PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 548
PRINTER'S NO. 882
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
425
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY MACKENZIE, BERNSTINE, FEE, FREEMAN, KAUFER,
KAUFFMAN, KEEFER, LONGIETTI, McNEILL, MENTZER, MILLARD,
OWLETT, ROTHMAN, RYAN, SCHLOSSBERG, SOLOMON, STAATS,
ZIMMERMAN, GOODMAN, ECKER, HEFFLEY, IRVIN, STRUZZI AND COX,
FEBRUARY 20, 2019
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MARCH 13, 2019
AN ACT
Providing for school-to-work programs; establishing the
CareerBound program; and imposing powers and duties on the
Department of Labor and Industry.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the CareerBound
Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Board." As defined in section 103 of the Workforce
Development Act.
"Business partner." A business entity authorized to do
business in this Commonwealth that employs individuals in a
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high-priority occupation.
"CareerBound." The program established in section 3.
"Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
"High-priority occupation." An occupation which is included
in the list issued by the department under section 1302(e) of
the Workforce Development Act.
"Institutions of higher education." The term includes any of
the following:
(1) A community college operating under Article XIX-A of
the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the
Public School Code of 1949.
(2) A university within the State System of Higher
Education.
(3) The Pennsylvania State University.
(4) The University of Pittsburgh.
(5) Temple University.
(6) Lincoln University.
(7) Any other institution that the Commonwealth
designates as a State-related institution of higher
education.
(8) The Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.
(9) Any accredited private or independent college or
university.
"Local workforce investment board." As defined in section
103 of the Workforce Development Act.
"LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD." A LOCAL WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD ESTABLISHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 107 OF
THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (PUBLIC LAW 113-
128, 29 U.S.C. § 3122).
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"Participating agencies." The term includes the Department
of Education and the Department of Community and Economic
Development of the Commonwealth.
"Program partners." All entities that participate in a
school-to-work program.
"Replacement school-to-work program." A school-to-work
program which has been approved to participate in CareerBound
under section 5(e).
"School partner." A school district, vocational-technical
school, intermediate unit, charter school or cyber charter
school.
"School-to-work program." A program which has been approved
to participate in CareerBound.
"Soft skills." The workplace interpersonal and professional
skills that are necessary for an employee to adhere to generally
accepted workplace behaviors. The term includes work ethic,
promptness, integrity and respect for others.
"Workforce Development Act." The act of December 18, 2001
(P.L.949, No.114), known as the Workforce Development Act.
Section 3. CareerBound.
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the
department a program to be known as CareerBound.
(b) Administration.--The program shall be administered by
the department to empower local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT
boards, school partners and business partners to collaboratively
develop innovative school-to-work programs to do all the
following:
(1) Provide students with career exploration
opportunities and exposure to high-priority occupations which
will enable each student to make an informed decision on the
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student's future career path.
(2) Provide local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT
boards with the funding and support necessary to convene
school partners and business partners to implement innovative
school-to-work programs.
(3) Provide business partners with an opportunity to
develop collaborative relationships with school partners and
local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT boards so that the
next generation of workers are well-equipped to meet the
demand for high-priority occupations.
(4) Provide school partners with the funds and framework
to deliver to students a relevant and rigorous curriculum
which prepares students for high-priority occupations.
(5) Provide program partners with informational
resources to help them conduct successful school-to-work
programs.
Section 4. School-to-work program requirements.
(a) Curriculum.--The curriculum for a school-to-work program
must include one or more of the following components:
(1) Early exposure. Curriculum approved under this
paragraph must provide students with a broad orientation to
the tools, processes and procedures used by individuals
employed in a high-priority occupation. Activities may
include student visits to a business partner's facilities for
company tours, demonstrations, field trips and lessons to
familiarize students with the basic features of a high-
priority occupation.
(2) Practical exposure. Curriculum approved under this
paragraph must provide students with a detailed understanding
of the tools, processes and procedures used by individuals
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employed in a high-priority occupation. Activities may
include extended visits by students to a business partner's
facilities for demonstrations, job shadowing and hands-on
experience with the duties and skills necessary to be
employed in a high-priority occupation.
(3) Extended exposure. Curriculum approved under this
paragraph must provide students with an in-depth
understanding of the tools, processes and procedures used by
individuals employed in a high-priority occupation.
Activities may include apprenticeships, internships and
cooperative learning opportunities to give the student
practical knowledge which could be directly applicable to a
high-priority occupation.
(b) Occupational focus.--Curricula approved under subsection
(a) must be focused on providing students with exposure to high-
priority occupations which are either designated as high-
priority occupations Statewide or within the region served by
the local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT board.
(c) Soft skills development.--Curricula approved under
subsection (a) must include some instruction on the development
of soft skills.
Section 5. Application and approval process.
(a) Application.--A local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT
board may submit an application to the department requesting
approval for participation in CareerBound.
