Amendment #314 to H4400

Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund

Mr. Brodeur of Melrose moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

“Section XXXX: SECTION 1. Subsection (b) of section 2RR of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

(3) To supplement the training of unemployed and underemployed workers as provided for in section 2WWW by providing grants for pipeline training for unemployed persons by an employer with a job vacancy, an employer association, local workforce investment board, labor organization, community-based organization, including an adult basic education provider, institution of higher education, vocational education institution, one-stop career center, local workforce development entity, or a nonprofit education, training or other service provider.; provided, however, that the director shall not allocate more than 5 per cent of the annual capitalization of the fund to provide for such grants. In determining grant recipients, the director shall contract with the Commonwealth Corporation to distribute the grants in a need based, competitive process in accordance with the rules and parameters outlined in section 2WWW. The grants shall be performance based and 50 per cent funded upon enrollment in the program, with the balance to be paid contingent upon job placement and retention outcomes that demonstrate placement of a participant in a training-related position requiring not less than 30 hours per week for not less than 2 months. To further support pipeline training and to match the substantial contributions made from employers to the fund, the commonwealth shall match, subject to appropriation, money used for grants pursuant to this paragraph.

SECTION 2. Section 14L of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(c) Annually, not later than September 1, the director of the Department of Career Services shall file a report with the joint committee on labor and workforce development and the senate and house committees on ways and means concerning the collection of the workforce training contributions, pursuant to subsection (a), during the calendar year ending on the preceding December 31. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: (i) the amount collected in each quarter and the total amount collected for the year; (ii) the total number of employers that contributed to the fund and the total number of employees employed by that group of employers; and (iii) the contribution rate, to the extent it differs from 0.056 per cent.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #314 to H4400

Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund