EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND FULL EMPLOYMENT

ACT OF 1976

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1974

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 9:40 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. Augustus F. Hawkins (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Hawkins, Chisholm, and Clay.

Staff present: Lloyd A. Johnson, staff director; Susan Grayson, special assistant; William Higgs, staff assistant; and Carole Schanzer, clerk.

[Text of H.R. 15476 follows:]

[H.R. 15476, 93d Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To establish a national policy and nationwide machinery for guaranteeing to all adult Americans able and willing to work the availability of equal opportunities for useful and rewarding employment

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act of 1976".

DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress hereby declares that all adult Americans able and willing to work have the right to equal opportunities for useful paid employment at fair rates of compensation.

(b) The free exercise of this right by every American, irrespective of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin, is essential to personal liberties, individual development, the prevention of inflationary shortages and bottlenecks, and the well-being of families, organizations, the national economy, and society as a whole.

(c) Only under conditions of genuine full employment and confidence in its continuation is it possible to eliminate the bias, prejudice, discrimination, and fear that have resulted in unequal employment under unequal conditions of women, older people, younger people, and members of racial, ethnic, national, or religious minorities.

(d) To the extent that Americans may not be able to exercise this right, (1) the country is deprived of the larger supply of goods and services made available under conditions of genuine full employment, of the trained labor power prepared to produce needed goods and services, and of the larger tax revenues received at all levels of government, without any changes in tax rates, under conditions of genuine full employment, (2) inflationary shortages and bottlenecks are created, (3) the job security, wages, salaries, working conditions, and pro(1)

ductivity of employed people are impaired, (4) families are disrupted, (5) individuals are deprived of self-respect and status in society, and (6) physical and mental breakdown, drug addiction, and crime are promoted.

(e) It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to enforce this right, to redress such past and present deprivations and impairments of this right to the maximum extent feasible, and to prevent such deprivations and impairments in the future by developing and administering such policies and programs as may be needed to attain and maintain genuine full employment.

(f) Such other national economic goals as price stability and a favorable balance of payments shall be pursued without qualifying, limiting, compromising, or undermining the rights and guarantees established in this Act.

THE FULL EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTION PROGRAM

The Economic Reports of the President

SEC. 3. (a) In his or her economic report to the Congress pursuant to the Employment Act of 1946, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1022), the President shall, with the assistance of the Council of Economic Advisers, transmit every year, and regularly revise and update every six months, a full employment and production program, both long range and short range, which, in addition to the requirements of section 1022 (a), of title 15, United States Code, shall set forth in summary and detail

(1) the estimated volume of goods and services, both private and public, required to meet human and national needs, including but not limited to food, fibers, raw materials, energy resources, production facilities, housing, consumer goods, utilities, transportation, distribution, communication, day care facilities, education, health, welfare, artistic and cultural activities, scientific and technological research, and general government services;

(2) the estimated levels and types of paid employment, both part time and full time, required to provide the volume of goods and services set forth in paragraph (1);

(3) the estimated levels of expenditures for investment, consumption, and other purposes, both private and public, needed to provide the levels and types of paid employment set forth in paragraph (2);

(4) whatever shifts in output, employment, and expenditure patterns, or appropriate expansions in desirable alternative activities or facilities, which may be required to facilitate necessary reductions and conversions in military and other industrial activities or facilities;

(5) a full and detailed review of actions attempted or accomplished under this Act and whatever changes in administrative policies and legislation may be needed to achieve the objectives set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section: and

(6) a review of such related considerations as price levels, international trade, capital export and import, exchange rates, the concentration of economic power, the extent of monopolistic or oligopolistic control over various markets, and the level and distribution of income and wealth, and of wages, salaries, and property income.

The Labor Reports of the President

(b) The annual manpower reports of the President (pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2574) shall henceforth be called the Labor Reports of the President and, in addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a) and in section 2574 of title 42. United States Code, shall provide detailed attention on a continuing and progressively analytical basis to

(1) the changing volume and composition of the American labor supply, by major areas of the country, with special emphasis on the total number of people able and willing to work under varying conditions of remuneration and suitability, the extent of various forms of involuntary unemployment and underemployment (including those not working or seeking to work but able and willing to work if suitable opportunities were presented, and those between jobs), estimates of recent, present, and prospective shortfalls in private and public employment opportunities, the impact of mobility and immigration, and the volume of national product lost by such waste or insufficient use of available labor power;

(2) the loss of productive labor power, together with associated lost production, as a result of discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin;

(3) the need for greater opportunities for part-time paid employment with related fringe benefits and job security protection;

(4) the implications of continuing full employment for possible increases in voluntary leisure for reductions in the daily, weekly, monthly, or annual hours of paid work, for flexible work schedules, for paid vacations and sabbaticals, and for more extensive combinations of education and employment;

(5) the associated problems of the nature and environment of work, the quality of work, career opportunities, productivity and related problems of work content, job satisfaction, labor-management relations, and worker participation in employment decisions; and

(6) the national implications of the reservoirs of public service and private employment projects developed by the local planning councils under section 4 of this Act.

