SenateS. 5157119th Congress
Reimagining Education and Skills through Unified Longitudinal Talent Systems (RESULTS) Act of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5157 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5157
To promote the use of accessible, seamless, intrastate data available
through robust, secure, and tailored statewide longitudinal data
systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2026
Ms. Blunt Rochester (for herself and Mr. Marshall) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote the use of accessible, seamless, intrastate data available
through robust, secure, and tailored statewide longitudinal data
systems, 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 ``Reimagining Education and Skills
through Unified Longitudinal Talent Systems (RESULTS) Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to promote the use of accessible, seamless data
available through robust, secure, and tailored statewide
longitudinal data systems that--
(A) protect privacy and confidentiality in
accordance with applicable Federal and State privacy
laws; and
(B) connect early childhood education, elementary
school and secondary school, postsecondary education,
adult education, workforce development, and employment
outcomes data, in order to help State and local
policymakers address emerging and longstanding cross-
sector challenges and provide communities insights they
need to make informed decisions about their education
and workforce training options;
(2) to modernize section 208 of the Educational Technical
Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9607), as in effect on the
day before the date of enactment on this Act, with a more
flexible, consolidated source of funding that States can use to
improve their statewide longitudinal data systems, including
the infrastructure and capacity of those systems; and
(3) to support more robust statewide longitudinal data
systems in order to ensure consistency and compatibility of
data elements, formats, and structures.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS.
Section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20
U.S.C. 9607) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 208. GRANT PROGRAM FOR STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) ESEA definitions.--The terms `elementary school' and
`secondary school' have the meanings given those terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
``(2) Area career and technical education school.--The term
`area career and technical education school' has the meaning
given such term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302).
``(3) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
``(A) the Governor of a State; or
``(B) a State agency, data governance entity, or
public sector organization that oversees the statewide
longitudinal data system, provided that such entity is
designated by the Governor to administer or coordinate
activities under this section.
``(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education' has the meaning given that
term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1002).
``(5) Statewide longitudinal data system.--The term
`statewide longitudinal data system' means a data system
operated at the State level by an eligible entity that connects
individual-level data from early childhood education,
elementary school and secondary school, postsecondary
education, adult education, workforce development, employment
outcomes (including unemployment insurance wage records), and
other data sources, as determined by the State, in a manner
that--
``(A)(i) protects and promotes individual privacy
and data security, in accordance with applicable
Federal and State privacy laws, including section 444
of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.
1232g; commonly known as the `Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974') and section 445 of such Act
(20 U.S.C. 1232h; commonly known as the `Protection of
Pupil Rights Amendment');
``(ii) increases data transparency; and
``(iii) minimizes reporting burden; and
``(B) enhances the ability of the public,
researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and States to
efficiently and accurately access, manage, analyze, and
use data to inform decision-making and improve
educational and employment opportunities and outcomes,
including academic achievement, postsecondary education
access and completion, and labor market outcomes.
``(b) Grants Authorized.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the
Director of the Institute of Education Sciences and in
consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall award grants,
on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable those
eligible entities to create, modernize, and improve the State's
statewide longitudinal data system in accordance with this
section.
``(2) Determination of funding level.--In determining the
amount of a grant awarded under this section, the Secretary
shall consider--
``(A) the size and geographic diversity of the
State represented by the eligible entity as compared to
all States receiving a grant under this section;
``(B) the potential direct and demonstrative impact
of the State's proposed activities; and
``(C) the technical quality of the proposed
activity, including peer review of the proposal.
``(3) Applications.--An eligible entity that desires a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may reasonably require,
including--
``(A) a description of the development and
modernization plan for the statewide longitudinal data
system, which shall--
``(i) identify the State data needs and
demonstrate a comprehensive strategy for
infrastructure and capacity to meet those
needs;
``(ii) include a learning agenda
identifying priority policy and program
questions the statewide longitudinal data
system will be used to answer, or if a
statewide longitudinal data system has not
published a learning agenda, include a plan to
develop such a learning agenda and policies to
ensure regular review of that learning agenda;
``(iii) include a plan to conduct periodic
capacity assessments of the State's ability to
use the statewide longitudinal data system to
generate actionable evidence of what works to
improve academic and workforce outcomes, and to
develop capacity within the State for such use;
``(iv) designate cross-agency roles (such
as a chief data officer, chief evaluation
officer, or chief privacy officer) to
coordinate evidence-building activities and
facilitate access for qualified researchers,
including those external to the State, under
appropriate privacy and security protections;
``(v) ensure the availability of data
through interactive resources containing
education-to-employment statistics and open
datasets containing aggregate statistics that
the public can access and download;
``(vi) describe the methods and procedures
the eligible entity will use to ensure the
security and privacy of the collection,
storage, and use of the data involved in the
statewide longitudinal data system in
accordance with all applicable Federal and
State privacy laws, including section 444 of
the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.
