By Madla                                         S.B. No. 154

      75R1702 PB-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the establishment of an advisory committee to the Texas

 1-3     Workforce Commission on apprenticeship and job-training issues.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 133.001, Education Code, is amended by

 1-6     amending Subdivision (5) and by adding Subdivisions (7) and (8) to

 1-7     read as follows:

 1-8                 (5)  "Commission" means the Texas Workforce

 1-9     [Employment] Commission.

1-10                 (7)  "Advisory committee" means the apprenticeship and

1-11     training advisory committee.

1-12                 (8)  "Executive director" means the executive director

1-13     of the commission.

1-14           SECTION 2.  Chapter 133, Education Code, is amended by adding

1-15     Sections 133.010 and 133.011 to read as follows:

1-16           Sec. 133.010.  APPRENTICESHIP AND TRAINING ADVISORY

1-17     COMMITTEE.  (a)  The apprenticeship and training advisory committee

1-18     is composed of 15 voting members appointed by the executive

1-19     director as follows:

1-20                 (1)  three members must be persons who represent

1-21     employers of members of apprenticible trades;

1-22                 (2)  five members must be persons who represent

1-23     bargaining agents for members of apprenticible trades;

1-24                 (3)  five members must be persons who are employed as

 2-1     training directors or program administrators of programs

 2-2     administered by apprenticeship committees of programs jointly

 2-3     sponsored by labor and business; and

 2-4                 (4)  two members must be persons who are employed by

 2-5     public schools or state postsecondary educational institutions who

 2-6     teach or immediately supervise preparatory instruction,

 2-7     supplementary instruction, or related instruction courses for

 2-8     apprenticeship programs.

 2-9           (b)  In addition to the voting members appointed under

2-10     Subsection (a), the following persons shall serve as nonvoting

2-11     members:

2-12                 (1)  one person designated by and representing the

2-13     Texas Education Agency;

2-14                 (2)  one person designated by and representing the

2-15     Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness;

2-16                 (3)  one person designated by and representing the

2-17     Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board;

2-18                 (4)  one person designated by and representing the

2-19     Bureau of Apprenticeship Training of the United States Department

2-20     of Labor;

2-21                 (5)  one person designated by and representing the

2-22     training divisions of the Texas Engineering Extension Service of

2-23     The Texas A&M University System; and

2-24                 (6)  one person representing the general public who:

2-25                       (A)  is designated by the commissioner of

2-26     education;

2-27                       (B)  has demonstrated familiarity with the goals

 3-1     and needs of technical vocational education in this state; and

 3-2                       (C)  is not otherwise eligible for service on the

 3-3     advisory committee.

 3-4           (c)  A person is not eligible for appointment as a member of

 3-5     the advisory committee if the person is required to register with

 3-6     the secretary of state under Chapter 305, Government Code.

 3-7           (d)  Voting members of the committee serve for staggered

 3-8     terms of four years, with the terms of seven or eight members

 3-9     expiring February 1 of each even-numbered year.  The public member

3-10     of the committee serves a four-year term expiring February 1 of

3-11     every other even-numbered year. Each other nonvoting member of the

3-12     committee serves at the pleasure of the agency or institution that

3-13     the member represents.

3-14           (e)  A vacancy in a position on the committee shall be filled

3-15     in the same manner in which the position was originally filled and

3-16     shall be filled by a person who meets the qualifications of the

3-17     vacated position.

3-18           Sec. 133.011.  POWERS AND DUTIES OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.  (a)

3-19     The advisory committee shall recommend and evaluate a statewide

3-20     plan for the development of a comprehensive program of

3-21     apprenticeship training.  The executive director may designate

3-22     additional duties to be performed by the advisory committee.

3-23           (b)  The advisory committee shall meet at least twice a year

3-24     and at the call of the executive director.  In the event of an

3-25     emergency, the advisory committee may meet at the call of a

3-26     majority of the members of the committee.

3-27           (c)  A member of the advisory committee is not entitled to

 4-1     compensation for service on the committee but is entitled to

 4-2     reimbursement for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in

 4-3     performing functions as a member of the committee, subject to any

 4-4     applicable limitation prescribed by the General Appropriations Act.

 4-5           (d)  The advisory committee is not subject to Article

 4-6     6252-33, Revised Statutes.

 4-7           SECTION 3.  Section 2308.102(c), Government Code, is amended

 4-8     to conform to Section 11.17, Chapter 655, Acts of the 74th

 4-9     Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, and further amended to read as

4-10     follows:

4-11           (c)  The council shall assume the responsibilities formerly

4-12     exercised by the following state advisory councils:

4-13                 (1)  the State Job Training Coordinating Council;

4-14                 (2)  the Texas Council on Vocational Education; and

4-15                 (3)  [the technical advisory committee to the State

4-16     Occupational Information Coordinating Council;]

4-17                 [(4)]  the Texas Literacy Council[; and]

4-18                 [(5)  the Apprenticeship and Training Advisory

4-19     Committee].

4-20           SECTION 4.  Section 11.17, Chapter 655, Acts of the 74th

4-21     Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is repealed.

4-22           SECTION 5.  (a)  A person who served as a member of the

4-23     Apprenticeship and Training Advisory Committee, as that committee

4-24     existed before abolition under Section 19, Chapter 771, Acts of the

4-25     73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is eligible for

4-26     appointment to the apprenticeship and training advisory committee

4-27     as created under Chapter 133, Education Code, as added by this Act.

 5-1           (b)  In appointing the initial voting members of the

 5-2     apprenticeship and training advisory committee, as created under

 5-3     Chapter 133, Education Code, as added by this Act, the executive

 5-4     director of the Texas Workforce Commission shall appoint as members

 5-5     two persons who represent employers of members of apprenticible

 5-6     trades, two persons who represent bargaining agents for members of

 5-7     apprenticible trades, two persons who are employed as training

 5-8     directors or program administrators, and one person employed by a

 5-9     public school or state postsecondary educational institution for

5-10     terms expiring February 1, 2000. The balance of the initial voting

5-11     members shall be appointed for terms expiring February 1, 2002.

5-12     The initial public member of the advisory committee who is

5-13     designated by the commissioner of education serves a term expiring

5-14     February 1, 2000.

5-15           SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

5-16           SECTION 7.  The importance of this legislation and the

5-17     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

5-18     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

5-19     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

5-20     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.