(b) Application requirements.--A completed application must
describe the proposed school-to-work program on a form and in a
manner prescribed by the department. An application must include
all of the following:
(1) A list of program partners, including a declaration
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of interest by at least one school partner and at least one
business partner. The program partners may include
institutions of higher education, nonprofit business-support
entities and economic development agencies.
(2) A description of proposed curriculum, encompassing
at least one component listed in section 4(a)(1), (2) and
(3).
(3) A projection of costs associated with the proposed
school-to-work program, including an enumeration of any
opportunities to leverage other funding and programming
resources.
(4) A list of high-priority occupations which will be
the focus of the proposed school-to-work program.
(5) A start date for the proposed school-to-work
program.
(6) A list of clear objectives and measurable goals that
the proposed school-to-work program will seek to achieve.
(7) Documentation of an agreement among the program
partners describing the role of each program partner within
the proposed school-to-work program and the expectations that
each program partner agrees to fulfill.
(c) Approval process.--
(1) The department, in consultation with participating
agencies and the board as needed, shall approve school-to-
work programs for participation in CareerBound. The number of
programs approved shall be based on available funding.
(2) Priority must be given to a proposed school-to-work
program demonstrating one or more of the following
characteristics:
(i) Substantial program integration across
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educational levels, including use of multiple curricula
components listed in section 4(a).
(ii) An ability to leverage other funding and
programming resources.
(iii) A commitment from a business partner to
provide preferred interviews to students completing the
school-to-work program.
(3) Additional consideration must be given to a proposed
school-to-work program which includes multiple business
partners or multiple school partners or which targets middle
school or early high school students for early exposure
activities or which is integrated into a school partner's
curriculum as a credit course.
(d) Contractual relationship.--Within 30 days of the UPON
completion of the approval process, the department shall enter
into a contract with all local workforce investment DEVELOPMENT
boards that submitted an application that was approved. The
contract shall require the signatories to provide the services
described in the approved school-to-work program from funds
appropriated or distributed for this purpose or from funds
identified by the participating agencies for this purpose under
the general appropriation act.
(e) Termination and replacement.--The department, in
consultation with participating agencies and the board as
needed, may terminate a school-to-work program for failure to
comply with program requirements. Consistent with the
requirements in subsection (c), a replacement school-to-work
program may be approved.
(f) Expiration.--A school-to-work program shall expire at
the end of the fourth school year of operation.
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Section 6. Program operation.
(a) Cooperative management.--In collaboration with the
participating agencies and the board, the department shall
manage the operation of CareerBound, establish an application
process, enumerate outcome-based metrics by which school-to-work
programs will be evaluated in the reports under section 7 and
institute guidelines and procedures as necessary to implement
CareerBound. The guidelines must enumerate allowed and
disallowed expenses, provided that administrative expenses over
5% shall be disallowed.
(b) Informational resources.--In collaboration with the
participating agencies and the board, the department shall
provide informational resources to help program partners conduct
successful school-to-work programs.
(c) Distribution.--The department, in consultation with
participating agencies and the board as needed, shall determine
the distribution of available funds for school-to-work programs.
To the extent practicable, funding shall be geographically
distributed to different regions of this Commonwealth. No
school-to-work program shall receive more than 25% of the
available funds.
Section 7. Annual reports.
(a) Annual reports.--Within 60 days of the end of a school
year in which a school-to-work program is in operation, the
department, participating agencies and the board shall jointly
submit a report to the Governor, the Auditor General, the
chairperson and minority chairperson of the Appropriations
Committee of the Senate, the chairperson and minority
chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the House of
Representatives, the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
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Education Committee of the Senate, the chairperson and minority
chairperson of the Education Committee of the House of
Representatives, the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the chairperson
and minority chairperson of the Labor and Industry Committee of
the House of Representatives regarding the implementation of
CareerBound and the school-to-work programs over the previous
school year.
(b) Report contents.--In addition to information or analysis
required by the department, in consultation with participating
agencies and the board as needed, the annual report shall
include information about each school-to-work program, including
whether each school-to-work program achieved the clear
objectives and measurable goals proposed under section 5(b)(6),
an analysis of each school-to-work program according to the
outcome-based metrics enumerated by the department in section
6(a), the number of participating students and the amount spent.
The report shall identify best practices observed from among the
most successful school-to-work programs.
Section 8. Funding and notice.
(a) Funding sources.--To implement this act, the department
may utilize any of the following:
(1) Funds deposited in the Reemployment Fund.
(2) Existing funds appropriated to the department, if
the use of the funds for CareerBound is consistent with law.
(3) Funds appropriated to the department for
CareerBound.
(b) Notice of funding.--Upon the initial appropriation of
sufficient funds to carry out the provisions of this act or a
determination by the department that sufficient funds are
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available from the Reemployment Fund or another existing source
to carry out the provisions of this act, the department shall
transmit notice of the appropriation to the Legislative
Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Section 9. Effective date.
This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) Section 8 and this section shall take effect
immediately.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect upon the
publication of the notice under section 8(b).
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