.

`(2) TRADE-AFFECTED INDUSTRY- The term `trade-affected industry' means any industry listed in a 3-digit North American industry classification system subsector--

`(A) which had a total labor force of at least 200,000 during 1994, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

`(B) in which the number of employees has declined by more than 30 percent since 1993, and

`(C) in which the total number of workers who were certified through the trade adjustment assistance and the NAFTA transitional adjustment assistance programs under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 during the period from 1994 through 2002 was not less than an amount equal to 10 percent of such industry's total labor force in 1994.

`(3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT- The term `local government' means--

`(A) any county, city, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State, and

`(B) any combination of political subdivisions described in subparagraph (A) recognized by the Secretary of Labor.

`(4) GOVERNMENTS- If more than 1 government seeks to nominate an area as an economic revitalization zone, any reference to, or requirement of, this section shall apply to all such governments.

`SEC. 1400N. INCENTIVES FOR ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION ZONES.

`(a) IN GENERAL- An economic revitalization zone shall be treated for the period of its designation as an empowerment zone for purposes of applying--

`(1) section 1394 (relating to tax-exempt enterprise zone facility bonds),

`(2) section 1396 (relating to empowerment zone employment credit),

`(3) section 1397A (relating to increase in expensing under section 179), and

`(4) section 1397B (relating to nonrecognition of gain on rollover of empowerment zone investments).

`(b) NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT- An economic revitalization zone shall be treated for the period of its designation as a low-income community for purposes of applying section 45D (relating to new markets tax credit).'.

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of subchapters for chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

`Subchapter Z. Economic Revitalization Zones.'.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY COLLEGE EMPLOYMENT GRANTS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 238 the following:

`SEC. 238A. JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS.

`(a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED- The Secretary is authorized to award grants to community colleges (as defined in section 202 of the Tech-Prep Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2371)) on a competitive basis to establish job training programs for adversely affected workers.

`(b) APPLICATION-

`(1) SUBMISSION- To receive a grant under this section, a community college shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Secretary shall require.

`(2) CONTENTS- The application submitted under paragraph (1) shall provide a description of--

`(A) the population to be served with grant funds received under this section;

`(B) how grant funds received under this section will be expended; and

`(C) the job training programs that will be established with grant funds received under this section, including a description of how such programs relate to workforce needs in the area where the community college is located.

`(c) ELIGIBILITY- To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a community college shall be located in an economic revitalization zone (as defined in section 1400M(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 2).

`(d) DECISION ON APPLICATIONS- Not later than 30 days after submission of an application under subsection (b), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the application.

`(e) USE OF FUNDS- A community college that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to establish job training programs for adversely affected workers.

`(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.'.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of contents for chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 238 the following new item:

SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE FOR TEXTILE WORKERS.

Section 222 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2272) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(d) ADDITIONAL RULE FOR TEXTILE AND APPAREL WORKERS-

`(1) PRESUMPTIVE CERTIFICATION- A group of workers at a textile or apparel firm shall be presumed eligible and shall be certified by the Secretary as adversely affected and eligible for trade adjustment assistance under this chapter and benefits under the amendments made by title II of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-210; 116 Stat. 954) if--

`(A) a significant number or proportion of the workers in the workers' firm or an appropriate subdivision of the firm has become totally or partially separated, or are threatened to become totally or partially separated;

`(B)(i) the sales or production of the workers' firm has decreased; or

`(ii) the workers' plant or facility has closed or relocated; and

`(C) the event described in subparagraph (B) contributed importantly to the workers' separation or threat of separation.

`(2) PERMANENT CERTIFICATION- The presumptive certification under paragraph (1) shall become permanent 40 days after the submission of a petition by the group of workers under section 221 unless the Secretary determines within such period, after giving the group of workers notice and an opportunity to be heard, that the workers do not satisfy the criteria for certification in subsection (a).'.

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