H.R. 291 — CAREERS Act

This section revises the rural jobs and innovation accelerator grant program—providing competitive grants to multistate partnerships of public, educational, and private entities to support regional economic clusters for high-skill job creation in rural areas (7 U.S.C. 2008w)—as follows: (1) in subsection (a), expands eligible partnership members to include institutions of higher education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001 and 1002(a)(1)(A), (B)) and area career and technical education schools (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 2302 (20 U.S.C. 2302)), requires career pathway programs to include a local workforce development board member under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and adds definitions of career pathway and industry or sector partnership (from WIOA section 3 (29 U.S.C. 3102)); (2) in subsection (b), authorizes grants for career pathway programs and industry or sector partnerships aligned with rural industries, adds purposes to address sector-specific workforce challenges and promote targeted skills development for rural innovation and economic growth, incorporates those programs into selection criteria (including leadership development training), and adds a criterion on addressing worker displacement, aging workforce, and youth migration while requiring regional diversity in grant awards; (3) in subsection (d)(1), authorizes grants to support career pathway programs and industry or sector partnerships in specified rural industries (i.e., telecommunications or broadband, water/wastewater/disposal, electric supply, conservation, health care, child care, manufacturing, agribusiness, or other in-demand sectors identified by local WIOA workforce boards); (4) in subsection (e), requires reporting on individuals completing skills, credentials, or specialized education through career pathways or sector partnerships and, for those programs, on WIOA employment and earnings outcomes; and (5) reauthorizes the program through 2030 (from 2023). The amendments take effect no later than one year after enactment.