HF 290 (LSB 1178HV (1) 88)

HOUSE FILE 290

BY  COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 85)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to eligibility and reporting requirements for the skilled workforce shortage tuition grant program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 261.130, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Skilled workforce shortage tuition grants shall be awarded only to students pursuing a career-technical or career option program in an industry identified as having a shortage of skilled workers by a community college after conducting a regional skills gap analysis or as being a high-demand job by the department of workforce development in the department’s most recent quarterly report pursuant to section 84A.6, subsection 4 list of high-demand jobs.  If a community college no longer identifies the industry as having a shortage of skilled workers or the department no longer identifies the industry as a high-demand job, an eligible student who received a grant for a career-technical or career option program based on that identification shall continue to receive the grant until achieving a postsecondary credential, up to an associate degree, as long as the student is continuously enrolled in that program and continues to meet all other eligibility requirements.
    Sec. 2.  Section 261.130, subsection 8, paragraph d, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  Make an annual report to the governor and general assembly. The report shall include the number of students receiving assistance and the industries identified by the community colleges and by the department of workforce development pursuant to section 84A.6, subsection 4, for which students were admitted to a career-technical or career option program.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill strikes references in eligibility and reporting requirements for the skilled workforce shortage tuition grant program to the quarterly report by the department of workforce development on industries the department identifies as having a shortage of skilled workers. The quarterly reporting requirement will be stricken July 1, 2019, by 2018 Iowa Acts, chapter 1067, section 9. The bill instead provides references to a list of high-demand jobs by the department.
   The bill also provides that if a community college no longer identifies an industry as having a shortage of skilled workers or the department no longer identifies the industry as a high-demand job, an eligible student who received a skilled workforce shortage tuition grant for a career-technical or career option program based on that identification shall continue to receive the grant until achieving a postsecondary credential, up to an associate degree, as long as the student is continuously enrolled in that program and continues to meet all other eligibility requirements.