Bill Text: NC S73 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Local Workforce Dev./Dislocated Workers
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-07-23 - Ch. SL 2013-330 [S73 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2013-S73-Chaptered.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2013
SESSION LAW 2013-330
SENATE BILL 73
AN ACT to require that local workforce development boards use a competitive selection process to award adult and dislocated worker services provider contracts authorized in the workforce investment act of 1998 AND TO TRANSFER THE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 143B‑438.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B‑438.11. Local Workforce Development Boards.
(a) Duties. – Local Workforce Development Boards shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) To develop policy and act as the governing body for local workforce development.
(2) To provide planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce development programs, including the local One‑Stop Delivery System.
(3) To provide advice regarding workforce policy and programs to local elected officials, employers, education and employment training agencies, and citizens.
(4) To develop a local plan in coordination with the appropriate community partners to address the workforce development needs of the service area.
(5) To develop linkages with economic development efforts and activities in the service area and promote cooperation and coordination among public organizations, education agencies, and private businesses.
(6) To review local agency plans and grant applications for workforce development programs for coordination and achievement of local goals and needs.
(7) To serve as the Workforce Investment Board for the designated substate area for the purpose of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(7a) To designate through a competitive selection process, by no later than July 1, 2014, the providers of adult and dislocated worker services authorized in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(8) To provide the appropriate guidance and information to Workforce Investment Act consumers to ensure that they are prepared and positioned to make informed choices in selecting a training provider. Each local Workforce Development Board shall ensure that consumer choice is properly maintained in the one‑stop centers and that consumers are provided the full array of public and private training provider information.
(9) To provide coordinated regional workforce development planning and labor market data sharing."
SECTION 2.(a) All functions, powers, duties, obligations, resources, and appropriations vested in the Apprenticeship Program and the Apprenticeship Council are transferred to, vested in, and consolidated into the Department of Commerce as a Type I transfer, as defined in G.S. 143A‑6. The Secretary of Commerce and the Office of State Budget and Management are authorized to take all other steps necessary to consolidate the Apprenticeship Program and Apprenticeship Council into the Department of Commerce.
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 143A‑71 is repealed.
SECTION 2.(c) Chapter 94 of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Chapter 94.
"Apprenticeship.
"§ 94‑1. Purpose.
The purposes of this Chapter are:
to open to young people the opportunity to obtain training that will equip them
for profitable employment and citizenship; to set up, as a means to this end, a
program of voluntary apprenticeship under approved apprentice agreements
providing facilities for their training and guidance in the arts and crafts of
industry and trade, with parallel instruction in related and supplementary
education; to promote employment opportunities for young people under
conditions providing adequate training and reasonable earnings; to relate the
supply of skilled workers to employment demands; to establish standards for
apprentice training; to establish an Apprenticeship Council and apprenticeship
committees and sponsors to assist in effectuating the purposes of this Chapter;
to provide for a Director of Apprenticeship within the Department of Labor; Commerce;
to provide for reports to the legislature and to the public regarding the
status of apprentice training in the State; to establish a procedure for the
determination of apprentice agreement controversies; and to accomplish related
ends.
"§ 94‑2. Apprenticeship Council.
The Commissioner of Labor Secretary
of Commerce shall appoint an Apprenticeship Council composed of four
representatives each from employer and employee organizations respectively and
three representatives from the public at large. One State official designated
by the Department of Public Instruction and one State official designated by
the Department of Community Colleges shall be a member ex officio of said
council, without vote. The terms of office of the members of the Apprenticeship
Council first appointed by the Commissioner of Labor Secretary of
Commerce shall expire as designated by the Commissioner Secretary
at the time of making the appointment: two representatives each of
employers and employees, being appointed for one year and one representative of
the public at large being appointed for two years; and one representative each
of employers, employees, and the public at large being appointed for a term of
three years. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the
expiration of the term of his predecessor shall be appointed for the remainder
of said term. Each member of the Council not otherwise compensated by public
moneys, shall be reimbursed for transportation and shall receive such per diem
compensation as is provided generally for boards and commissions under the
biennial maintenance appropriation acts for each day spent in attendance at
meetings of the Apprenticeship Council. The Commissioner of Labor Secretary
of Commerce shall annually appoint one member of the Council to act as its
chairman.
