Building a Stronger America Act of 2012
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Building a Stronger America Act of 2012 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to award renewable three-year competitive industry or sector partnership grants to eligible entities to develop strategies that: (1) encourage growth and competitiveness through work with employers within a targeted industry cluster; (2) help workers move toward economic self-sufficiency and ensure that they have access to supportive services; (3) address the needs of firms with limited human resources or in-house training capacity, including small- and medium-sized firms; and (4) coordinate with entities that carry out state and local workforce investment, economic development, and education activities.
Directs the Secretary to establish the Innovation in Investment pilot program to make competitive grants to eligible consortia in certain states with relatively high poverty rates to establish state Innovation in Investment pilot programs to provide training and educational assistance to unemployed individuals, or postsecondary students not seeking a baccalaureate degree, that lead to a degree or industry or professional certification or licensure and eventually to employment.
Amends the National Apprenticeship Act to direct the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor, to: (1) increase public awareness of the national apprenticeship system through the dissemination of certain apprenticeship information, and (2) establish a pilot program to expand such system.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a program to award federal grants to states recruiting high-value jobs, that is, those within an eligible facility that contribute to the value of a manufactured product, pay wages higher than the mean hourly U.S. wage, and have North American Industrial Classifications corresponding with: (1) manufacturing, (2) software publishers, (3) computer systems design, or (4) related codes. Allows states to use such grants to issue forgivable loans of $5,000 per full-time equivalent employee to eligible entities deciding whether to locate in a foreign country or the United States to assist them in locating in rural or distressed areas of the state.
The summary continues for 16 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on August 1, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 1, 2012: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduced it on August 1, 2012, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on August 1, 2012, 5200 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5200 days ago, on August 1, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers