SSB 3072 (LSB 5291XC (4) 91)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DICKEY)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to apprenticeships.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

DIVISION I
IOWA REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP ACT

    Section 1.  Section 84D.2, subsection 5, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  “Apprenticeship sponsor” means an entity operating an apprenticeship program or an entity in whose name an apprenticeship program is being operated, which entity is registered with or approved by the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship, or the Iowa office of apprenticeship. “Apprenticeship sponsor” includes a lead apprenticeship sponsor, sponsor, or intermediary, and an employer who provides training through a lead apprenticeship sponsor, sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or intermediary.
    Sec. 2.  Section 84D.2, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  12A.  “Intermediary sponsor” means an entity that provides apprenticeship training to multiple employers and serves as the sponsor of the apprentices.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  16A.  “Partner employer” means an employer who trains their employees through an intermediary sponsor.
    Sec. 3.  Section 84D.2, subsection 19, paragraph a, subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (c), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   (c)  Related training instruction from a lead apprenticeship sponsor, sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or intermediary.
    Sec. 4.  Section 84D.4, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  An intermediary or intermediary sponsor has the sole discretion for approving partner employers, provided that such employers are compliant with the employers’ responsibilities outlined in the intermediary’s or intermediary sponsor’s standards.
    Sec. 5.  Section 84D.4, subsection 8, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   8.  a.  The office shall develop a plan providing a procedure for the cancellation or deregistration, or both, of programs and for temporary suspension, cancellation, deregistration, or any of these, of apprenticeship agreements.
   b.  The office shall not cancel, suspend, or deregister an intermediary or intermediary sponsor based on the actions of the intermediary’s or intermediary sponsor’s partner employers. However, the office may require an intermediary sponsor to cancel or suspend a partner employer due to the partner employer’s material breach of responsibilities as outlined in the intermediary’s or intermediary sponsor’s standards.
   c.  (1)  The office may only cancel, suspend, or deregister an approved apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor due to a material breach of the requirements of this chapter. Prior to any permanent or temporary cancellation, suspension, or deregistration, the office must provide a comprehensive list of the grounds of the alleged material breach in writing to the approved apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor and allow at least ninety days to become compliant.
   (2)  A decision by the office to cancel, suspend, or deregister an approved apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor must be issued in writing and must state the reasons for the office’s decision. The office shall not issue such a decision before the conclusion of the ninety-day period or later than thirty days after the conclusion of the period. The decision shall be considered final agency action subject to judicial review as provided in section 17A.19. However, notwithstanding section 17A.19, the office shall have the burden to prove that the approved apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor materially breached this chapter and that the breach continued past the ninety-day period.
   d.  If an apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor is canceled, suspended, or deregistered, the apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor shall have the right to reapply for a registration after sixty days. The office shall not use the prior cancellation, suspension, or deregistration as the basis for denying the reapplication.
    Sec. 6.  Section 84D.7, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   84D.7  Requirements for sponsors and employers.
   A sponsor of a quality pre-apprenticeship program, youth apprenticeship program, registered apprenticeship program, or apprenticeship program is responsible for the administration and supervision of on-the-job training and related technical instruction for each apprentice in the quality pre-apprenticeship program, youth apprenticeship program, registered apprenticeship program, or apprenticeship program. When training is provided by a lead apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or intermediary, the employer of the apprentice is responsible for the administration and supervision of on-the-job training, and the lead apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or intermediary is responsible for related technical instruction for each apprenticeship.
DIVISION II
IOWA PLUMBER, MECHANICAL PROFESSIONAL, AND CONTRACTOR LICENSING ACT —— APPRENTICESHIPS

    Sec. 7.  Section 105.18, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  Regulation of apprenticeships.
   a.  A licensed journeyperson or master may employ or supervise licensed apprentices at a ratio not to exceed three apprentices to one licensee.
   b.  The requirements of this section do not apply to apprenticeship classroom training.
DIVISION III
IOWA APPRENTICESHIP ACT

