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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 15.361 TITLE.
1 2 This part shall be known and may be cited as the "Certified
1 3 School to Career Program".
1 4 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 15.362 DEFINITIONS.
1 5 As used in this part, unless the context otherwise
1 6 requires:
1 7 1. "Certified school to career program" or "certified
1 8 program" means a secondary and postsecondary program
1 9 registered as an apprenticeship program under 29 C.F.R.
1 10 subtit. A, pt. 29, which is conducted pursuant to an agreement
1 11 as provided in section 15.364 or a program certified by the
1 12 state board of education, in conjunction with the department
1 13 of economic development, as meeting the standards enumerated
1 14 in section 15.363, that integrates a secondary school
1 15 curriculum with private sector job training which places
1 16 students in job internships, and which is designed to continue
1 17 into postsecondary education and that will result in teaching
1 18 new skills and adding value to the wage-earning potential of
1 19 participants and increase their long-term employability in the
1 20 state and which is conducted pursuant to an agreement as
1 21 provided in section 15.364.
1 22 2. "Payroll expenditures" means the base wages actually
1 23 paid by an employer to a participant plus the amount held in
1 24 trust to be applied toward the participant's postsecondary
1 25 education.
1 26 3. "Participant" means an individual between the ages of
1 27 sixteen and twenty-four who is enrolled in a public or private
1 28 secondary or postsecondary school and who initiated
1 29 participation in a certified school to career program as part
1 30 of secondary school education.
1 31 4. "Sponsor" means any person, association, committee, or
1 32 organization operating a school to career program and in whose
1 33 name the program is or will be registered or certified.
1 34 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 15.363 CERTIFICATION STANDARDS.
1 35 A school to career program which is certified by the state
2 1 board of education in conjunction with the department of
2 2 economic development shall comply with all of the following
2 3 standards:
2 4 1. The program is conducted pursuant to an organized,
2 5 written plan embodying the terms and conditions of employment,
2 6 job training, classroom instruction, and supervision of one or
2 7 more participants, subscribed to by a sponsor who has
2 8 undertaken to carry out the school to career program.
2 9 2. The program complies with all state and federal laws
2 10 pertaining to the workplace.
2 11 3. The employer agrees to assign an employee to serve as a
2 12 mentor for the participant.
2 13 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 15.364 CERTIFIED PROGRAM AGREEMENT.
2 14 The certified program shall be conducted pursuant to a
2 15 signed written agreement between each participant and the
2 16 employer and contains at least the following provisions:
2 17 1. The names and signatures of the participant and the
2 18 sponsor or employer and the signature of a parent or guardian
2 19 if the participant is a minor.
2 20 2. A description of the career field in which the
2 21 participant is to be trained, and the beginning date and
2 22 duration of the training.
2 23 3. The employer's agreement to provide paid employment, at
2 24 a base wage, for the participant during the summer months
2 25 after the participant's junior and senior years in high school
2 26 and after the participant's first year of postsecondary
2 27 education.
2 28 4. This base wage paid to the participant shall not be
2 29 less than the minimum wage prescribed by Iowa law or the
2 30 federal Fair Labor Standards Act, whichever is applicable.
2 31 5. That in addition to the base wage paid to the
2 32 participant, the employer shall pay an additional sum to be
2 33 held in trust to be applied toward the participant's
2 34 postsecondary education required for completion of the
2 35 certified program. The additional amount must be not less
3 1 than an amount determined by the department of economic
3 2 development to be sufficient to provide payment of tuition
3 3 expenses toward completion of not more than two academic years
3 4 of the required postsecondary education component of the
3 5 certified program at an Iowa community college or a public or
3 6 private college or university. This amount shall be held in
3 7 trust for the benefit of the participant pursuant to rules
3 8 promulgated by the department of economic development.
3 9 Payment into an ERISA-approved fund for the benefit of the
3 10 participant shall satisfy this requirement. The specific fund
3 11 shall be specified in the agreement.
3 12 6. The participant's agreement to work for the employer
3 13 for at least two years following the completion of the
3 14 participant's postsecondary education required by the
3 15 certified program and the employer's agreement to both of the
3 16 following:
3 17 a. To provide and pay at least eighty percent of the cost
3 18 of a standard medical and dental insurance plan for the
3 19 participant.
