By: Hughes S.B. No. 770
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility for job-training programs provided under
  the self-sufficiency fund.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 309.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Subject to the availability of funds, the
  self-sufficiency fund is created as an account in the general
  revenue fund for use by public community and technical colleges,
  community-based organizations, and state extension agencies to
  develop [for certain recipients of financial assistance under
  Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, customized] job-training
  programs in which individuals who are identified by the commission
  as being low-income or at risk of becoming dependent on public
  assistance benefits are [the recipients will be] provided job
  training by:
               (1)  an entity that develops a job-training program
  under this section;
               (2)  a small or medium-sized business or trade union;
  or
               (3)  an informal partnership between an entity that
  develops a job-training program under this section and a small or
  medium-sized business network or consortium.
         SECTION 2.  Section 309.003(b), Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An entity that receives money from the fund for a
  job-training program shall work in conjunction with employers to
  place participants who successfully complete [graduates of] the
  program in positions of employment in which the participants
  [graduates] will earn [be earning] wages sufficient to enable the
  participants [graduates] to become independent of or avoid becoming
  dependent on benefits under the financial assistance program
  established  under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, and if
  applicable, benefits [assistance] provided under the supplemental
  nutrition assistance [food stamp] program established
  [administered by the Texas Department of Human Services] under
  Chapter 33, Human Resources Code.
         SECTION 3.  Section 309.004, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 309.004.  RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. The commission shall
  adopt rules to implement this chapter, including rules to:
               (1)  identify individuals who are low-income or at risk
  of becoming dependent on public assistance benefits; and
               (2)  determine which individuals identified under
  Subdivision (1) [recipients of financial assistance under Chapter
  31, Human Resources Code,] are eligible to participate in
  job-training programs developed with money from the fund.
         SECTION 4.  If before implementing any provision of this Act
  a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
  federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
  the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
  authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
  waiver or authorization is granted.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.