Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1670
By Senator Bean
4-01500A-16 20161670__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to apprenticeships; amending s.
3 446.021, F.S.; revising definitions; amending ss.
4 446.032 and 446.091, F.S.; conforming provisions to
5 changes made by the act; amending s. 446.092, F.S.;
6 revising the characteristics of apprenticeable
7 occupations; deleting provisions that limit
8 apprenticeable occupations; amending s. 1001.65, F.S.;
9 requiring Florida College System institution
10 presidents to develop and implement articulation
11 agreements with certain apprenticeship programs;
12 providing articulation agreement requirements;
13 amending s. 1009.25, F.S.; providing that students
14 enrolled in certain apprenticeship programs are exempt
15 from tuition and fees associated with certain courses;
16 creating s. 1011.802, F.S.; creating the Florida
17 Apprenticeship Grant Program within the Department of
18 Education to provide grants to Florida College System
19 institutions for the creation of new apprenticeship
20 programs or the expansion of existing apprenticeship
21 programs; requiring the Division of Career and Adult
22 Education to administer the program; providing
23 requirements related to applications, program
24 priority, use of grant funds, and quarterly reports;
25 creating s. 1011.803, F.S.; creating the Rapid
26 Response Grant Program; providing for the purpose and
27 application requirements of the program; requiring
28 Florida College System institutions that receive
29 grants to provide quarterly reports to the department;
30 providing uses for grant funds; requiring the
31 department to administer and conduct an annual
32 analysis of the program; providing an effective date.
33
34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36 Section 1. Section 446.021, Florida Statutes, is reordered
37 and amended to read:
38 446.021 Definitions of terms used in ss. 446.011-446.092.
39 As used in ss. 446.011-446.092, the term:
40 (8)(1) “Preapprentice” means any person 16 years of age or
41 over engaged in any course of instruction in the public school
42 system or elsewhere, which course is registered as a
43 preapprenticeship program with the department.
44 (1)(2) “Apprentice” means a person at least 16 years of age
45 who is engaged in learning a recognized skilled trade through
46 actual work experience under the supervision of journeyworker
47 journeymen craftsmen, which training should be combined with
48 properly coordinated studies of related technical and
49 supplementary subjects, and who has entered into a written
50 agreement, which may be cited as an apprentice agreement, with a
51 registered apprenticeship sponsor who may be either an employer,
52 an association of employers, or a local joint apprenticeship
53 committee.
54 (11)(3) “Trainee” means a person at least 16 years of age
55 who is engaged in learning a specific skill, trade, or
56 occupation within a formalized, on-the-job training program.
57 (5)(4) “Journeyworker Journeyman” means a person working in
58 an apprenticeable occupation who has successfully completed a
59 registered apprenticeship program or who has worked the number
60 of years required by established industry practices for the
61 particular trade or occupation. The term includes a mentor,
62 technician, specialist, or other skilled worker who has
63 documented sufficient skills and knowledge of an occupation,
64 either through formal apprenticeship or through practical on
65 the-job experience and formal training.
66 (9)(5) “Preapprenticeship program” means an organized
67 course of instruction in the public school system or elsewhere,
68 which course is designed to prepare a person 16 years of age or
69 older to become an apprentice and which course is approved by
70 and registered with the department and sponsored by a registered
71 apprenticeship program.
72 (2)(6) “Apprenticeship program” means an organized course
73 of instruction, registered and approved by the department, which
74 course shall:
75 (a) Contain all terms and conditions for the
76 qualifications, recruitment, selection, employment, and training
77 of apprentices including such matters as the requirements for a
78 written apprenticeship agreement.
79 (b) Enable learning that may include online courses and
80 remote platforms for distributing training content.
81 (c) Award credit for existing skills and knowledge
82 demonstrated by prior learning assessments, as determined by
83 institution policy on credit for prior learning pursuant to s.
84 1001.64.
85 (7) “On-the-job training program” means a formalized system
86 of job processes which may be augmented by related instruction
87 that provides the experience and knowledge necessary to meet the
88 training objective of learning a specific skill, trade, or
89 occupation. The training program must be at least 6 months and
90 not more than 2 years in duration and must be registered with
91 the department.
92 (12)(8) “Uniform minimum preapprenticeship standards” means
93 the minimum requirements established uniformly for each craft
94 under which a preapprenticeship program is administered and
95 includes standards of admission, training goals, training
96 objectives, curriculum outlines, objective standards to measure
97 successful completion of the preapprenticeship program, and the
98 percentage of credit which may be given to preapprenticeship
99 graduates upon acceptance into the apprenticeship program.
100 (10)(9) “Related instruction” means an organized and
101 systematic form of instruction designed to provide the
102 apprentice with knowledge of the theoretical subjects related to
103 a specific trade or occupation.
104 (3)(10) “Cancellation” means the deregistration of an
105 apprenticeship program or the termination of an apprenticeship
106 agreement.
107 (6)(11) “Jurisdiction” means the specific geographical area
108 for which a particular program is registered.
109 (4)(12) “Department” means the Department of Education.
110 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 446.032, Florida
111 Statutes, is amended to read:
112 446.032 General duties of the department for apprenticeship
113 training.—The department shall:
114 (1) Establish uniform minimum standards and policies
115 governing apprentice programs and agreements. The standards and
116 policies shall govern the terms and conditions of the
117 apprentice’s employment and training, including the quality
118 training of the apprentice for, but not limited to, such matters
119 as ratios of apprentices to journeyworkers journeymen, safety,
120 related instruction, and on-the-job training; but these
121 standards and policies may not include rules, standards, or
122 guidelines that require the use of apprentices and job trainees
123 on state, county, or municipal contracts. The department may
124 adopt rules necessary to administer the standards and policies.
