S. 5664 — FUTURE of Workers Act

This section defines artificial intelligence by reference to section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 and defines covered technology to mean automation technologies or artificial intelligence.

This section requires the head of each agency to consider employment impacts when reviewing applications for discretionary grants and loans during any period in which the national unemployment rate exceeds 6 percent for two consecutive quarters. It directs the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to convene an emergency interagency task force, requires the Comptroller General to review agency activities and recommend changes to promote employment, and requires the Congressional Budget Office to score bills for employment effects when unemployment exceeds 7.5 percent. It further directs the Federal Reserve Board to prioritize its maximum employment mandate when unemployment exceeds 9 percent. All requirements end when the rate falls below the applicable threshold for two consecutive quarters.

This section establishes the Worker Adaptation and Training Program within the United States Employment Service to provide training services and support to covered workers whose employment has been terminated or impacted by covered technology within the prior year, recent graduates, or workers in at-risk occupations. It requires the Secretary of Labor to review in-demand industry sectors and occupations, create or expand retraining projects including registered apprenticeships, maintain a project directory, and deliver services through existing Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act infrastructure, with eligibility determined by application and attestation within 30 days.

This section directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in conjunction with the Secretary of Labor, to identify high-demand Federal position classifications and occupational skill gaps within 120 days of enactment and annually thereafter to facilitate placement of Worker Adaptation and Training Program participants in civil service positions. It requires the Director to assist those participants in applying for such positions.

This section directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to prioritize participants in the Worker Adaptation and Training Program for loans and grants, including under the 7(a) business loan and microloan programs. It sets aside 1.5 percent of amounts appropriated for the 7(a) business loan program to provide assistance to such participants.

This section directs the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, to publish and submit to Congress an annual report, beginning one year after enactment, on the adoption of covered technology. The report must address occupational employment trends, at-risk occupations by near-, mid-, and long-term risk levels, demographics most likely to be affected (including protected classes, education level, geographic location, and earnings), consequences of job displacement, anticipated technological advancements, fastest-growing occupations resilient to displacement, and recommendations for workforce development policies. It defines at-risk occupation and protected class.

This section increases the required advance notice period for plant closings and mass layoffs to 120 days (from 60 days) under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. It requires notices to disclose whether the action is substantially due to adoption of covered technology and to include information on employee retraining, unemployment resources, and transition services through the Worker Adaptation and Training Program. The changes apply to closings and layoffs occurring 180 days after enactment.

This section establishes a 25 percent tax credit for qualified training expenditures that employers incur to transition employees in at-risk occupations to other occupations. The credit applies to taxable years beginning after enactment, forms part of the general business credit, and may be claimed against the alternative minimum tax by eligible small businesses; qualified training must result in a recognized postsecondary credential and be delivered through a registered apprenticeship, a program on the State list of eligible training providers under section 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or specified other providers.

This section directs the Secretary of Labor to provide virtual opportunities for online participation in Department of Labor workforce training programs and, working with the Secretary of Commerce and relevant industry and nonprofit groups, to add online resources for job seekers on the Department of Labor website. It leaves unchanged the Wagner-Peyser Act regulatory requirements for merit-system delivery of employment services.

This section imposes an excise tax on providers of qualifying artificial intelligence services to United States customers, at rates of 4 percent on annual receipts between $50 million and $500 million, 6 percent between $500 million and $5 billion, and 8 percent above $5 billion, with rates halved in the first year after enactment. It exempts tax-exempt organizations and institutions of higher education, denies deductions for the tax, and establishes the Worker Adaptation Trust Fund to receive the revenues for worker adaptation and training programs.

This section imposes a quarterly worker adaptation contribution on covered employers, other than small businesses, equal to the employer's displacement ratio times total wages paid, capped at 2 percent. The displacement ratio is calculated from charges for benefits and services provided to workers terminated due to covered technology under the FUTURE of Workers Act, with the computation period covering the prior 12 quarters. The section establishes charging rules, noncharging exceptions for sales, bankruptcies, and disasters, notice and contest procedures, successorship transfers, and anti-manipulation protections.