1232g; commonly known as the `Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974')
and section 445 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1232h;
commonly known as the `Protection of Pupil
Rights Amendment');
``(vii) describe how the eligible entity
will ensure interoperability of de-identified
data, including through the use of structured,
open, linked, interoperable, and durable
(SOLID) data formats; and
``(viii) include a detailed budget;
``(B) a description of the expected outcomes and
outputs that will result from the activities described
in the proposed plan;
``(C) the Federal performance reporting
requirements the statewide longitudinal data system
will support and how such efforts will reduce
administrative burden and duplication of effort;
``(D) the manner in which the modernized statewide
longitudinal data system will be used to improve
transparency in relation to, among other things,
program quality, education and career outcomes and
opportunities, labor market trends, and changes to job
skills needed to obtain employment, including for in-
demand jobs; and
``(E) the extent to which the modernized statewide
longitudinal data system will be used to enhance
collaboration with the end-users of education,
workforce, and labor market data as outlined in
subsection (c)(2)(F).
``(4) Duration.--A grant awarded under this section may be
for a period of not more than 4 years.
``(5) Supplement, not supplant.--Funds made available under
this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant,
other Federal, State, or local funds used for development of
State data systems.
``(c) Uses of Funds.--
``(1) Requirements for data systems.--
``(A) In general.--Grants under this section shall
be used to support statewide longitudinal data systems
that meet the following requirements:
``(i) At a minimum, include, or seek to
include, and integrate individual level and
administrative data from--
``(I) public early childhood
education, public elementary schools
and secondary schools, public
institutions of higher education, and
public area career and technical
education schools;
``(II) workforce programs funded
through the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et
seq.), including education and training
providers receiving such funding
through State or local funding streams,
programs for which an individual may be
eligible to receive a Workforce Pell
Grant under section 401(k) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1070a(k)), and apprenticeships
registered under the Act of August 16,
1937 (commonly known as the `National
Apprenticeship Act'; 50 Stat. 664,
chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.); and
``(III) unemployment insurance and
other statewide data sources with
access to labor market outcomes or wage
record data, in accordance with privacy
and data security requirements of the
State.
``(ii) Are able to, or seek to,
disaggregate data by race, ethnicity, socio-
economic status, age, disability status, and
gender across the levels of early childhood
education, elementary and secondary education,
postsecondary education, and the workforce.
``(iii) Protect student privacy consistent
with all applicable Federal and State privacy
laws, including section 444 of the General
Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g;
commonly known as the `Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974') and section
445 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1232h; commonly
known as the `Protection of Pupil Rights
Amendment').
``(iv) Are governed through an interagency
governance structure involving all agency data
contributors and established through statute,
regulation, intergovernmental agreement, or
other formal legal structure.
``(B) Permissible elements.--Data systems supported
under this section may include other data systems, such
as--
``(i) juvenile justice and child welfare
data systems;
``(ii) data systems relating to private
early childhood education, private elementary
schools and secondary schools, private
institutions of higher education, and private
area career and technical education schools;
``(iii) health records;
``(iv) correctional systems;
``(v) work-based, workplace, and employer-
provided training records; and
``(vi) other data systems determined
appropriate by the eligible entity.
``(2) Additional uses of funds.--In addition to supporting
statewide longitudinal data systems in accordance with
paragraph (1), eligible entities receiving a grant under this
section shall use grant funds to carry out one or more of the
following activities:
``(A) Data governance.--Activities such as--
``(i) supporting the implementation of
statewide data governance structures that
include, at a minimum, all State agencies that
contribute data to the statewide longitudinal
data system, the director of the statewide
longitudinal data system, a data governance
director, and public stakeholders;
``(ii) funding a Chief Data Office or Chief
Evaluation Officer; and
``(iii) funding a Chief Privacy Officer and
capacity for legal expertise on de-
identification, risk management, and data
sharing.
``(B) Accountability and reporting.--Establishing
the policies and processes to use the statewide
longitudinal data system as the primary infrastructure
for meeting existing Federal education and workforce
accountability and performance reporting requirements
(such as requirements under the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.)), (including the
Workforce Pell Grant program under section 401(k) of
such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070a(k)), the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et
seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C.
3101 et seq.), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et
seq.), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), section 6(d)(4) of the Food
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)), and
the temporary assistance for needy families program
established under part A of title IV of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)).
``(C) Accessibility of data.--Facilitating access,
as appropriate and in accordance with applicable data
privacy laws, to the data within the statewide
longitudinal data system for students, parents,
workers, employers, researchers, State and local
policymakers, schools, workforce training program
providers, community nonprofit organizations, and
others, by carrying out activities such as--
``(i) creating data dashboards, public data
portals, open aggregate datasets, and reports
that can be queried and have de-identified
information that can be sorted and aggregated
in different ways for public consumption;
``(ii) creating one-way, secure data
portals that allow schools, institutions of
higher education, and workforce training
providers (defined as providers under section
122(a)(2) of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(a)(2))) to
access outcomes data for their students or
program participants for a set period of time;
``(iii) creating individual student
dashboards with personally identifiable
information that parents, counselors, and
teachers can access through a secure portal to
assist in identifying whether students are on-
track for graduation and planning for college
and careers after graduation; or
``(iv) developing policies, processes, and
protocols that allow State agencies, alone or
in partnership with public or private nonprofit
institutions of higher education or nonprofit
research organizations, to conduct research
related to topics such as student academic
outcomes, postsecondary and workforce training
program quality, earnings outcomes of education
and workforce training program participants,
and high-quality career pathways and
trajectories.
