April 8, 2025
Mr. King (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a grant program to address forestry workforce development needs, 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 Jobs in the Woods Act
.
Sec. 2. Forestry workforce development grants
(a) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Career pathway
The term career pathway has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
(2) Eligible area
The term eligible area means an area that—
(A)
is a nonmetropolitan area that qualifies as a low-income community (as defined in section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986);
(B)
has access to, or has a plan to achieve, broadband service with—
(i)
at least 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed;
(ii)
latency sufficiently low for real-time, interactive applications; and
(iii)
network reliability of not more than 48 hours of outage time over any 365-day period; and
(C)
has a population of 20,000 or fewer inhabitants.
(3) Eligible entity
The term eligible entity means—
(A)
a nonprofit organization;
(B)
a State;
(C)
an Indian Tribe;
(D)
a unit of local government; and
(E)
an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)).
(4) Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(b) Establishment
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a competitive grant program to make grants to eligible entities to carry out career pathway training programs in eligible areas with respect to forestry operations and forestry products industries.
(c) Applications
(1) In general
To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, which shall include—
(A)
a demonstrated capacity to carry out a career pathway training program in accordance with subsection (b);
(B)
a demonstration of need for such a program within the applicable region;
(C)
a projection of the extent of reach intended for the program;
(D)
a plan to ensure that the program is sustainable; and
(E)
a plan for the implementation of the program.
(2) Priority
In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that—
(A)
propose to carry out activities to address the issues of aging workforce and youth migration;
(B)
will partner with secondary schools (as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), vocational or technical schools, or junior or community colleges (as defined in section 312 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058)) to engage students; and
(C)
demonstrate the ability to assist with forestry workforce placement and hiring.
(d) Term; amount
A grant made under this section shall be—
(1)
for a period of not more than 4 years; and
(2)
in an amount equal to—
(A)
not less than $500,000; and
(B)
not more than $2,000,000.
(e) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.