Senate Bill No. 279
(By Senators Unger, Kessler, McCabe, Sprouse, Prezioso and
Rowe)
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[Introduced January 26, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5B-2D-2, §5B-2D-3, §5B-2D-4,
§5B-2D-5, §5B-2D-6 and §5B-2D-7 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the West
Virginia guaranteed workforce program; updating terms;
requiring certain reporting; and increasing the maximum
amount that may be spent on certain training.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5B-2D-2, §5B-2D-3, §5B-2D-4, §5B-2D-5, §5B-2D-6 and
§5B-2D-7 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2D. WEST VIRGINIA GUARANTEED WORKFORCE PROGRAM.
§5B-2D-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, the following words and terms have
the following meanings unless the context indicates another or
different meaning or intent:
(a) "GOCID"shall mean (1) "WVDO" means the
Governor's Office of Community and Industrial Development West Virginia development
office;
(b) (2) "Employer"
shall mean means an individual,
partnership, corporation, or other legal entity that employs or
plans to employ skilled workers;
(c) (3) "Retraining and job upgrade"
shall mean means the
specialized training that is given to an identified level of
employees to enable them to advance to a higher level of
employment;
(d) (4) "Program"
shall mean means the West Virginia
Guaranteed Work Force Program established pursuant to section
three
of this article;
(e) (5) "Training"
shall mean means custom-designed training
given to employees or prospective employees of new or expanding
businesses and industries within the state;
(f) (6) "Training provider"
shall mean means any persons,
public or private educational institutions, agencies, companies
or other entities that may be utilized for training or
consultative services for an employer.
§5B-2D-3. Training program.
The
governor's office of community and industrial
development West Virginia development office shall develop a
business and industrial training program, the purpose of which is
to provide assistance for new or expanding businesses for the
training, retraining or upgrading of the skills of potential employees. The program shall emphasize employee training
specifically designed to accommodate the needs of individual
employers. The program shall encourage the expansion of existing
businesses and industries within the state, promote retention of
businesses and industries within the state, promote retention of
existing jobs within the state, prevent economic and industrial
out-migration, and assist in the relocation of out-of-state
businesses and industries in the state. Under this program, the
governor's office of community and industrial development West
Virginia development office may pay up to one hundred percent or
one two thousand dollars per employee, whichever is less, of
training costs of new employees in firms creating at least ten
jobs in a one-year period. Training assistance may also be
provided to existing businesses in cases in which training,
retraining or upgrading services will result in the retention of
existing jobs or the creation of additional jobs, or both:
Provided, That the
governor's office of community and industrial
development West Virginia development office may pay up to one
hundred percent or
one two thousand dollars per employee,
whichever is less, for the training, retraining or upgrading.
Training costs associated with this program will be paid directly
by the training provider.
Provision of training services will depend upon the employer
meeting program requirements as set forth by the
governor's
office of community and industrial development West Virginia development office and this article. The state of West Virginia
guarantees if employer satisfaction is not achieved, the
governor's office of community and industrial development West
Virginia development office will carefully review the
effectiveness of the recently completed training plan and program
with the employer and the training provider. After such review,
if the
governor's office of community and industrial development
West Virginia development office determines
it is determined that
the training program was inadequate to meet the employer's
specifications and satisfaction as originally agreed to, then
those employees so trained shall be eligible for retraining under
the guarantee provision except when the training program
curriculum
and/or or provider were selected solely at the
discretion of the employer, then no such additional training
shall be considered or approved:
Provided, That in no instance
may the cost of training and retraining an employee exceed
two
four thousand dollars.
§5B-2D-4. Funds.
The funds made available by this section shall supplement
but not displace funds available through existing programs
conducted by employers themselves and public programs such as the
Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Workforce Investment Act
(WIA), the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, the Stewart
B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, and the JOBS Act, or
apportionment fund allocated to the community colleges, regional occupational centers and programs, or other local educational
agencies. In addition, it is further the intention of the
Legislature that the program established pursuant to this section
shall not replace, parallel, supplant, compete with, or duplicate
in any way existing, approved apprenticeship programs.
