Senate Bill No. 638

(By Senator Plymale)

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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee

on Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Education.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-3D-2, §18B-3D-3, §18B-3D-4 and §18B-3D-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to Workforce Development Initiative Program; program continuation under West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education; appointment of advisory committee members; requiring report to Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability; requiring plan as part of institutional compact; requiring promulgation of legislative rule; providing for continuation of current rule; and making technical corrections .

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18B-3D-2, §18B-3D-3, §18B-3D-4 and §18B-3D-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3D. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
§18B-3D-2. Workforce development initiative program continued; purpose; program administration; rule required.

(a) For the purposes of this article, "development office" means the West Virginia development office provided in article two, chapter five-b of this code.
(b) (a) There is under the development office a The workforce development initiative program is continued under the supervision of the council. The purpose of the program is to administer and oversee grants to community and technical colleges to achieve the purposes implement the provisions of this article in accordance with legislative intent. The primary responsibility of the development office as it relates to the workforce development initiative program is
(b) It is the responsibility of the council to administer the state fund for community and technical college and workforce development including setting criteria for grant applications, receiving applications for grants, making determinations on distribution of funds, and evaluating the performance of workforce development initiatives.
(c) The Executive Director of the Development Office chancellor, under the direction of the council, shall review and approve the expenditure of all grant funds, including development of application criteria, the review and selection of applicants for funding and the annual review and justification of applicants for grant renewal.
(1) To aid in decision making, the Executive Director of the Development Office appoints chancellor appoints an advisory committee consisting of the chancellor of the West Virginia council for community and technical college education executive director of the West Virginia development office or designee; the secretary of education and the arts or designee; the assistant state superintendent for technical and adult education; the chair of the West Virginia council for community and technical college education; and the chair of the West Virginia workforce investment council, the executive director of workforce West Virginia, two members representing business and industry, and one member representing labor. The advisory committee shall review all applications for workforce development initiative grants and make a report including recommendations for distributing grant funds to the Executive Director of the Development Office council. The advisory committee also shall make recommendations on methods to share among the community and technical colleges any curricula developed as a result of a workforce development initiative grant.
(2) When determining which grant proposals will be funded, the Executive Director of the Development Office council shall give special consideration to proposals by community and technical colleges that involve businesses with fewer than fifty employees.
(3) The Executive Director of the Development Office council shall weigh each proposal to avoid awarding grants which will have the ultimate effect of providing unfair advantage to employers new to the state who will be in direct competition with established local businesses.
(d) The Executive Director of the Development Office council may allocate a reasonable amount, not to exceed five percent up to a maximum of fifty thousand dollars of the funds available for grants on an annual basis, for general program administration.
(e) The Executive Director of the Development Office council shall report to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability and the legislative oversight commission on workforce investment for economic development on the status of the workforce development initiative program annually by the first day of December.
(f) Moneys appropriated or otherwise available for the workforce development initiative program shall be allocated by line item to an appropriate account. Any moneys remaining in the fund at the close of a fiscal year are carried forward for use in the next fiscal year.
(g) Nothing in this article requires a specific level of appropriation by the Legislature.
§18B-3D-3. Mission of the workforce development initiative program.

