CHAPTER 15B
APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAM

  15B.1  Title.
  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Iowa Apprenticeship Act”.
2014 Acts, ch 1132, §17
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  15B.2  Definitions.
  For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
  1.  “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.
  2.  “Apprenticeable occupation” means an occupation approved for apprenticeship by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship.
  3.  “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.
  4.  “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.
  5.  “Authority” means the economic development authority created in section 15.105.
  6.  “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 forms of grants, loans, forgivable loans, and royalty payments.
  7.  “Fund” means the apprenticeship training program fund created in section 15B.3.
  8.  “Lead apprenticeship sponsor” means a trade organization, labor organization, employer association, or other incorporated entity representing a group of apprenticeship sponsors.
2014 Acts, ch 1132, §18
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  15B.3  Apprenticeship training program — fund.
  1.  An apprenticeship training program fund is created as a revolving fund in the state treasury under the control of the authority.
  2.  The fund shall consist of moneys appropriated for purposes of the apprenticeship training program, and any other moneys lawfully available to the authority for purposes of this chapter.
  3.  Moneys in the fund are appropriated to the authority for the purposes of this chapter.
  4.  No more than two percent of the total moneys deposited in the fund on July 1 of a fiscal year is appropriated to the authority for the purposes of administering this chapter.
  5.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated for subsequent fiscal years. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
  6.  The authority shall adopt rules to administer this chapter.
2014 Acts, ch 1132, §19
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  15B.4  Financial assistance for an apprenticeship program.
  1.  a.  An apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor conducting apprenticeship programs registered with the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship, through Iowa, for apprentices who will be employed at Iowa worksites may apply to the authority for a training grant under this section.
  b.  Financial assistance received by an apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor under this section shall be used only for the cost of conducting and maintaining an apprenticeship program.
  2.  The authority shall provide financial assistance in the form of training grants to apprenticeship sponsors or lead apprenticeship sponsors in the following manner:
  a.  By determining the total amount of funding allocated for purposes of training grants for apprenticeship programs pursuant to section 15B.3.
  b.  By adding together all of the following:
  (1)  The total number of apprentices trained by all applying apprenticeship sponsors or lead apprenticeship sponsors during the most recent training year as calculated on the last day of the training year.
  (2)  The total number of contact hours that apprenticeship instructors for all applying apprenticeship sponsors or lead apprenticeship sponsors spent in contact with apprentices during the most recent training year. For purposes of this subparagraph, “contact hours” includes the time spent instructing apprentices in person or, in the case of a lead apprenticeship sponsor with programs totaling one hundred or more total instructional hours, “contact hours” includes the time spent in online training if the total amount of online instruction does not account for more than thirty percent of the total instructional hours.
  c.  By adding together all of the following:
  (1)  The total number of apprentices trained by a single applying apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor during the most recent training year as calculated on the last day of the training year.
  (2)  The total number of contact hours that apprenticeship instructors for a single applying apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor spent in contact with apprentices during the most recent training year. For purposes of this subparagraph, “contact hours” includes the time spent instructing apprentices in person or, in the case of a lead apprenticeship sponsor with programs totaling one hundred or more total instructional hours, “contact hours” includes the time spent in online training if the total amount of online instruction does not account for more than thirty percent of the total instructional hours.
  d.  By determining the proportion, stated as a percentage, that a single applying apprenticeship sponsor’s or lead apprenticeship sponsor’s total calculated pursuant to paragraph “c” bears to all applying apprenticeship sponsors’ or lead apprenticeship sponsors’ total calculated pursuant to paragraph “b”.
  e.  By multiplying the percentage calculated in paragraph “d” by the amount determined in paragraph “a”.
  3.  An apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor seeking financial assistance under this section shall provide the following information to the authority:
  a.  The federal apprentice registration number of each apprentice in the apprenticeship program.
  b.  The address and a description of the physical location where in-person training is conducted.
  c.  A certification of the apprenticeship sponsor’s training standards as most recently approved by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship or, in the case of a lead apprenticeship sponsor, a representative sample of participating members’ training standards.
  d.  A certification of the apprenticeship sponsor’s compliance review or quality assessment as most recently conducted by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship, unless the apprenticeship sponsor has not been subjected to a compliance review or quality assessment. In the case of a lead apprenticeship sponsor, a sampling of compliance reviews or quality assessments from participating members shall be sufficient.
  e.  Any other information the authority reasonably determines is necessary.
  4.  The apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor and the authority shall enter into an agreement regarding the provision of any financial assistance to the apprenticeship sponsor or lead apprenticeship sponsor.
2014 Acts, ch 1132, §20
Partial item veto applied
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