H.R. 5587: Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act

114th Congress · introduced 2016-06-28 · Labor and Employment · Latest: Received in the Senate.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2016-06-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-5] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: 1 recorded vote in our records. Latest: House roll call 503 (2016): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended, HR5587 (2016-09-13), Passed. See all
Where it stands now: Received in the Senate. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act

Plain summary

Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2022 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, divides career and technical education (CTE) students into CTE concentrators and CTE participants, and revises requirements for within-state funding allocations. The bill also revises requirements for core indicators of performance, including state adjusted levels of performance, to differentiate those for CTE concentrators who graduate from high school and for CTE concentrators at the postsecondary level. The bill repeals the separate mandate for tech prep education. No state, beginning with FY2020, shall receive a fiscal year allotment that is less than 90% of the previous fiscal year's allotment. The bill increases funding reserved for career and technical education activities in rural areas and areas with high percentages or numbers of career and technical education students. The Institute for Education Sciences shall act for the Department of Education (ED) to appoint the independent advisory panel on the evaluation of CTE programs. The bill revises requirements for the contents of an evaluation. ED shall (currently, may) carry out research, development, capacity building, and technical assistance with regard to career and technical education programs. ED may award grants to eligible entities, including local educational agencies and area CTE schools, to: create, develop, implement, or take to scale evidence-based, field initiated innovations, including through a pay for success initiative to improve CTE student outcomes; and evaluate such innovations rigorously. Grant priority shall be given to eligible entities that predominantly serve low-income students. The bill revises specified funding-related provisions regarding Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau. The bill reauthorizes through FY2022 grants for tribally controlled CTE institutions and repeals the authorization for assistance for certain occupational and information activities. State plans shall be for four years instead of six years. The bill revises requirements for: such plans, as well as state program improvement plans and state leadership activities; local applications for CTE programs, including a comprehensive CTE needs assessment, and local uses of funds; and state maintenance of efforts, including administrative penalties for failure to meet maintenance requirements. The bill permits a state, in order to receive its full fiscal year career and technical education funding allotment, to: (1) continue to use its existing fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditure in determining qualifying expenditure levels, or (2) establish a new level of fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditure. The Government Accountability Office shall evaluate: the strategies, components, policies, and practices used successfully by eligible agencies or eligible recipients receiving funding to assist all students in pursuing and completing programs of study aligned to high-skill, high-wage occupations, as well as any specific underrepresented subgroup of students; and any challenges associated with replication of such strategies, components, policies, and practices. The Wagner-Peyser Act is amended to revise the duties of a state agency receiving federal assistance for participation in the nationwide employment statistics system of workforce and labor market information.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-5] · 29 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5587, Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (2016-09-08)

Cosponsors on this site

Katherine M. Clark (D-MA), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Darrell Issa (R-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Scott H. Peters (D-CA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-5] reported raising $2.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

Recorded votes

House roll call 503 (2016): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended, HR5587 (2016-09-13): Passed

Words on this page, explained (4)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr5587.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr5587 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114