125 Section 3. Section 446.091, Florida Statutes, is amended to
126 read:
127 446.091 On-the-job training program.—All provisions of ss.
128 446.011-446.092 relating to apprenticeship and
129 preapprenticeship, including, but not limited to, programs,
130 agreements, standards, administration, procedures, definitions,
131 expenditures, local committees, powers and duties, limitations,
132 grievances, and ratios of apprentices and job trainees to
133 journeyworkers journeymen on state, county, and municipal
134 contracts, shall be appropriately adapted and made applicable to
135 a program of on-the-job training authorized under those
136 provisions for persons other than apprentices.
137 Section 4. Section 446.092, Florida Statutes, is amended to
138 read:
139 446.092 Criteria for apprenticeship occupations.—An
140 apprenticeable occupation is a skilled trade which possesses all
141 of the following characteristics:
142 (1) It is customarily learned in a practical way through a
143 structured, systematic program of on-the-job, supervised
144 training.
145 (2) It is commonly recognized throughout the industry or
146 recognized with a positive view towards emerging and evolving
147 changing technology.
148 (3) It typically involves manual, mechanical, or technical
149 skills and knowledge which require a minimum of 2,000 hours of
150 work and training, which hours are excluded from the time spent
151 at related instruction.
152 (4) It requires related instruction to supplement on-the
153 job training and online training. Such instruction may be given
154 in a classroom or through correspondence courses.
155 (5) It involves the development of skill sufficiently broad
156 to be applicable in like occupations throughout an industry,
157 rather than of restricted application to the products or
158 services of any one company.
159 (6) It does not fall into any of the following categories:
160 (a) Selling, retailing, or similar occupations in the
161 distributive field.
162 (b) Managerial occupations.
163 (c) Professional and scientific vocations for which
164 entrance requirements customarily require an academic degree.
165 Section 5. Subsections (22) through (25) of section
166 1001.65, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (23)
167 through (26), respectively, and a new subsection (22) is added
168 to that section, to read:
169 1001.65 Florida College System institution presidents;
170 powers and duties.—The president is the chief executive officer
171 of the Florida College System institution, shall be corporate
172 secretary of the Florida College System institution board of
173 trustees, and is responsible for the operation and
174 administration of the Florida College System institution. Each
175 Florida College System institution president shall:
176 (22) Develop and implement jointly with apprenticeship
177 programs registered with the Department of Education in
178 accordance with chapter 446 an articulation agreement for the
179 students enrolled in the respective apprenticeship programs.
180 Such articulation agreement must provide for at least two
181 general education courses offered by the institution to be
182 included in the apprenticeship program, for the award of college
183 credit upon satisfactory completion of the courses as defined by
184 the institution pursuant to s. 1001.64, and for enrollment into
185 a degree program at the institution upon completion of the
186 apprenticeship program.
187 Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
188 1009.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
189 1009.25 Fee exemptions.—
190 (1) The following students are exempt from the payment of
191 tuition and fees, including lab fees, at a school district that
192 provides workforce education programs, Florida College System
193 institution, or state university:
194 (b) A student enrolled in an approved apprenticeship
195 program, as defined in s. 446.021, including tuition and fees,
196 including lab fees, associated with a course taken at a Florida
197 College System institution through an articulation agreement
198 with the student’s apprenticeship program.
199 Section 7. Section 1011.802, Florida Statutes, is created
200 to read:
201 1011.802 Florida Apprenticeship Grant (FLAG) Program.—
202 (1) The Florida Apprenticeship Grant Program is created to
203 provide grants, in an amount provided in the General
204 Appropriations Act, to Florida College System institutions on a
205 competitive basis to establish new apprenticeship programs and
206 expand existing apprenticeship programs. The Division of Career
207 and Adult Education within the Department of Education shall
208 administer the grant program.
209 (2) Applications from Florida College System institutions
210 must contain projected enrollment and projected costs for the
211 new or expanded apprenticeship programs.
212 (3) The department shall give priority to apprenticeship
213 programs in the areas of information technology, health, and
214 machining and manufacturing. Grant funds may be used for
215 instructional equipment, supplies, personnel, student services,
216 and other expenses associated with the creation or expansion of
217 an apprenticeship program. Grant funds may not be used for
218 recurring instructional costs or for an institution’s indirect
219 costs. Grant recipients must submit quarterly reports in a
220 format prescribed by the department.
221 Section 8. Section 1011.803, Florida Statutes, is created
222 to read:
223 1011.803 Rapid Response Grant Program.—
224 (1) The Rapid Response Grant Program is established to
225 award grants on a competitive basis, in an amount provided in
226 the General Appropriations Act, for the expansion or
227 implementation of high-demand postsecondary programs at Florida
228 College System institutions, as defined in s. 1000.21.
229 (2) Each Florida College System institution applying for a
230 grant must submit an application to the Department of Education
231 in the format prescribed by the department. The application must
232 include, but is not limited to, program expansion or development
233 details, projected enrollment, and projected costs.
234 (3) Each Florida College System institution that is awarded
235 a grant under this section shall submit quarterly reports to the
236 department in the format prescribed by the department. Grant
237 funds may not be used to replace current funds and must be used
238 to expand enrollment in existing postsecondary programs or
239 develop new postsecondary programs.
240 (4) The Department of Education shall administer the
241 program and shall conduct an annual analysis and assessment of
242 the effectiveness of the postsecondary programs funded under
243 this section in meeting labor market demand.
244 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.