CSHB 132(EDC): "An Act relating to technical education and registered apprenticeships."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 132(EDC) 01 "An Act relating to technical education and registered apprenticeships." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Alaska Apprenticeship Expansion Act. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) The department shall 08 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 09 except the University of Alaska; 10 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 11 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 12 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 13 of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 14 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 15 preparatory courses;
01 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 02 governing bodies and personnel; 03 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 04 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 05 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 06 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 07 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in detention 08 facilities in the state during the period of detention; 09 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 10 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 11 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 12 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 13 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 14 the members of each house; 15 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 16 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe 17 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 18 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 19 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 20 (8) exercise general supervision over pre-elementary schools that 21 receive direct state or federal funding; 22 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 23 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 24 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 25 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 26 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 27 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 28 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 29 licensed; 30 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 31 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public
01 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 02 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 03 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 04 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 05 and costs, and final contract documents; 06 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 07 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 08 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 09 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 10 will lead to employment opportunities; 11 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 12 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 13 school bus driver training course; 14 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 15 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 16 behavior; 17 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 18 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 19 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 20 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 21 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 22 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 23 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 24 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 25 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 26 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 27 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 28 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 29 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 30 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 31 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15);
01 (18) collaborate with the Department of Labor and Workforce 02 Development to provide financial and technical support, using funds available for 03 that purpose, to school districts creating or expanding school to apprenticeship 04 programs or concurrent secondary education and apprenticeship programs that 05 will facilitate student access to registered apprenticeships; 06 (19) provide technical support to school districts seeking to 07 provide science, math, and engineering credit for career and technical education 08 courses. 09 * Sec. 3. AS 14.40.190 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10 (c) In addition to the reports required under (a) and (b) of this section, during 11 the first regular session of each legislature, the Board of Regents or its designee shall 12 provide to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education a biennial 13 presentation describing the efforts made by the University of Alaska to collaborate 14 with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to provide credit programs 15 for concurrent secondary education and registered apprenticeships. 16 * Sec. 4. AS 43.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 17 Sec. 43.20.055. Registered apprentice tax credit. (a) A taxpayer that hires a 18 registered apprentice and employs and trains the registered apprentice in the state is 19 entitled to a credit under this section against the tax due under this chapter. The 20 taxpayer is entitled to the credit for each registered apprentice whose employment 21 qualifies under this section. 22 (b) To qualify as a registered apprentice for the purposes of the credit under 23 this section, a person must participate in a registered apprenticeship program 24 recognized by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. 25 (c) The amount of credit that may be applied by a taxpayer for each qualifying 26 registered apprentice under this section is 27 (1) $1,000 for an apprentice who is not a veteran; 28 (2) $1,500 for an apprentice who is a veteran. 29 (d) The tax credit under this section may be applied against the tax due under 30 this chapter for the first tax year ending on or after the end of the employment period 31 described in (c) of this section. A tax credit under this section is refundable.
01 (e) A taxpayer shall keep a record of the name of the registered apprentice 02 whose employment and training is the basis for a credit under this section, and the 03 registered apprentice's hours employed and period of employment. The department 04 may by regulation specify the documentation that must be maintained to support a 05 claim that an employee qualifies as a registered apprentice for purposes of this section. 06 (f) In this section, "veteran" means an individual who was honorably 07 discharged from service in the 08 (1) armed forces of the United States, including a reserve unit of the 09 armed forces of the United States; or 10 (2) Alaska Territorial Guard, the Alaska Army National Guard, the 11 Alaska Air National Guard, or the Alaska Naval Militia.