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.
  5.  An apprenticeship sponsor receiving financial assistance under this chapter is ineligible for financial assistance under chapter 15C during the same fiscal year.
2014 Acts, ch 1132, §20; 2018 Acts, ch 1067, §3; 2020 Acts, ch 1117, §1
Subsection 5 amended