Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Making Essential Drugs in America Act” or the “MEDS in America Act”.
Making Essential Drugs in America Act
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to establish a competitive grant program under which the Secretary will award grants to certain institutions to establish American Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Worker Training Centers of Excellence, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 American Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Worker Training Centers of Excellence
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, shall establish a competitive grant program under which the Secretary will award not more than 20 grants to eligible institutions to establish centers of excellence with respect to recruitment and training of biopharmaceutical manufacturing workers in the United States, to be known as “American Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Worker Training Centers of Excellence” (referred to in this section as “Centers of Excellence”).
Grants—
Amount— The amount of a grant under subsection (a) shall not exceed $1,000,000 per year.
Duration— The term of a grant under this section shall not exceed 5 years.
Application— An eligible institution seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require that contains—
an outline of the institution’s plans to recruit and train workers who would be proficient in United States biopharmaceutical manufacturing, including continuous manufacturing, vaccine manufacturing, and working as sterile operators; and
such other information as the Secretary may require.
Eligible institution defined— In this section, the term “eligible institution” means an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), or an entity that carries out an apprenticeship 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.), which has an established memorandum of understanding with one or more biopharmaceutical manufacturers.
Technical assistance— The Secretary may provide technical assistance to an eligible institution seeking to establish a Center of Excellence, including technical assistance provided through an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration.
Report— Not later than 2 years after the date on which the first grant is awarded under this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that—
assesses the effectiveness of the program established under this section; and
makes recommendations with respect to additional measures that may be needed to support worker training for biopharmaceutical manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Authorization of appropriations—
In general— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
Reservation of funds for historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions— Of the amounts made available under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not less than 20 percent for grants to institutions that are institutions of higher education eligible to receive funds under section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)).