Bill Text: NJ S3562 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies"; makes an appropriation.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-06 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S3562 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S3562-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies"; makes an appropriation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning apprentices and State agencies and supplementing P.L.1992, c.43 (C.34:15D-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Technician and trade level jobs play an important role in New Jersey's economy, and offer pathways for workers to successful standards of living;
b. These jobs require postsecondary education and training, but often do not require a college degree;
c. Registered Apprenticeship is a nationally recognized, tried and true strategy to prepare a skilled workforce for technician and trade level jobs;
d. Registered Apprenticeship provides workers with a portable credential, and provides businesses with a pipeline of skilled workers with higher productivity, and return on investment in their employees;
e. Like private employers, State agencies can take advantage of the benefits of registered apprentices to better recruit and retain State workers;
f. It is therefore an appropriate public purpose to establish a Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies, to be administered by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
2. As used in this act:
"Apprenticeship program" means a registered apprenticeship program providing to each trainee combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade, and registered by the Office of Apprenticeship of the U.S. Department of Labor and meeting the standards established by the office, or registered by a State apprenticeship agency recognized by the office.
"Program" means the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies.
3. a. The Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies is established in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
b. The program shall:
(1) produce guidelines, in consultation with the Department of Education and the Civil Service Commission and an application for State agencies to register an apprenticeship program and seek a State incentive to cover the costs of apprenticeship-related instruction;
(2) allocate funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction;
(3) consult interested State agencies to identify occupations for a registered apprenticeship program;
(4) plan and prepare an information strategy to guide State agencies in selecting apprenticeship-related instruction. Information will identify all financial aid resources available to support registered apprenticeships, including the funding program for agencies to support apprenticeship-related instruction; and
(5) submit an annual report to the Legislature by March 1 of each year, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1).
4. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a sum of $210,000 for costs associated with allocating funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction pursuant to section 3 of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Under the bill, the program is required to:
(1) produce guidelines, in consultation with the Department of Education and the Civil Service Commission and an application for State agencies to register an apprenticeship program and seek a State incentive to cover the costs of apprenticeship-related instruction;
(2) allocate funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction;
(3) consult interested State agencies to identify occupations for a registered apprenticeship program;
(4) plan and prepare an information strategy to guide State agencies in selecting apprenticeship-related instruction. Information will identify all financial aid resources available to support registered apprenticeships, including the funding program for agencies to support apprenticeship-related instruction; and
(5) submit an annual report to the Legislature by March 1 of each year, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1).
The bill also appropriates from the General Fund to the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a sum of $210,000 for costs associated with allocating funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction.