The Apprenticeship Council shall
meet at the call of the Commissioner of Labor Secretary of Commerce and
shall aid him in formulating policies for the effective administration of this
Chapter. Subject to the approval of the Commissioner, Secretary, the
Apprenticeship Council shall establish standards for apprentice agreement which
in no case shall be lower than those prescribed by this Chapter, shall issue
such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes
of said Chapter, and shall perform such other functions as the Commissioner Secretary
may direct. Not less than once a year the Apprenticeship Council shall
make a report through the Commissioner of Labor Secretary of its
activities and findings to the legislature and to the public.
"§ 94‑3. Director of Apprenticeship.
The Commissioner of Labor Secretary
of Commerce is hereby directed to appoint a Director of Apprenticeship
which appointment shall be subject to the confirmation of the State Apprenticeship
Council by a majority vote. The Commissioner of Labor Secretary of
Commerce is further authorized to appoint and employ such clerical,
technical, and professional help as shall be necessary to effectuate the
purposes of this Chapter.
"§ 94‑4. Powers and duties of Director of Apprenticeship.
The Director, under the
supervision of the Commissioner of Labor Secretary of Commerce and
with the advice and guidance of the Apprenticeship Council is authorized to
administer the provisions of this Chapter; in cooperation with the
Apprenticeship Council and apprenticeship committees and sponsors, to set up
conditions and training standards for apprentice agreements, which conditions
or standards shall in no case be lower than those prescribed by this Chapter; to
act as secretary of the Apprenticeship Council; to approve for the Council if
in his opinion approval is for the best interest of the apprenticeship any
apprentice agreement which meets the standards established under this Chapter;
to terminate or cancel any apprentice agreement in accordance with the
provisions of such agreement; to keep a record of apprentice agreements and
their disposition; to issue certificates of completion of apprenticeship; and
to perform such other duties as are necessary to carry out the intent of this
Chapter, including other on‑job training necessary for emergency and
critical civilian production: Provided, that the administration and supervision
of related and supplemental instruction for apprentices, coordination of
instruction with job experiences, and the selection and training of teachers
and coordinators for such instruction shall be the responsibility of State and
local boards responsible for vocational education.
…
§ 94‑6. Definition of an apprentice.
The term "apprentice,"
as used herein, shall mean a person at least 16 years of age who is covered by
a written apprenticeship agreement approved by the Apprenticeship Council,
which apprenticeship agreement provides for not less than 2,000 hours of
reasonably continuous employment for such person for his participation in an
approved schedule of work experience and for organized, related supplemental
instruction in technical subjects related to the trade. A minimum of 144 hours
of related supplemental instruction for each year of apprenticeship is
recommended. The required hours for apprenticeship agreements and the
recommended hours for related supplemental instruction may be decreased or
increased in accordance with standards adopted by the apprenticeship committee
or sponsor, subject to approval of the Commissioner of Labor.Secretary
of Commerce.
…
§ 94‑12. Fees.
The following fees are imposed on
each apprentice who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement entered
into under this Chapter: (i) a new registration fee of fifty dollars ($50.00);
and (ii) an annual fee of fifty dollars ($50.00). The fees are departmental
receipts and must be applied to the costs of administering the apprenticeship
program. The Commissioner Secretary of Commerce may adopt rules
pursuant to Chapter 150B of the General Statutes to implement this section."
SECTION 3. Section 2 of this act becomes effective January 1, 2014. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 18th day of July, 2013.
s/ Daniel J. Forest
President of the Senate
s/ Thom Tillis
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Pat McCrory
Governor
Approved 4:26 p.m. this 23rd day of July, 2013