Florida Senate - 2016                             CS for SB 1670
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Higher Education; and Senator Bean
       
       589-02539-16                                          20161670c1
    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. 1003.4282, F.S.; providing that a student
   14         who completes a certain apprenticeship may be awarded
   15         specified credits toward a standard high school
   16         diploma under certain circumstances; amending s.
   17         1009.25, F.S.; providing that students enrolled in
   18         certain apprenticeship programs are exempt from
   19         tuition and fees associated with certain courses;
   20         creating s. 1011.802, F.S.; creating the Florida
   21         Apprenticeship Grant Program within the Department of
   22         Education to provide grants to Florida College System
   23         institutions for the creation of new apprenticeship
   24         programs or the expansion of existing apprenticeship
   25         programs; requiring the Division of Career and Adult
   26         Education to administer the program; providing
   27         requirements related to applications, program
   28         priority, use of grant funds, and quarterly reports;
   29         creating s. 1011.803, F.S.; creating the Rapid
   30         Response Grant Program; providing for the purpose and
   31         application requirements of the program; requiring
   32         Florida College System institutions that receive
   33         grants to provide quarterly reports to the department;
   34         providing uses for grant funds; requiring the
   35         department to administer and conduct an annual
   36         analysis of the program; providing an effective date.
   37          
   38  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         Section 1. Section 446.021, Florida Statutes, is reordered
   41  and amended to read:
   42         446.021 Definitions of terms used in ss. 446.011-446.092.
   43  As used in ss. 446.011-446.092, the term:
   44         (8)(1) “Preapprentice” means any person 16 years of age or
   45  over engaged in any course of instruction in the public school
   46  system or elsewhere, which course is registered as a
   47  preapprenticeship program with the department.
   48         (1)(2) “Apprentice” means a person at least 16 years of age
   49  who is engaged in learning a recognized skilled trade through
   50  actual work experience under the supervision of journeyworker
   51  journeymen craftsmen, which training should be combined with
   52  properly coordinated studies of related technical and
   53  supplementary subjects, and who has entered into a written
   54  agreement, which may be cited as an apprentice agreement, with a
   55  registered apprenticeship sponsor who may be either an employer,
   56  an association of employers, or a local joint apprenticeship
   57  committee.
   58         (11)(3) “Trainee” means a person at least 16 years of age
   59  who is engaged in learning a specific skill, trade, or
   60  occupation within a formalized, on-the-job training program.
   61         (5)(4) “Journeyworker Journeyman” means a person working in
   62  an apprenticeable occupation who has successfully completed a
   63  registered apprenticeship program or who has worked the number
   64  of years required by established industry practices for the
   65  particular trade or occupation. The term includes a mentor,
   66  technician, specialist, or other skilled worker who has
   67  documented sufficient skills and knowledge of an occupation,
   68  either through formal apprenticeship or through practical on
   69  the-job experience and formal training.
   70         (9)(5) “Preapprenticeship program” means an organized
   71  course of instruction in the public school system or elsewhere,
   72  which course is designed to prepare a person 16 years of age or
   73  older to become an apprentice and which course is approved by
   74  and registered with the department and sponsored by a registered
   75  apprenticeship program.
   76         (2)(6) “Apprenticeship program” means an organized course
   77  of instruction, registered and approved by the department, which
   78  course shall:
   79         (a) Contain all terms and conditions for the
   80  qualifications, recruitment, selection, employment, and training
   81  of apprentices including such matters as the requirements for a
   82  written apprenticeship agreement.
   83         (b)Enable learning that may include online courses and
   84  remote platforms for distributing training content.
   85         (c)Award credit for existing skills and knowledge
   86  demonstrated by prior learning assessments, as determined by
   87  institution policy on credit for prior learning pursuant to s.
   88  1001.64.
   89         (7) “On-the-job training program” means a formalized system
   90  of job processes which may be augmented by related instruction
   91  that provides the experience and knowledge necessary to meet the
   92  training objective of learning a specific skill, trade, or
   93  occupation. The training program must be at least 6 months and
   94  not more than 2 years in duration and must be registered with
   95  the department.