The fund shall consist of all moneys
which may be
transferred to it by the West Virginia Economic Development
Authority (WVEDA) provided by the Legislature and also any
contributions, grants or bequests received from federal, private
or other sources. Appropriations made from the funds shall be for
the purpose of providing contractual services through the
governor's office of community and industrial development West
Virginia development office for vocational related training or
retraining provided by public or private training institutions
within West Virginia and for contracted services through the
governor's office of community and industrial development West
Virginia development office for vocational related training,
retraining or upgrading provided by public or private training
institutions located outside of West Virginia and for vocational
related training or retraining provided on site, within West
Virginia by any training provider as defined in this article.
§5B-2D-5. Program activities.
The primary concern in the provision of training services
shall be the needs and types of services identified by the
employer. A college or university, community college or area vocational education center shall be given initial consideration
to provide any training, retraining, or job upgrade training. The
employer will have the opportunity to participate in the
selection of a training provider and training program curriculum.
Training services may begin upon execution of a written agreement
between the
governor's office of community and industrial
development West Virginia development office and the employer.
Program activities may include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(a) The performance of a job skills analysis and the
designing of a training curriculum for an employer.
(b) The recruitment and referral of trainee applicants to an
employer.
(c) The provision of off site pre-employment training to
prospective employees of a new or expanding business or industry
or to existing employees for purposes of retraining or upgrading:
Provided, That on site pre-employment training may be provided if
off site pre-employment training is not practical.
(d) Retraining of employees in response to a technological
change.
(e) The provision of job upgrade training, if the training
will retain or increase the employer's total work force.
(f) Contracting with persons, public or private educational
institutions, agencies or other bodies for training or
consultative services for an employer.(g) The provision of materials and supplies used in the
training process, instructors with specialized skills,
instructional training aids and equipment, consultative services
relative to highly specific or technical data and other services.
(h) Assisting a foreign employer locating or expanding in
this state by familiarizing the employer's foreign personnel with
the work attitudes, work methods, expectations, customs and life
style of employees who work within this state.
(i) Taking any other action that is considered to be
necessary or desirable for the furtherance of the provisions of
this article.
Funds may not be awarded or reimbursed to any business or
industry for the training, retraining or upgrading of skills of
potential employees with the purpose of replacing or supplanting
employees engaged in an authorized work stoppage.
§5B-2D-6. Reporting.
(a) The office shall file a report with the Legislature
, the
legislative oversight commission on workforce investment for
economic development and the governor at the end of each fiscal
year, commencing June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred
ninety. This report shall include the following:
(a) (1) The number of persons trained and their
demographics
.;
(b) (2) The number of persons placed in employment
.;
(c) (3) The number of employers for which persons have been trained and placed
.;
(d) (4) The number of persons trained and placed for each
employer
.;
(e) (5) The types of work for which persons have been
trained
.;
(f) (6) The source of training fund
.; and
(g) (7) The overall effectiveness of this article in
contributing to economic stabilization and business and
industrial growth within this state.
(b) In addition, the
Governor's Office of Community and
Industrial Development West Virginia development office shall
report on a quarterly basis to the
joint commission on
vocational, technical and occupational education West Virginia
workforce investment council and the legislative oversight
commission on workforce investment for economic development the
following as they relate to the training program established by
this article:
(1) The names of all companies approved for training during
the reporting quarter
.;
(2) The names of all companies receiving funding for
training during the reporting quarter
.;
(3) The amount and source of funds utilized for each
training program
.;
(4) The type of training being delivered
.;
(5) The number of employees trained
.; and(6) Those agencies providing the training.
§5B-2D-7. Marketing.
The
Governor's Office of Community and Industrial
Development West Virginia development office shall market and
promote the program.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the section
with the appropriate agency that administers the program,
increasing the maximum amounts for certain training and requiring
certain reporting.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
This is an interim bill that was proposed for introduction
in the 2004 Legislative Session by the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic Development.)