SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2192
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)
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SENATE, Thursday, October 26, 2017
The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Senate Bill to diversify the use of the Workforce Training Fund to support the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (Senate, No. 2109),-- reports, recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting a new draft with the same title (Senate, No. 2192).
For the committee,
Karen E. Spilka
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2192
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)
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An Act to diversify the use of the Workforce Training Fund to support the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
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 provide grants for pipeline training for unemployed persons by an employer with a job vacancy; 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 March 1, the commissioner 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.