Texas Workforce Commission decides which apprenticeships get grants

The text as introduced · 463 words

89R13424 DNC-F

By: Hancock
S.B. No. 1593

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Texas Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs

Grant Program.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 302.252(1), Labor Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(1) "Industry-recognized apprenticeship program"

means a training program that:

(A) provides on-the-job training, preparatory

instruction, supplementary instruction, or related instruction in

an occupation that has been recognized as an apprenticeable

occupation by the commission as provided by commission rule [ Office

of Apprenticeship of the United States Department of Labor ]; or

(B) is certified by the commission as an

industry-recognized apprenticeship program as provided by

commission rule [ by a third-party certifier that has received from

the United States Department of Labor a favorable determination of

qualification to award that certification ].

SECTION 2. Section 302.256, Labor Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) The commission by rule may distribute payments

constituting a partial reimbursement to an eligible person as

milestones for on-the-job training and employment are met by

program participants, in accordance with the grant terms.

SECTION 3. Section 302.257, Labor Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as

follows:

(a) The commission shall adopt rules to administer and

enforce this subchapter , including rules establishing:

(1) which occupations are recognized by the commission

as an apprenticeable occupation for purposes of this subchapter and

the criteria for that determination, which must include that the

occupation:

(A) be customarily learned in a practical way

through a structured, systematic program of on-the-job supervised

training;

(B) be clearly identified and commonly

recognized throughout an industry;

(C) involve manual, mechanical, or technical

skills or knowledge which requires significant on-the-job work

experience; and

(D) require related instruction to supplement

the on-the-job training; and

(2) a process for and the criteria by which the

commission may certify a training program as an industry-recognized

apprenticeship program for purposes of this subchapter .

(a-1) The criteria adopted by the commission under

Subsection (a)(2) must be generally consistent with the standards

of apprenticeship prescribed by 29 C.F.R. Section 29.

SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date

of this Act, the Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt the rules

required by Section 302.257, Labor Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to a grant awarded under Subchapter I, Chapter 302, Labor Code, on

or after the effective date of this Act. A grant awarded before

that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the grant was

awarded, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.