H.R. 8068

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8068 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8068

To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
Transportation to establish a transit workforce center, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 24, 2026

Ms. Wilson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
Transportation to establish a transit workforce center, 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 ``National Transit Frontline Workforce 
Training Act''.

SEC. 2. TRANSIT WORKFORCE CENTER.

Section 5314 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Transit Workforce Center.--
``(1) Establishment.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a 
transit workforce center (in this subsection referred 
to as the `Center') and award grants to a qualified 
nonprofit organization to carry out the mission and 
duties of the Center pursuant to this subsection.
``(B) Qualified nonprofit organization.--For 
purposes of subparagraph (A), a qualified nonprofit 
organization is an entity that--
``(i) is a nonprofit organization;
``(ii) operates nationally;
``(iii) has demonstrative experience in, 
and abilities regarding--
``(I) the provision of technical 
assistance to address issues in public 
transportation workforce development; 
and
``(II) outreach and marketing 
activities that focus on current and 
emerging public transportation 
workforce development needs;
``(iv) undertakes activities to support 
standards-based training for the public 
transportation maintenance and operations 
workforce through collaborative approaches, 
including labor-management partnerships;
``(v) undertakes activities to support 
public transportation workforce development 
with respect to emerging technology areas; and
``(vi) has the project management, 
organizational, fiscal, and administrative 
capacity necessary to effectively staff any 
proposed initiatives and deliver proposed 
outcomes, including implementation of any key 
components of such initiatives and outcomes, 
such as technical assistance, outreach, and 
marketing.
``(2) Mission.--The mission of the Center is to assist the 
public transportation industry by supporting the recruitment, 
hiring, training, and retention of skilled frontline public 
transportation workers, which in turn may enable public 
transportation providers to operate transit more efficiently, 
safely, and reliably, to better serve communities, and to 
increase transit customer satisfaction.
``(3) Duties.--The duties of the Center include the 
following:
``(A) Developing, and providing directly through 
the Center, training programs to support the workforce 
development needs of public transportation providers, 
including training addressing the workforce development 
needs specific to public transportation providers 
delineated by service to each of urbanized areas, 
suburban areas, rural areas, and Tribal populations.
``(B) Developing and disseminating educational 
materials and other resources related to public 
transportation workforce development, including 
materials and resources designed to support training 
programs of the Center.
``(C) Developing, leading, and contributing to 
presentations, dialogues, learning sessions, and 
strategic planning sessions--
``(i) in partnership, collaboration, or 
consultation with entities in the public 
transportation industry, including entities 
that provide public transportation workforce 
development, career support for public 
transportation workers, or transit-related 
technical education; and
``(ii) regarding any topic that supports 
the needs and priorities of the Federal 
Transportation Administration or the public 
transportation industry, especially topics 
related to the recruitment, retention, job 
readiness, and preparation of a skilled 
frontline public transportation workforce 
capable of working with new and emerging 
technologies.
``(D) Providing technical assistance regarding 
workforce development to public transportation 
providers.
``(E) Conducting data analytics and providing 
analyses regarding public transportation workforce 
trends to public transportation providers.
``(F) Leveraging transit-related workforce data to 
support efforts of public transportation providers to 
ensure the recruitment, retention, and advancement of a 
skilled workforce.
``(G) Conducting outreach, marketing, and other 
similar activities to increase engagement by, and 
awareness within, the public transportation industry 
with respect to the research, resources, trainings, 
projects, services, and initiatives of the Center that 
support frontline public transportation workers, 
including workforce-related research and information 
regarding changes to applicable policies of the Federal 
Transportation Administration.
``(4) Collaboration.--In carrying out the duties of the 
Center, the Secretary shall--
``(A) permit the qualified nonprofit organization 
selected under paragraph (1) to collaborate or consult 
with the Administrator of the Federal Transit 
Administration, the heads of public transportation 
providers, relevant national professional membership 
associations, and representatives of frontline public 
transportation employees; and
``(B) require the qualified nonprofit organization 
to consider requests and feedback from public 
transportation providers when developing and providing 
training programs of the Center.''.
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