Florida Senate - 2015 SB 1522
By Senator Detert
28-00993A-15 20151522__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to workforce training; amending s.
3 446.021, F.S.; redefining terms; amending s. 446.032,
4 F.S.; conforming a provision to changes made by the
5 act; requiring the Department of Education, in
6 collaboration with the Department of Economic
7 Opportunity, to identify and recommend specified
8 apprenticeship programs; requiring the department to
9 annually submit an accountability report with
10 specified requirements to the Governor, the
11 Legislature, and the Higher Education Coordinating
12 Council; requiring the department to post on its
13 Internet website specified information regarding
14 apprenticeship programs; amending s. 446.052, F.S.;
15 requiring the Department of Education, in
16 collaboration with the Department of Economic
17 Opportunity, to identify and recommend specified
18 preapprenticeship programs; requiring the department
19 to annually submit an accountability report with
20 specified requirements to the Governor, the
21 Legislature, and the Higher Education Coordinating
22 Council; requiring the department to post on its
23 Internet website specified information regarding
24 preapprenticeship programs; requiring the Department
25 of Education, in collaboration with the Department of
26 Economic Opportunity to submit an operational report
27 to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Higher
28 Education Coordinating Council with specified
29 information; amending s. 446.091, F.S.; conforming a
30 provision to changes made by the act; providing an
31 effective date.
32
33 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
34
35 Section 1. Subsections (2), (4), (5), and (6) of section
36 446.021, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
37 446.021 Definitions of terms used in ss. 446.011-446.092.
38 As used in ss. 446.011-446.092, the term:
39 (2) “Apprentice” means a person at least 16 years of age
40 who is engaged in learning a recognized skilled trade through
41 actual work experience under the supervision of journeyworker
42 journeymen craftsmen, which training should be combined with
43 properly coordinated studies of related technical and
44 supplementary subjects, and who has entered into a written
45 agreement, which may be cited as an apprentice agreement, with a
46 registered apprenticeship sponsor who may be either an employer,
47 an association of employers, or a local joint apprenticeship
48 committee.
49 (4) “Journeyworker” “Journeyman” means a worker who has
50 attained certain skills, abilities, and competencies and who is
51 recognized within an industry as having mastered the skills and
52 competencies required for the occupation. The term includes a
53 mentor, technician, or specialist or any other skilled worker
54 who has documented sufficient skills and knowledge of an
55 occupation, through formal apprenticeship or through practical,
56 on-the-job experience or formal training a person working in an
57 apprenticeable occupation who has successfully completed a
58 registered apprenticeship program or who has worked the number
59 of years required by established industry practices for the
60 particular trade or occupation.
61 (5) “Preapprenticeship program” means an organized course
62 of instruction, including, but not limited to, industry
63 certifications identified under s. 1008.44, in the public school
64 system or elsewhere, which course is designed to prepare a
65 person 16 years of age or older to become an apprentice and
66 which course is approved by and registered with the department
67 and sponsored by a registered apprenticeship program.
68 (6) “Apprenticeship program” means an organized course of
69 instruction, including, but not limited to, industry
70 certifications identified under s. 1008.44, registered and
71 approved by the department, which course shall contain all terms
72 and conditions for the qualifications, recruitment, selection,
73 employment, and training of apprentices including such matters
74 as the requirements for a written apprenticeship agreement.
75 Section 2. Section 446.032, Florida Statutes, is amended to
76 read:
77 446.032 General duties of the department for apprenticeship
78 training.—The department shall:
79 (1) Establish uniform minimum standards and policies
80 governing apprentice programs and agreements. The standards and
81 policies shall govern the terms and conditions of the
82 apprentice’s employment and training, including the quality
83 training of the apprentice for, but not limited to, such matters
84 as ratios of apprentices to journeyworkers journeymen, safety,
85 related instruction, and on-the-job training; but these
86 standards and policies may not include rules, standards, or
87 guidelines that require the use of apprentices and job trainees
88 on state, county, or municipal contracts. The department may
89 adopt rules necessary to administer the standards and policies.
90 (2) Establish procedures to be used by the State
91 Apprenticeship Advisory Council.
92 (3) Collaborate with the Department of Economic Opportunity
93 to identify and recommend apprenticeship programs that are
94 aligned with statewide demand for a skilled labor force in high
95 demand occupations and to regional workforce needs. Beginning in
96 the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the department must annually, by
97 December 31, submit an accountability report, which must include
98 the status and summary information regarding program and student
99 performance outcomes and requirements associated with
100 apprenticeship programs, to the Governor, the President of the
101 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
102 Higher Education Coordinating Council.
103 (4) Post on its Internet website information regarding
104 apprenticeship programs, which must, at a minimum, include:
105 (a) Program admission requirements;
106 (b) Program standards and training requirements; and
107 (c) A summary of program and student performance outcomes.
108 Section 3. Subsections (5) and (6) are added to section
109 446.052, Florida Statutes, to read:
110 446.052 Preapprenticeship program.—
111 (5) The department shall collaborate with the Department of
112 Economic Opportunity to identify and recommend preapprenticeship
113 programs that are aligned with statewide demand for a skilled
114 labor force in high-demand occupations and to regional workforce
115 needs. Beginning in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the department
116 must annually, by December 31, submit an accountability report,
117 which must include the status and summary information regarding
118 program and student performance outcomes and requirements
119 associated with preapprenticeship programs, to the Governor, the
120 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
121 Representatives, and the Higher Education Coordinating Council.
122 (6) The department shall post on its Internet website
123 information regarding preapprenticeship programs, which must, at
124 a minimum, include:
125 (a) Program admission requirements;
126 (b) Program standards and training requirements; and
127 (c) A summary of program and student performance outcomes.
128 Section 4. Preapprenticeship and apprenticeship operational
129 report.—By December 31, 2015, the Department of Education, in
130 collaboration with the Department of Economic Opportunity, shall
131 submit an operational report to the Governor, the President of
132 the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
133 Higher Education Coordinating Council summarizing:
134 (1) The strategies employed by the Department of Education
135 and the Department of Economic Opportunity to engage school
136 districts, Florida College System institutions, technical
137 centers, and businesses as partners in the workforce system to
138 expand employment opportunities for individuals, including, but
139 not limited to, those individuals with unique abilities, which
140 must include work-based learning experiences, such as
141 preapprenticeships and apprenticeships.
142 (2) Recommendations made by the Department of Education and
143 the Department of Economic Opportunity to gain efficiency in
144 program funding and make program governance changes to improve
145 the delivery and management of preapprenticeship and
146 apprenticeship programs based on workforce needs.
147 (3) Recommendations and strategies for the Department of
148 Economic Opportunity to ensure that employers in the state have
149 access to information and consultative services, at no cost to
150 the employers, regarding sponsorship of demand-driven,
151 registered preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.
152 Section 5. Section 446.091, Florida Statutes, is amended to
153 read:
154 446.091 On-the-job training program.—All provisions of ss.
155 446.011-446.092 relating to apprenticeship and
156 preapprenticeship, including, but not limited to, programs,
157 agreements, standards, administration, procedures, definitions,
158 expenditures, local committees, powers and duties, limitations,
159 grievances, and ratios of apprentices and job trainees to
160 journeyworkers journeymen on state, county, and municipal
161 contracts, shall be appropriately adapted and made applicable to
162 a program of on-the-job training authorized under those
163 provisions for persons other than apprentices.
164 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.