Bill Text: IL HB4186 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Creates the Green Jobs Training Fund Act. Creates the Green Jobs Training Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury. Provides that the purpose of the Fund shall be to support the development and implementation of worker skills training and education programs in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. Authorizes the Director of Labor to use money from the Fund to establish 2 competitive grant programs: (i) an Energy Training Partnership Grant program, which would authorize the Director to award grants to eligible entities in order to produce economically self-sufficient program participants and a skilled workforce for eligible industries and (ii) a Pathways out of Poverty Grant program, which would authorize the Director to award grants to eligible entities that meet certain requirements. Limits grants made under either of these programs to $500,000 total over no more than 2 years. Requires the Department of Labor to report certain information to the General Assembly and Governor each year.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-2)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-08-16 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4186 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB4186-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning job training.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Green
Jobs Training Fund Act.
Section 5. Green Jobs Training Fund.
(a) The Green Jobs Training Fund is hereby created as a
special fund in the State Treasury. Subject to appropriation,
the Fund shall be administered by the Department of Commerce
and Economic Opportunity, in consultation with the
Environmental Protection Agency. There shall be credited to the
Fund any monies specifically designated for deposit into the
Fund, including gifts, grants, and private contributions.
Earnings attributable to moneys in the Fund shall be deposited
into the Fund.
The Fund shall be used by the Department for the following
purposes:
(1) supporting, in conjunction with other private,
public, and philanthropic resources, the development and
implementation of worker skills training and education
programs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy
industries;
(2) collecting and analyzing labor market data to track

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workforce trends resulting from energy related
initiatives; and
(3) providing grants as well as partnership planning
and programs to eligible entities in order to provide an
integrated continuum of workforce education and training.
Section 10. Eligible entities.
(a) Eligible entities shall include:
(1) community-based, nonprofit organizations;
(2) educational institutions with expertise in serving
low-income adults or youth;
(3) public or private employers in eligible
industries; and
(4) labor organizations representing workers in
eligible industries.
(b) Eligible entities shall:
(1) demonstrate experience in implementing and
operating worker skills training and education programs;
(2) coordinate activities, where appropriate, with the
workforce investment system;
(3) demonstrate the ability to recruit individuals for
training; and
(4) support recruited individuals' successful
completion of training programs funded under this Act.
Section 15. Eligible participants. Eligible participants

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shall include:
(1) workers affected by State energy and environmental
policy;
(2) unemployed workers;
(3) individuals, including at-risk youth, seeking
employment pathways out of poverty and into economic
self-sufficiency; and
(4) formerly incarcerated, adjudicated nonviolent
offenders.
Section 20. Eligible industries. Energy efficiency and
renewable energy industries eligible to participate in a
program under this Act include, but are not limited to, the
following:
(1) the energy efficient building construction and
retrofit industries;
(2) the renewable electric power generation and
transmission industry;
(3) the energy efficient and advanced vehicle drive
train industry;
(4) the biofuels industry;
(5) the deconstruction and materials use industries;
(6) the energy efficiency assessment industry; and
(7) the manufacturers that produce sustainable
products using environmentally sustainable processes and
materials.

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Any green industry not listed in this Section may petition
the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for
inclusion on the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity's list of eligible industries.
Section 25. Green Jobs Training Program Advisory
Committee. The Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
shall appoint an advisory committee to represent significant
constituencies.
Section 30. Audit. The Auditor General or his or her
designee shall audit the programs each year, using generally
accepted accounting principles.
Section 35. Research program. Subject to appropriation,
the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall collect
and analyze labor market data to track workforce trends
resulting from energy-related initiatives carried out under
this Act. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
shall report its findings to the General Assembly and Governor
by July 1 each year. The Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity's report shall:
(1) track and document participants' academic and
occupational competencies as well as whether their skill
sets match the needs of eligible industries;
(2) track and document occupational information and

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workforce training data that is relevant to the grant
programs administered under this Act;
(3) describe the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity's efforts to collaborate with outside
agencies, workforce investment boards, industry, organized
labor, and community and nonprofit organizations to
disseminate information on successful innovations for
labor market services and worker training in eligible
industries;
(4) describe the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity's efforts to link research and development in
renewable energy and energy efficiency technology with the
development of standards and curricula for current and
future jobs in eligible industries;
(5) assess new employment and workforce development
practices, including career ladder and upgrade training as
well as high performance work systems, in eligible
industries; and
(6) describe the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity's efforts to provide technical assistance and
capacity building to national and State energy
partnerships.
Section 40. Energy Training Partnership Grants. Subject to
appropriation, the Director of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity shall, on a competitive basis, award Energy

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Training Partnership Grants from the Green Jobs Training Fund
to eligible entities (i) to enable those entities to carry out
training that leads to economic self-sufficiency for eligible
participants and (ii) to develop a skilled workforce for
eligible industries. Grants shall be awarded under this Section
to ensure some measure of geographic equality. Priority shall
be given to eligible entities that leverage additional public
and private resources to fund training programs, including cash
or in-kind matches from participating employers in eligible
industries.
Section 45. Pathways out of Poverty Grants. Subject to
appropriation, the Director of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity shall award competitive grants from the Green Jobs
Training Fund to eligible entities to enable those entities to
carry out training that leads to economic self-sufficiency for
eligible participants. The Director of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity shall give priority to eligible entities that (i)
serve individuals in families with a gross income of less than
200 percent of the federal poverty limit as determined by the
U.S. Census Bureau; (ii) leverage additional public and private
resources to fund training programs, including cash or in-kind
matches from participating employers; (iii) involve employers
and labor organizations in the determination of relevant skills
and competencies and ensure that the certificates or
credentials that result from the training are

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employer-recognized; (iv) deliver courses at alternative times
and locations most convenient and accessible to participants;
and (v) link adult remedial education with occupational skills
training. Grants shall be awarded under this Section so as to
ensure some degree of geographic equity in their distribution.
Section 50. Grant limitations. Grant moneys awarded under
this Act must be expended by the grant recipient within 2 years
after being received by the grant recipient. The Director may
not award an eligible entity more than $500,000 in grant
funding under this Act.
Section 55. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.719 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.719 new)
Sec. 5.719. The Green Jobs Training Fund.