Bill
Number: S.B. 1524
Yarbrough
Floor Amendment
Reference
to: printed bill
Amendment
drafted by: Leg Council
FLOOR
AMENDMENT EXPLANATION
1. Removes the
retroactive delayed repeal of the Arizona Job Training Fund (Fund) and
allocation of remaining unexpended and unencumbered monies in the Fund.
2. Reestablishes,
retroactive to January 1, 2017, the Fund, specifies the Fund will
consist of legislative appropriations, gifts, grants and other monies and
grants the Arizona Commerce Authority (Authority) permission to administer the
Fund.
3. Prescribes
the following requirements for how monies in the Fund may be expended:
a) a minimum of 25 percent
of the monies shall be used to provide training to businesses in rural areas;
b) a minimum of 25 percent
of the monies used to provide training to small business that employ fewer than
100 employees;
c) a business that
receives monies for training from the Fund that is located in a rural area and
employs fewer than 100 employees will be included in the minimum percentages
listed above;
d) not more than 50
percent of the monies in the Fund may be used for training incumbent workers;
and
e) a single grant may not
be more than $1,300,000.
4. Prohibits Fund monies
from being used for reimbursement of the following employer costs:
a) fringe benefits, food
and beverages, recruitment and signing bonuses for trainees and trainers;
b) employer costs to
complete a program application;
c) training expenses for
partners or corporate officers, unless it is a small business;
d) employee relocation
expenses;
e) training or course
development costs that are not part of an approved training plan;
f) costs to access
employee training needs;
g) drug or other testing
costs for employee screening or prescreening;
h) cost for trade shows,
conferences or seminars that do not result in a certificate; and
i) other costs prohibited
by rule.
5. Stipulates
the chief executive officer shall provide direction for the monies spent from
the Fund in accordance with the guidelines and procedures adopted by the
Workforce Arizona Council.
6. Allows the
chief executive officer to accept and expend federal monies and private
contributions to carry out the cost of programs related to training.
7. Directs the
State Treasurer to invest and divest monies in the Fund and credit monies
earned from investment in the Fund.
8. Specifies
the monies in the Fund are non-lapsing but stipulates any unencumbered monies
on January 1, 2021 will revert to the state General Fund (GF) and any remaining
monies in the Fund on June 30, 2022 will revert to the state GF.
9. Defines rural
area and small business.
Page 5,
strike lines 8 through 26, insert:
"Sec. 4. Title
41, chapter 10, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 4, to
read:
ARTICLE
4. ARIZONA JOB TRAINING PROGRAM
START_STATUTE41-1544. Arizona
job training fund; definitions
A. The
Arizona job training fund is established consisting of legislative
appropriations, gifts, grants and other monies. The authority shall administer
the fund. On notice from the chief executive officer, the state
treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35‑313,
and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.
B. The
chief executive officer may accept and expend federal monies and private
grants, gifts and contributions to assist in carrying out the purposes of this
article. All monies for the program shall be expended only for the
costs related to training. Monies in the fund are exempt from the
provisions of section 35‑190 relating to lapsing of appropriations,
except that:
1. Monies
in the fund may not be encumbered from and after December 31, 2020.
2. Monies
in the fund that are unencumbered on January 1, 2021 revert to the state
general fund.
3. All
monies remaining in the fund on June 30, 2022 revert to the state general fund.
C. The
fund monies shall be spent on approval of the authority at the direction of the
chief executive officer in accordance with the guidelines and procedures
adopted by the workforce Arizona council.
D. A
minimum of twenty‑five percent of the monies appropriated to the fund
shall be used to provide training to small businesses employing fewer than one
hundred employees.
E. A
minimum of twenty‑five percent of the monies appropriated to the fund
shall be used to provide training to businesses located in rural areas of this
state.
F. If
a business receives monies for training from the fund and the business employs
fewer than one hundred employees and is located in a rural area of this state,
the business shall be included in the minimum percentages prescribed in
subsections D and E of this section.
G. Not
more than fifty percent of the monies in the fund shall be used to provide
incumbent worker training.
H. A
single grant awarded pursuant to this article may not be more than one million
three hundred thousand dollars.
I. The
authority may not approve grant monies for reimbursement of the following
employer costs:
1. Fringe
benefits, food and beverages, recruitment and signing bonuses for trainees and
trainers.
2. Employer
costs to complete a program application.
3. Except
for small businesses, training expenses for partners or corporate officers.
4. Employee
relocation expenses.
5. Training
or course development costs that are not part of the employer's approved
training plan.
6. Costs
for assessing the training needs of employees.
7. Drug
or other testing costs for employee screening or prescreening purposes.
8. Costs
for trade shows and conferences or seminars that do not result in a skill
certificate that is earned by an employee.
9. Other
costs prohibited by rule.
J. For
the purposes of this section:
1. "Rural
area" means either:
(a) A
county with a population of less than seven hundred fifty thousand persons.
(b) A
census county division with less than fifty thousand persons in a county with a
population of seven hundred fifty thousand or more persons.
2. "Small
business" means a concern, including its affiliates, that employs fewer
than one hundred employees.END_STATUTE"
Page 6,
strike lines 23 through 25
Line 26,
strike "and" insert "Title 41, chapter 10, article 4, Arizona
Revised Statutes, as added by"; strike the first comma
Amend title to conform