   96         (12)(8) “Uniform minimum preapprenticeship standards” means
   97  the minimum requirements established uniformly for each craft
   98  under which a preapprenticeship program is administered and
   99  includes standards of admission, training goals, training
  100  objectives, curriculum outlines, objective standards to measure
  101  successful completion of the preapprenticeship program, and the
  102  percentage of credit which may be given to preapprenticeship
  103  graduates upon acceptance into the apprenticeship program.
  104         (10)(9) “Related instruction” means an organized and
  105  systematic form of instruction designed to provide the
  106  apprentice with knowledge of the theoretical subjects related to
  107  a specific trade or occupation.
  108         (3)(10) “Cancellation” means the deregistration of an
  109  apprenticeship program or the termination of an apprenticeship
  110  agreement.
  111         (6)(11) “Jurisdiction” means the specific geographical area
  112  for which a particular program is registered.
  113         (4)(12) “Department” means the Department of Education.
  114         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 446.032, Florida
  115  Statutes, is amended to read:
  116         446.032 General duties of the department for apprenticeship
  117  training.—The department shall:
  118         (1) Establish uniform minimum standards and policies
  119  governing apprentice programs and agreements. The standards and
  120  policies shall govern the terms and conditions of the
  121  apprentice’s employment and training, including the quality
  122  training of the apprentice for, but not limited to, such matters
  123  as ratios of apprentices to journeyworkers journeymen, safety,
  124  related instruction, and on-the-job training; but these
  125  standards and policies may not include rules, standards, or
  126  guidelines that require the use of apprentices and job trainees
  127  on state, county, or municipal contracts. The department may
  128  adopt rules necessary to administer the standards and policies.
  129         Section 3. Section 446.091, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  130  read:
  131         446.091 On-the-job training program.—All provisions of ss.
  132  446.011-446.092 relating to apprenticeship and
  133  preapprenticeship, including, but not limited to, programs,
  134  agreements, standards, administration, procedures, definitions,
  135  expenditures, local committees, powers and duties, limitations,
  136  grievances, and ratios of apprentices and job trainees to
  137  journeyworkers journeymen on state, county, and municipal
  138  contracts, shall be appropriately adapted and made applicable to
  139  a program of on-the-job training authorized under those
  140  provisions for persons other than apprentices.
  141         Section 4. Section 446.092, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  142  read:
  143         446.092 Criteria for apprenticeship occupations.—An
  144  apprenticeable occupation is a skilled trade which possesses all
  145  of the following characteristics:
  146         (1) It is customarily learned in a practical way through a
  147  structured, systematic program of on-the-job, supervised
  148  training.
  149         (2) It is commonly recognized throughout the industry or
  150  recognized with a positive view towards emerging and evolving
  151  changing technology.
  152         (3) It typically involves manual, mechanical, or technical
  153  skills and knowledge which require a minimum of 2,000 hours of
  154  work and training, which hours are excluded from the time spent
  155  at related instruction.
  156         (4) It requires related instruction to supplement on-the
  157  job training and online training. Such instruction may be given
  158  in a classroom or through correspondence courses.
  159         (5) It involves the development of skill sufficiently broad
  160  to be applicable in like occupations throughout an industry,
  161  rather than of restricted application to the products or
  162  services of any one company.
  163         (6) It does not fall into any of the following categories:
  164         (a) Selling, retailing, or similar occupations in the
  165  distributive field.
  166         (b) Managerial occupations.
  167         (c) Professional and scientific vocations for which
  168  entrance requirements customarily require an academic degree.
  169         Section 5. Subsections (22) through (25) of section
  170  1001.65, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (23)
  171  through (26), respectively, and a new subsection (22) is added
  172  to that section, to read:
  173         1001.65 Florida College System institution presidents;
  174  powers and duties.—The president is the chief executive officer
  175  of the Florida College System institution, shall be corporate
  176  secretary of the Florida College System institution board of
  177  trustees, and is responsible for the operation and
  178  administration of the Florida College System institution. Each
  179  Florida College System institution president shall:
  180         (22)Develop and implement jointly with apprenticeship
  181  programs registered with the Department of Education in
  182  accordance with chapter 446 an articulation agreement for the
  183  students enrolled in the respective apprenticeship programs.