3 20 b. To pay a full-time hourly wage to the participant of at
3 21 least eleven dollars per hour indexed to 1998 dollars based on
3 22 the gross national product implicit price deflator published
3 23 by the bureau of economic analysis of the United States
3 24 department of commerce or one hundred thirty percent of the
3 25 average wage in the county in which the facility where the
3 26 participant will be employed is located, whichever is higher.
3 27 However, the agreement may provide for additional education
3 28 and work commitments beyond the two years.
3 29 7. If the participant does not complete the two-year
3 30 employment obligation, the participant's agreement to repay to
3 31 the employer the amount paid by the employer toward the
3 32 participant's postsecondary education expenses pursuant to
3 33 subsection 5.
3 34 8. That if a participant does not complete the certified
3 35 program contemplated by the agreement, any unexpended funds
4 1 being held in trust for the participant's postsecondary
4 2 education shall be paid back to the employer. In addition the
4 3 participant must repay to the employer amounts paid from the
4 4 trust which were expended on the participant's behalf for
4 5 postsecondary education.
4 6 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 15.365 PAYROLL EXPENDITURE REFUND.
4 7 1. An employer who employs a participant in a certified
4 8 school to career program may claim a refund of twenty percent
4 9 of the employer's payroll expenditures for each participant in
4 10 the certified program. The refund is limited to the first
4 11 four hundred hours of payroll expenditures per participant for
4 12 each calendar year, not to exceed three years per participant,
4 13 the participant is in the certified program.
4 14 2. To receive a refund under subsection 1 for a calendar
4 15 year, the employer shall file the claim by July 1 of the
4 16 following calendar year. The claim shall be filed on forms
4 17 provided by the department of economic development and the
4 18 employer shall provide such information regarding the
4 19 employer's participation in a certified school to career
4 20 program as the department may require. Forms should be
4 21 designed such that claims for refunds for more than one
4 22 participant may be made on a single form. A valid claim shall
4 23 be paid with interest, the interest to begin to accrue on the
4 24 first day of the second calendar month following the date the
4 25 claim for refund was to be filed or was filed, whichever is
4 26 the latest, at the rate in effect under section 421.7 counting
4 27 each fraction of a month as an entire month under rules
4 28 prescribed by the department.
4 29 3. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2000, and for
4 30 each subsequent fiscal year, there is appropriated annually
4 31 from the general fund of the state to the department of
4 32 economic development an amount sufficient to pay refunds as
4 33 received under this section.
4 34 4. The department of economic development shall consult
4 35 with the department of revenue and finance for purposes of
5 1 this section. The department of economic development shall
5 2 adopt rules as deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of
5 3 the certified school to career program.
5 4 Sec. 6. EFFECTIVE AND APPLICABILITY DATES. This Act,
5 5 being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon
5 6 enactment, and applies retroactively to all calendar years
5 7 ending after the date of enactment.
5 8 EXPLANATION
5 9 The bill establishes a certified school to career program
5 10 within the department of economic development to provide
5 11 incentives to employers to hire individuals between ages 16
5 12 through 24. The program is designed to enable individuals to
5 13 learn new skills through employment, job training, and
5 14 classroom instruction by being employed during the summer
5 15 months after their junior and senior years in high school and
5 16 after their first year of postsecondary education. The
5 17 employer pays the individual a base wage with an additional
5 18 amount being deposited into a special account to be used to
5 19 pay the tuition costs for the individual's postsecondary
5 20 education. The incentive for the employer is a refund of the
5 21 wages actually paid by the employer to the individual for up
5 22 to 400 hours per calendar year plus the additional amount
5 23 deposited into the special account for the individual's
5 24 postsecondary education for the first three years the
5 25 individual is in the program. The refund is paid from a
5 26 standing appropriation made from the state general fund to the
5 27 department of economic development. The appropriation begins
5 28 with fiscal year 2000-2001. The individual must agree to work
5 29 for the employer for at least two years following completion
5 30 of postsecondary education. The employer agrees to pay the
5 31 greater of an hourly wage of $11 or 130 percent of the average
5 32 wage in the county where the individual is employed. In
5 33 addition, the employer agrees to provide and pay for at least
5 34 80 percent of the cost of standard medical and dental
5 35 insurance for the participant. If the individual fails to do
6 1 so, or fails to complete the postsecondary education required,
6 2 the individual must repay any moneys that the employer paid
6 3 for the individual's postsecondary education expenses.
6 4 The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies beginning
6 5 with the 1998 calendar year.
6 6 LSB 3943SS 77
6 7 mg/jl/8
Text: SF02250 Text: SF02252 Text: SF02200 - SF02299 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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