88R13288 KSD-F
 
  By: Gerdes, Troxclair, et al. H.B. No. 3723
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of the Rural Workforce Training Grant
  Program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 302.0039 to read as follows:
         Sec. 302.0039.  RURAL WORKFORCE TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. (a)  
  In this section, "program" means the Rural Workforce Training Grant
  Program established under this section.
         (b)  The commission shall establish and administer the Rural
  Workforce Training Grant Program for the purpose of providing
  targeted funding for job-specific workforce training and related
  services to strengthen the skills, resources, and career
  opportunities of the rural workforce in this state.
         (c)  Under the program, the commission shall award grants to
  public, private, or nonprofit entities, including business
  associations, political subdivisions, local workforce development
  boards, and educational institutions, that:
               (1)  provide on-the-job training, apprenticeships,
  workforce education courses, and other job-specific workforce
  development activities in a county with a population of less than
  200,000; and
               (2)  apply to the commission in the manner provided by
  commission rule.
         (d)  Grant money awarded to an entity under the program may
  be used only to cover costs associated with training materials,
  instructors' fees, participant wraparound expenses, facility fees,
  administrative costs, and outreach, mentoring, and recruiting
  costs for the training, apprenticeship, course, or other activity
  for which the money is awarded.
         (e)  The commission shall require a grant recipient to
  provide periodic reports regarding the recipient's use of grant
  money received under the program and related training participant
  outcomes.
         (f)  The commission may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
  donations from any public or private source for purposes of the
  program.
         (g)  The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
  of the program.
         (h)  Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission
  shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
  of the house of representatives, and the standing committee of each
  house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over workforce
  development matters a report regarding:
               (1)  the grants awarded under the program during the
  most recent state fiscal year; and
               (2)  the program's effectiveness.
         SECTION 2.  The Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt the
  rules required under Section 302.0039(g), Labor Code, as added by
  this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
  Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.