    Sec. 8.  Section 84E.2, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  8A.  “Intermediary sponsor” means an entity that provides apprenticeship training to multiple employers and serves as the sponsor of the apprentices.
    Sec. 9.  Section 84E.4, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 4, Code 2026, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  An apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor that conducts an apprenticeship program that is registered with the United States department of labor, office of apprenticeship, through Iowa, for apprentices who will be employed at worksites located in this state may apply to the department for financial assistance under this section if the apprenticeship program includes a minimum of one hundred contact hours per apprentice for each training year of the apprenticeship program.
   b.  Financial assistance received by an apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor under this section shall be used only for the cost of conducting and maintaining an apprenticeship program.
   c.  An apprenticeship sponsor whose apprentices receive contact hours from a lead apprenticeship sponsor is not eligible for financial assistance under this chapter.
   2.  The department shall provide financial assistance in the form of training grants to eligible apprenticeship sponsors, intermediary 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 84E.3.
   b.  By determining the total number of apprentices trained during the most recent training year, as calculated on the last day of the training year, in all apprenticeship programs conducted by all applying apprenticeship sponsors, intermediary sponsors, or lead apprenticeship sponsors eligible to apply for financial assistance under subsection 1.
   c.  By determining the total number of apprentices trained during the most recent training year, as calculated on the last day of the training year, in each apprenticeship program conducted by each apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor eligible to apply under subsection 1, and that applied for financial assistance under subsection 1.
   d.  By determining the proportion, stated as a percentage, that each applying apprenticeship sponsor’s, intermediary sponsor’s, or lead apprenticeship sponsor’s total calculated pursuant to paragraph “c” bears to all applying apprenticeship sponsors’, intermediary 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, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor seeking financial assistance under this section shall provide the following information to the department:
   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 or intermediary 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 or intermediary 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 department reasonably determines is necessary.
   4.  The apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor and the department shall enter into an agreement regarding the provision of any financial assistance to the apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to apprenticeships.
   DIVISION I —— IOWA REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP ACT. The bill adds intermediary sponsors, as defined in the bill, as a class of entities that provide apprenticeship training under Code chapter 84D, the Iowa registered apprenticeship Act, and that are subject to registration with the Iowa office of apprenticeship.
   The bill provides that an intermediary, as defined under current law, or intermediary sponsor has the sole discretion for approving partner employers, as defined in the bill, provided that such employers are compliant with their responsibilities outlined in the intermediary’s or intermediary sponsor’s standards.
   The bill prohibits the office from canceling, suspending, or deregistering an intermediary or intermediary sponsor based on the actions of partner employers. The bill authorizes the office to require an intermediary sponsor to cancel or suspend a partner employer due to the partner employer’s material breach of responsibilities as outlined in the intermediary’s or intermediary sponsor’s standards.
   The bill provides procedures and standards the office must follow when canceling, suspending, or deregistering an approved apprenticeship sponsor, intermediary, intermediary sponsor, or lead apprenticeship sponsor. The bill provides that such action can only be carried out by the office due to a material breach of the requirements of Code chapter 84D. The bill also provides standards for judicial review of such action and procedures for reapplication for registration following such action.
   DIVISION II —— IOWA PLUMBER, MECHANICAL PROFESSIONAL, AND CONTRACTOR LICENSING ACT —— APPRENTICES. The bill provides that a licensed journeyperson or master under Code chapter 105, the Iowa plumber, mechanical professional, and contractor licensing Act, may employ or supervise licensed apprentices at a ratio not to exceed three apprentices to one licensee. The bill provides that certain statutory requirements relating to qualifications and other licensing matters do not apply to apprenticeship classroom training.
   DIVISION III —— IOWA APPRENTICESHIP ACT. The bill adds intermediary sponsors as a class of entities that provide apprenticeship training that are eligible for financial assistance from the department of workforce development under Code chapter 84E, the Iowa apprenticeship Act.
   The bill provides that an apprenticeship sponsor whose apprentices receive contact hours from a lead apprenticeship sponsor is not eligible for such financial assistance.