  184  Such articulation agreement must provide for at least two
  185  general education courses offered by the institution to be
  186  included in the apprenticeship program, for the award of college
  187  credit upon satisfactory completion of the courses as defined by
  188  the institution pursuant to s. 1001.64, and for enrollment into
  189  a degree program at the institution upon completion of the
  190  apprenticeship program.
  191         Section 6. Present paragraph (c) of subsection (6) of
  192  section 1003.4282, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as
  193  paragraph (d), and a new paragraph (c) is added to that
  194  subsection, to read:
  195         1003.4282 Requirements for a standard high school diploma.—
  196         (6) AWARD OF A STANDARD HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.—
  197         (c) A student who participates in an apprenticeship with a
  198  certified trade association that is registered with the
  199  department in accordance with chapter 446 shall be awarded
  200  credits towards a standard high school diploma if the student
  201  meets the requirements of this section. The credits awarded upon
  202  completion of the apprenticeship may be used to satisfy the
  203  requirements of paragraphs (3) (e), (f), and (g).
  204         Section 7. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
  205  1009.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  206         1009.25 Fee exemptions.—
  207         (1) The following students are exempt from the payment of
  208  tuition and fees, including lab fees, at a school district that
  209  provides workforce education programs, Florida College System
  210  institution, or state university:
  211         (b) A student enrolled in an approved apprenticeship
  212  program, as defined in s. 446.021, including tuition and fees,
  213  including lab fees, associated with a course taken at a Florida
  214  College System institution through an articulation agreement
  215  with the student’s apprenticeship program.
  216         Section 8. Section 1011.802, Florida Statutes, is created
  217  to read:
  218         1011.802Florida Apprenticeship Grant (FLAG) Program.—
  219         (1)The Florida Apprenticeship Grant Program is created to
  220  provide grants, in an amount provided in the General
  221  Appropriations Act, to Florida College System institutions on a
  222  competitive basis to establish new apprenticeship programs and
  223  expand existing apprenticeship programs. The Division of Career
  224  and Adult Education within the Department of Education shall
  225  administer the grant program.
  226         (2)Applications from Florida College System institutions
  227  must contain projected enrollment and projected costs for the
  228  new or expanded apprenticeship programs.
  229         (3)The department shall give priority to apprenticeship
  230  programs in the areas of information technology, health, and
  231  machining and manufacturing. Grant funds may be used for
  232  instructional equipment, supplies, personnel, student services,
  233  and other expenses associated with the creation or expansion of
  234  an apprenticeship program. Grant funds may not be used for
  235  recurring instructional costs or for an institution’s indirect
  236  costs. Grant recipients must submit quarterly reports in a
  237  format prescribed by the department.
  238         Section 9. Section 1011.803, Florida Statutes, is created
  239  to read:
  240         1011.803Rapid Response Grant Program.—
  241         (1)The Rapid Response Grant Program is established to
  242  award grants on a competitive basis, in an amount provided in
  243  the General Appropriations Act, for the expansion or
  244  implementation of high-demand postsecondary programs at Florida
  245  College System institutions, as defined in s. 1000.21.
  246         (2)Each Florida College System institution applying for a
  247  grant must submit an application to the Department of Education
  248  in the format prescribed by the department. The application must
  249  include, but is not limited to, program expansion or development
  250  details, projected enrollment, and projected costs.
  251         (3)Each Florida College System institution that is awarded
  252  a grant under this section shall submit quarterly reports to the
  253  department in the format prescribed by the department. Grant
  254  funds may not be used to replace current funds and must be used
  255  to expand enrollment in existing postsecondary programs or
  256  develop new postsecondary programs.
  257         (4)The Department of Education shall administer the
  258  program and shall conduct an annual analysis and assessment of
  259  the effectiveness of the postsecondary programs funded under
  260  this section in meeting labor market demand.
  261         Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.