By Keffer H.B. No. 2401
76R6522 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of a voluntary workforce training
1-3 program for certain students.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Chapter 311 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 311. VOLUNTARY WORKFORCE TRAINING FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS
1-8 Sec. 311.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-9 (1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency.
1-10 (2) "Certified program" means a career and technology
1-11 secondary and postsecondary education program conducted under an
1-12 agreement as described by Section 311.003 or a voluntary program
1-13 certified by the agency in conjunction with the commission as
1-14 meeting the standards prescribed by Section 311.002, and that:
1-15 (A) integrates a secondary school academic
1-16 curriculum with private sector workplace training and a
1-17 postsecondary curriculum;
1-18 (B) places students in job internships;
1-19 (C) is designed to continue into postsecondary
1-20 education and lead to the participant earning an associate's
1-21 degree;
1-22 (D) will result in teaching new skills and
1-23 adding value to the wage-earning potential of participants and
1-24 increasing a participant's long-term employability in this state;
2-1 and
2-2 (E) meets recognized or accepted industry
2-3 standards.
2-4 (3) "Participant" means a person at least 16 years of
2-5 age who is enrolled in a public or private secondary or
2-6 postsecondary school, or an equivalent program, and who began to
2-7 voluntarily participate in a certified voluntary workforce training
2-8 program as part of secondary school education.
2-9 (4) "Sponsor" means any person operating a certified
2-10 program and in whose name the program is registered.
2-11 Sec. 311.002. CERTIFICATION STANDARDS. To be eligible for
2-12 certification by the agency under this chapter, a program must:
2-13 (1) be conducted under an organized, written plan
2-14 embodying the terms and conditions of employment, job training,
2-15 classroom instruction, and supervision of participants and be
2-16 subscribed to by a sponsor who has undertaken to carry out the
2-17 program;
2-18 (2) comply with all state and federal laws, including
2-19 laws pertaining to fair labor standards and workplace health and
2-20 safety;
2-21 (3) comply with recognized industry standards
2-22 applicable to the program in which the participant is engaged; and
2-23 (4) include an agreement by the employer to assign an
2-24 employee to serve as a mentor for the participant.
2-25 Sec. 311.003. CERTIFIED PROGRAM AGREEMENT. (a) A certified
2-26 program shall be conducted under a signed written agreement between
2-27 each participant and the employer. The agreement must contain at
3-1 least the following:
3-2 (1) the name and signature of the participant, the
3-3 sponsor, and the employer, and a parent or guardian of the
3-4 participant if the participant is under 18 years of age;
3-5 (2) a description of the career field in which the
3-6 participant is to be trained and the beginning date and duration of
3-7 the broad-based training;
3-8 (3) the employer's agreement to provide paid
3-9 employment, at a base wage not less than the minimum wage, for the
3-10 participant during the participant's junior and senior years in
3-11 high school and after the participant's first year of postsecondary
3-12 education;
3-13 (4) the participant's agreement to pay half of the
3-14 participant's wages to be held in trust to be applied toward the
3-15 participant's postsecondary education and the employer's agreement
3-16 to pay into the trust an additional amount equal to the amount paid
3-17 by the participant;
3-18 (5) the participant's agreement to work for the
3-19 employer for at least two years following the date of completion of
3-20 the participant's postsecondary education; and
3-21 (6) the employer's agreement to pay the participant
3-22 during the period described by Subdivision (5) at least the
3-23 prevailing wage for employees performing similar work and to
3-24 provide other employee benefits to which employees performing
3-25 similar work are entitled.
3-26 (b) The money held in trust under Subsection (a)(4) must be
3-27 held in trust for the benefit of the participant under rules
4-1 adopted by the agency. Payment into a trust approved under 29
4-2 U.S.C. Section 1103 for the benefit of the participant satisfies
4-3 the requirement of this subsection. The fund must be specified in
4-4 the agreement.
4-5 (c) An employer who enters into an agreement under this
4-6 section may not retain participants solely to replace the
4-7 employer's current employees.
4-8 Sec. 311.004. RULEMAKING. (a) The agency and commission
4-9 shall adopt rules as necessary to administer each entity's duties
4-10 under this chapter. To the extent possible, the agency and
4-11 commission shall cooperate with each other in adopting rules so
4-12 that all rules adopted under this chapter are consistent and
4-13 easily administered.
4-14 (b) Rules adopted under this section must include a
4-15 requirement that participation in a certified program under this
4-16 chapter is voluntary.
4-17 Sec. 311.005. COMMISSION DUTIES; LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
4-18 BOARDS. (a) The commission shall:
4-19 (1) administer its responsibilities under this chapter
4-20 as part of the commission's workforce development system;
4-21 (2) cooperate with other state agencies as
4-22 appropriate; and
4-23 (3) provide information and technical assistance to
4-24 the agency, secondary and postsecondary schools, employers, and
4-25 local workforce development boards.
4-26 (b) A local workforce development board shall provide to
4-27 secondary and postsecondary schools and employers in the area in
5-1 which the board is established information and technical assistance
5-2 as necessary to implement this chapter.
5-3 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-4 (b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
5-5 validity of a workforce training program for students in secondary
5-6 and postsecondary education that is in existence on the effective
5-7 date of this Act.
5-8 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.