(a) The statewide mission of the workforce development initiative program is to develop a strategy to strengthen the quality of the state's workforce by linking the existing post-secondary education capacity to the needs of business, industry and other employers. Available funding will be used to provide explicit incentives for partnerships between employers and community and technical colleges to develop comprehensive workforce development services. Funds will be granted on the basis of proposals developed according to criteria established by the development office council.
(b) The mission of any community and technical college accepting a workforce development initiative grant is to:
(1) Become client-focused and develop programs that meet documented employer needs;
(2) Involve and collaborate with employers in the development of programs;
(3) Develop customized training programs that provide for the changing needs of employers and that are offered at flexible times and locations to accommodate employer scheduling;
(4) Develop partnerships with other public and private providers, including small business development centers and vocational, technical and adult education centers, and with business and labor, to fulfill the workforce development needs of the service area;
(5) Establish cooperative arrangements with the public school system for the seamless progression of students through programs of study that begin at the secondary level and conclude at the community and technical college level, particularly with respect to career and technical education certificates, associate of applied science and selected associate of science degree programs for students seeking immediate employment, individual entrepreneurship skills, occupational development, skill enhancement and career mobility;
(6) Assist in the on-going assessment of the workforce development needs of the service area; and
(7) Serve as a visible point of contact and referral for services to meet the workforce development needs of the service area.
§18B-3D-4. Grant application procedures.
(a) In order to participate in the workforce development initiative grant program, a community and technical college must shall meet the following conditions:
(1) Participate in a community and technical college consortia planning district as required by article three-c of this chapter. Consortia representatives shall participate in the development of and approve applications for funding grants under the provisions of this article and shall approve the workforce development initiative budget;
(2) Develop, as a component of its institutional compact, a plan to achieve measurable improvements in the quality of the workforce within its service area over a five-year period the period covered by the compact. The plan must be is developed in partnership with employers, local vocational schools and other workforce education providers; and
(3) Establish a special revolving fund under the jurisdiction of the community and technical college consortia dedicated solely to workforce development initiatives for the purposes provided in this article. Any fees or revenues generated from workforce development initiatives funded by a competitive grant shall be are deposited into this fund.
(b) To be eligible to receive a workforce development initiative grant, a community and technical college must shall provide at least the following information in its application:
(1) Identification of the specific business or business sector training needs that will be met if a workforce development initiative grant is received;
(2) A commitment from the private or public sector partner or partners to provide a match of one dollar, cash and in-kind, for each dollar of state grant money received except:
(A) In cases where the community and technical college can demonstrate in the grant application that it would be a hardship for the private sector partner or partners being served to provide the match. In those cases only, the commitment to provide a match may be reduced to one dollar provided by the private sector partner or partners, cash and in-kind, for every three dollars of state grant money provided. In the case of awards for the modernization of procurement of equipment, the development office may establish a separate match requirement of up to one dollar, cash and in-kind, for each dollar of state grant money received to provide a dollar-to-dollar match, the match may be reduced to one dollar for each three dollars of state funding.
(B) In cases where the grant award is to be used to modernize equipment, the council may establish a separate match requirement not to exceed one dollar, cash or in-kind, for each state dollar awarded.
(C) Beginning in fiscal year 2006, the commitment required by this subdivision may be provided by a public sector partner using state or federal dollars to provide the required match Provided, That no public sector partner using state or federal dollars to provide the required match is eligible for a grant under the provisions of this section unless the amount of funding provided by the Legislature for the workforce development initiative in that fiscal year exceeds six hundred fifty thousand dollars: Provided, however, That if the amount of funding provided by the Legislature for the workforce investment initiative in a fiscal year exceeds six hundred fifty thousand dollars, only one half of that amount exceeding six hundred fifty thousand dollars may be granted to a qualified applicant whose commitment of the required match is from a public sector partner using state or federal dollars to provide the match if funding for this initiative in the fiscal year exceeds six hundred fifty thousand dollars in which case, one-half the amount exceeding six hundred fifty thousand dollars may be granted using a public sector match;
(3) An agreement to share with other community and technical colleges any curricula developed using funds from a workforce development initiative grant;
(4) A specific plan showing how the community and technical college will collaborate with local post-secondary vocational institutions to maximize the use of existing facilities, personnel and equipment; and
(5) An acknowledgment that acceptance of a grant under the provisions of this article commits the community and technical college and its consortia committee to such terms, conditions and deliverables as is specified by the development office council in the request for applications, including, but not limited to, the measures by which the performance of the workforce development initiative will be evaluated.
(c) Applications submitted by community and technical colleges may be awarded funds for programs which meet the requirements of this article that are operated on a collaborative basis at facilities under the jurisdiction of the public schools and utilized by both secondary and post-secondary students.
§18B-3D-5. Legislative rules.
The Executive Director of the Development Office council shall propose a legislative rule pursuant to article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of this article and shall file the rule with the legislative oversight commission on education accountability no later than the first day of September, two thousand five six.
Any rule promulgated by the West Virginia development office pursuant to previous enactments of this section and in effect as of on the effective date of the amendment and reenactment of this section in the year two thousand five will remain six, remains in effect until amended, modified, repealed or replaced by the council.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to place the Workforce Initiative Program under the supervision of the WV Council for Community and Technical College Education, to require a report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, and to provide for promulgation of a legislative rule.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.