LOCAL PLANNING COUNCILS

SEC. 4. (a) The Congress hereby recognizes that (1) the specific identification of local needs for additional goods, services, and employment opportunities can best be handled by local governments, communities, groups, and individuals, and (2) to carry out their functions under this Act, the President, the Secretary of Labor, and other officials and agencies of the Federal Government need the continuing input of ideas, proposals, advice, and criticism from local governments, communities, groups, and individuals.

(b) Section 104 of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 is amended to add a new paragraph to read as follows:

"In addition to its other functions and responsibilities, the planning council

shall

"(1) identify local needs for additional employment opportunities, and under guidelines to be established by the Secretary of Labor, shall select and plan projects to provide a reservoir of public service and private employment projects to supplement available employment. Such projects shall include expanded or new goods and services that reflect the needs and desires of the local community, such as social services, community health services, day care facilities, legal aid, public transit, housing, recreation, cultural activities, sanitation, and environmental improvement (including projects listed in clause 4 (c) (2) below); and

"(2) take part in monitoring and evaluating programs under the Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act of 1976 in accordance with standards and criteria published by the National Institute for Full Employment and pursuant to guidelines established by the Secretary of Labor.". (c) Each Planning Council (established by section 104 of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 and herein referred to as "local planning council") shall, pursuant to regulations of the Secretary, provide for—

(1) the establishment of community boards in community or neighborhood areas which form a feasible and cohesive unit for supplying public service job opportunities. Such community job boards (A) shall to the maximum extent feasible be elected by the residents of the community or neighborhood area and shall fairly represent all segments thereof; and (B) shall be subject to the supervision and review of the local planning councils where they exist; and

(2) the establishment of community public service work reservoirs through action of the community job boards. Such reservoirs shall include, but shall not be limited to, projects for (A) infrastructure construction, repair, and maintenance, (B) assistance to any member or group of individuals mentioned in subsection 5(d), (C) construction, repair, or maintenance of public buildings. (D) combating drug abuse, (E) charitable and educational purposes, (F) public recreation, (G) juvenile delinquency prevention, (H) assistance to the elderly and disabled, (I) environmental control, and (J) such other purposes as the Secretary may designate;

UNITED STATES FULL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

SEC. 5. (a) The United States Employment Service shall henceforth be called the United States Full Employment Service.

(b) In addition to its responsibilities under other statutes, the United States Full Employment Service under the general direction of the Secretary shall assist in the establishment of, in each labor market area in the country in conjunction with the local planning councils acting under section 4(b), the reservoir of public service and private employment projects.

(c) A Job Guarantee Office is hereby created in the United States Full Employment Office headed by a Job Guarantee Officer whose responsibility is to provide useful and rewarding employment for any American, able and willing to work but not yet working, unable otherwise to obtain work and applying to such office for assistance. The Job Guarantee Office shall carry out its responsibilities under this Act in connection with the implementation of subsection (e) upon the recommendation and approval of the local planning councils. Nothing in this Act shall preclude the Job Guarantee Office from contracting directly with the local planning councils for (1) the administration of individual public service and private employment projects or (2) the overall administration of all or any part of such projects within the jurisdiction of the local planning councils.

(d) Each Job Guarantee Office in carrying out its responsibilities shall insure that among projects planned that adequate consideration be given to such individuals and groups as may face special obstacles in finding and holding useful and rewarding employment and shall provide or have provided through the coordination of existing programs special assistance including but not limited to counseling, training, and, where necessary, transportation and migration assistance. Such individuals and groups shall include (1) those suffering from past or present discrimination or bias on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin, (2) older workers and retirees, (3) the physically or mentally handicapped, (4) youths to age twenty-one, (5) potentially employable recipients of public assistance, (6) the inhabitants of depressed areas, urban and rural, (7) veterans of the Armed Forces, (8) people unemployed because of the relocation, closing, or reduced operations in industrial or military facilities, and (9) such other groups as the President or the Congress may designate from time to time.

(e) For the purpose of drawing on the reservoir of public service and private employment projects and providing employment opportunities to applicants, each Job Guarantee Office may, subject to the limitations specified in subsection (c) enter into agreements with public agencies and private organizations operating on a profit, nonprofit, or limited-profit basis. Such agreements shall contain assurances that the agency or organization will

(1) provide an annual independent audit to the Job Guarantee Office. Such agency or organization shall at all times make its records and books available to reasonable review by agents of the Job Guarantee Office;

(2) not discriminate on the grounds of sex, age, race, color, religion, or nation origin in the administration of any program encompassed within the agreement;

(3) observe the prohibitions contained in chapter 15 of title 5 of the United States Code (relating to political activities in federally funded projects); and

(4) submit an annual report to the Job Guarantee Office detailing its activities under the agreement.

(f) It is the responsibility of the Job Guarantee Office to insure that any person willing and able to work (a “jobseeker") is provided the opportunity to be employed at a suitable and comparable job (as defined in subsection 6(b) (2) below). For the purpose of fulfilling this responsibility the Job Guarantee Office shall, as appropriate

(1) refer jobseekers to the private sector and general public sector employment placement facilities of the Full Employment Service (other than as supplemented by this Act);

(2) directly refer jobseekers for placement in positions on projects drawn from the reservoir of public service and private employment projects, and (3) register jobseekers in the standby Job Corps (as established in subsection 6(a) below).