15C.1 Future ready Iowa registered apprenticeship development program.

1. Definitions. For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

a. “Applicant” means a new or existing apprenticeship sponsor located in Iowa that has established an apprenticeship program involving an eligible apprenticeable occupation that is located in Iowa and approved by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship.

b. “Apprentice” means a person who is at least sixteen years of age, except where a higher minimum age is required by law, who is employed in an apprenticeable occupation, and is registered in Iowa with the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship.

c. “Apprenticeable occupation” means an occupation approved for apprenticeship by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship.

d. “Apprenticeship program” means a program registered with the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship, which includes terms and conditions for the qualification, recruitment, selection, employment, and training of apprentices, including the requirement for a written apprenticeship agreement.

e. “Apprenticeship sponsor” means an entity operating an apprenticeship program or an entity in whose name an apprenticeship program is being operated, which is registered with or approved by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship.

f. “Authority” means the economic development authority created in section 15.105.

g. “Eligible apprenticeable occupation” means an apprenticeable occupation identified by the workforce development board or a community college pursuant to section 84A.1B, subsection 13A*, as a high-demand job, after consultation with the authority.

h. “Financial assistance” means assistance provided only from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the authority and includes but is not limited to assistance in the form of a reimbursement grant to support the costs associated with establishing a new eligible apprenticeable occupation or an additional eligible apprenticeable occupation in an applicant’s apprenticeship program.

2. Program created. Subject to an appropriation of funds by the general assembly for this purpose, a future ready Iowa registered apprenticeship development program is created which shall be administered by the authority. The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to incentivize small and medium-sized apprenticeship sponsors to establish new or additional eligible apprenticeable occupations in the apprenticeship sponsor’s apprenticeship program in order to support the growth of apprenticeship programs and expand high-quality work-based learning experiences in high-demand fields and careers for persons who are employed in eligible apprenticeable occupations in Iowa.

3. Application requirements — restriction. An apprenticeship sponsor may apply to the authority, on forms provided by the authority and in accordance with the authority’s instructions, to receive financial assistance under the program. The authority shall provide upon request and on the authority’s internet site information about the program, the application, application instructions, and the application period established each year for funding available under the program. The application shall include a description of how the financial assistance awarded under this section would be used to establish an apprenticeship program or add new or additional apprenticeable occupations to the apprenticeship sponsor’s apprenticeship program and the anticipated program expenses identified by the applicant.

a. An apprenticeship sponsor is eligible to apply for financial assistance for a new or additional eligible apprenticeable occupation, in addition to existing apprenticeship occupations in the apprenticeship sponsor’s apprenticeship program, if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) Twenty or fewer apprentices are registered in the existing apprenticeship program as of December 31 of the calendar year prior to the date the authority receives the apprenticeship sponsor’s application.

(2) More than seventy percent of the applicant’s apprentices shall be residents of Iowa, and the remainder of the applicant’s apprentices shall be residents of states contiguous to Iowa. In determining the number of apprentices in an applicant’s apprenticeship program, the authority may calculate the average number of apprentices in the program within the most recent two-year period.

b. An apprenticeship sponsor receiving financial assistance under chapter 15B is ineligible for financial assistance under this section during the same fiscal year.

4. Rules. The authority shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A establishing a staff review and application approval process, application scoring criteria, the minimum score necessary for approval of financial assistance, procedures for notification of an award of financial assistance, the terms of agreement between the apprenticeship sponsor and the authority, and any other rules deemed necessary for the implementation and administration of this section.

5. Agreement. Prior to distributing financial assistance under this section, the authority shall enter into an agreement with the apprenticeship sponsor awarded financial assistance in accordance with this section, and the financial assistance recipient shall confirm the expenses for establishing the program or adding the additional occupations as identified in the approved application, and shall meet all terms established by the authority for receipt of financial assistance under this section.

6. Use of moneys appropriated — administration.

a. The annual administrative expenditures as a percent of the moneys appropriated for a fiscal year for purposes of this section shall not exceed two percent.

b. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated to the authority by the general assembly for purposes of this section that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated in subsequent fiscal years.

2018 Acts, ch 1067, §4

Referred to in §15B.4

*Section 84A.1B, subsection 13A, is effective July 1, 2019; for future text of that subsection, see 2018 Acts, ch 1067, §7, 15

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