``(D) Expanding datasets and formats.--Supporting a
partnership between the eligible entity and State
educational agencies, institutions of higher education,
State workforce agencies, workforce training providers,
or employers, in order to--
``(i) enhance State unemployment insurance
systems to collect additional data on jobs and
employment, including at a minimum, job titles
or occupation codes;
``(ii) expand the data collection systems
of postsecondary educational institutions to
include data from private postsecondary
educational institutions and data on all types
of program offerings, whether offered for
credit or noncredit; or
``(iii) expand the adoption and use of
structured, open, linked, interoperable, and
durable (SOLID) data formats on knowledge,
skills, and abilities represented through
credentials, occupational job descriptions, and
learning assertions, including through the
development of a talent marketplace, tools and
services designed to help learners and workers
make informed decisions, or an interstate data
sharing agreement.
``(E) Multistate data collaborative.--Participating
in, and contributing data to, a multi-State data
collaborative, including efforts that provide
participating States the ability to better understand
and support--
``(i) earnings and employment outcomes of
individuals who work out-of-State;
``(ii) interstate earnings and employment
trends;
``(iii) standards-based jobs and employment
data including, at a minimum, job titles or
occupation codes; and
``(iv) multistate open source data
infrastructure and the development and
maintenance of collaboratively managed software
that supports cost-efficient and advanced data
systems within or across States.
``(F) Enhancing collaboration.--Enhancing
collaboration with private sector education, workforce,
and labor market data entities and the end-users of
workforce and labor market data, including individuals,
employers, economic development agencies, researchers,
and nonprofit external providers working in partnership
with public or private nonprofit institutions of higher
education to--
``(i) improve the presentation and
availability of workforce outcome data as it
pertains to degree and credential attainment
and student success for education and training
providers, with a goal of improving the
timeliness, relevance, and accessibility of
such data, including through pilot projects;
and
``(ii) provide training to public
elementary schools and secondary schools,
public nonprofit institutions of higher
education, workforce training providers, and
community-based organizations on interpreting
data.
``(G) Data security and privacy.--Ensuring data
security and the protection of an individual's data
privacy, including--
``(i) defining policies or guidelines for
data collection, storage, sharing, analysis,
and use that ensure compliance with relevant
Federal and State privacy and security laws
(including regulations);
``(ii) reviewing policies and procedures on
how the eligible entity will adhere to all
applicable Federal and State privacy laws and
protections, including section 444 of the
General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.
1232g; commonly known as the `Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974')
and section 445 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1232h;
commonly known as the `Protection of Pupil
Rights Amendment'), in the building,
maintenance, and use of their statewide
longitudinal data systems; and
``(iii) providing privacy and cybersecurity
training for individuals that interact with
personally identifiable information to ensure
compliance with all applicable Federal and
State privacy laws.
``(H) Artificial intelligence.--Exploring evidence-
based, innovative, and secure methods of leveraging
artificial intelligence in conjunction with a statewide
longitudinal data system while complying with all
applicable Federal and State privacy laws and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology's
Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework.
``(I) Replication and adoption.--Accelerating the
replication and adoption of data systems, projects,
products, or practices already in use in one or more
other States.
``(J) Staff capacity.--Improving State and local
staff capacity to understand, use, and analyze data to
improve decision-making, educational achievement, and
education and workforce outcomes.
``(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the conclusion of the
grant period, each eligible entity that receives a grant under this
section shall submit a report to the Secretary on the activities
supported through the grant.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations; Funding Awards.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such
sums as may be necessary.
``(2) Funding awards.--The Secretary shall award to each
State an amount as required under the applicable provisions of
this Act on the date such funds become available for
obligation.''.
SEC. 4. ACCESS TO NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.
Section 116(i) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29
U.S.C. 3141(i)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, and may use
information provided from the National Directory of New Hires
in accordance with section 453(j)(8) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 653(j)(8))'' after ``State law'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Designated entity.--The Governor shall designate a
State agency (or appropriate State entity) to assist in
carrying out the performance reporting requirements for core
programs and eligible providers of training services. The
designated State agency (or appropriate State entity) shall be
responsible for--
``(A) facilitating data matches using quarterly
wage record information, including wage record
information made available by other States, to measure
employment and earnings outcomes;
``(B) data validation and reliability, as described
in subsection (d)(5); and
``(C) protection against disaggregation that would
violate applicable privacy standards, as described in
subsection (d)(6)(C).''.
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