HB 132-SCHOOL APPRENTICESHIP PROGS; TAX CREDITS  8:03:15 AM CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 132, "An Act relating to technical education and apprenticeships; relating to concurrent vocational education, training, and on-the-job trade experience programs for students enrolled in public secondary schools; relating to child labor; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSHB 123(L&C) 8:03:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE ZACH FIELDS, Alaska State Legislature, presented CSHB 132(L&C) on behalf of the sponsor, the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee, on which he serves as co-chair. He stated that apprenticeships are part of a larger ecosystem and shared that the goal of the proposed legislation was to expand apprenticeship and school-to-apprenticeship linkages, so more Alaska youth can enter living wage careers that have nationally recognized post-secondary credentials, including college credit and apprenticeship. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS shared that Alaska has high performing apprenticeship programs in the traditional building trades, and recent innovation with apprenticeship in new industries. He opined that Alaska has fantastic career and technical education (CTE) programs in its school districts, including some school- to-apprenticeship linkage programs. He explained that the school-to-apprenticeship programs' volume is not sufficient to meet demand. In the last 10 years, he said, there has been a focus across party lines and through administrations on expanding apprenticeship and CTE with support from the congressional delegation. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS argued that expansion of CTE helps "people pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and avoid college debt. He shared that he is from a poor family and opined that people shouldn't have to choose between postsecondary credentials and a career. He stated that some people cannot afford not to work, need to have a job, and they must complete either an apprenticeship program, college credit, or ideally both. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS noted that Alaska is in a fiscally constrained position, but federal resources for apprenticeship are expanding. He shared that Alaska is completing an application for State Apprenticeship Expansion and Innovation (SAEI) grants, and CSHB 132(L&C) would put policy in place to capitalize on the federal investment. 8:06:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS said CSHB 132(L&C) would incentivize employer participation with $1,000 per apprentice in an employer tax credit. He shared that this is based on a model from South Carolina, where it was found that apprenticeship can be scaled up by incentivizing employer participation and linking it to the school system. He commented that the legislature could learn from that model and expand apprenticeship beyond traditional building trades. He noted that there was a $1,500 credit for veterans entering apprenticeship. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS explained that the second thing CSHB 132(L&C) would do is direct the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) and the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) to collaborate in technical and financial support for school apprenticeship, science, math, and engineering CTE programs. He noted that DLWD has supported apprenticeship for a long time, and cited examples back to Governor Frank Murkowski and also nodded to work by Senator Click Bishop from his time as commissioner of DLWD. He noted however, that there had not been a statutory directive to DEED to support apprenticeship. Representative Fields commented that as exemplified by international best practices for apprenticeship, Alaska needed to better link vocational education with higher education. He shared that the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee worked with DEED on the proposed legislation, and that it is supportive of CTE and apprenticeship. 8:09:15 AM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS stated that the University of Alaska (UA) system has pioneered examples of college credit and apprenticeship, including in the automotive industry. He said this proposed legislation directed the university to support [college credit for apprenticeship] and noted that there was a forthcoming amendment to change the language in a way UA supports. He emphasized the importance of linking college and apprenticeship. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS said CSHB 132(L&C) has a wide range of support, and listed entities in favor of the proposed legislation, including Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA), the Alaska Primary Care Association (APCA), the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD), and some individual employers and unions. He noted that whether non- union or union, building trades, or healthcare, the proposed legislation had support from a broad range of stakeholders. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS summarized that CSHB 132(L&C) would incentivize employer participation with a tax credit and a bonus tax credit for veterans, encourages cross departmental collaboration between DLWD and DEED, supports school districts' work to expand school-to-apprenticeship programs, and provides statutory support for UA to continue expanding its college credit for apprenticeship programs. 8:12:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE GILLHAM asked if there was a minimum age to begin an apprenticeship. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that it depended on the student and the program. He offered that someone ages 16-18 could be in a registered apprenticeship program and a middle college high school program. He stated that in some occupations one can't work before turning 18, so it would depend on the profession. He shared that in other cases many Alaska schools have school- to-college linkage programs, which prepare a student to enter an apprenticeship program upon graduating high school. He offered that in this scenario, the intention is to link college credit to the program. 8:13:51 AM MARI SELLE, Director, South Central Alaska Health Education Center (SCAHEC), Alaska Primary Care Association (APCA), testified in favor of CSHB 132(L&C). She shared that the proposed legislation has the potential to open doors for youth to enter health and human services careers. She told the committee that APCA has been a multi-agency sponsor for registered apprenticeships since 2017. The program was built with the United States Department of Labor's (DoL's) American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) and the State Apprenticeship Expansion grant, managed by DLWD. She explained that APCA is a multi-agency sponsor that works with different healthcare employers, many of whom are community health centers. The various employers employ the apprentices, and APCA manages the apprenticeship program for its partners, she said. She stated this is a system where students get paid while they learn. MS. SELLE shared that about 25 percent of the program's apprentices are youths ages 18-24. She said APCA has a partnership with Alaska Works on a youth apprenticeship program to increase the availability of apprenticeships. She offered that APCA also works with school districts to get youth into its apprenticeship programs. She commented that there is a lot of energy at the moment to create apprenticeships for youth, and she believes CSHB 132(L&C) will help take everything to the next level. She said this model of apprenticeship works well for people who are going into entry level jobs. She explained that this is because healthcare facilities are mentoring and training new staff. She said the recruitment pool for entry level jobs, especially in rural Alaska, is limited so employers must often hire individuals without experience. The apprenticeship model provides the missing piece of structured, formal education that leads to a certification and takes people with no experience and puts them on a great career path, she opined. Ms. Selle noted that APCA partners with Alaska Pacific University (APU), so all participants earn college credit and an undergraduate certificate at the successful completion of their apprenticeship. That certificate can lead to an associate degree or bachelor's degree, launching the student into a career. MS. SELLE reiterated her support for the proposed legislation and said she felt that the tax credit incentive was a key component. She shared that one of APCA's challenges has been having more willing students than employers. She pointed out the burden of mentorship and working with young, inexperienced people, but she believed the financial incentive would help employers "take the plunge." 8:19:20 AM REPRESENTATIVE PRAX looked for clarification regarding if the apprenticeship program would establish guidelines in the health care industry to measure an apprentice's experience and knowledge in a specific field. MS. SELLE replied that there are two components to an apprenticeship. She said there is an on-the-job learning component with many metrics that one must meet. She said there is also a related technical instruction (RTI) component, which is classroom learning. She explained that it is similar to a college class in which there are learning objectives that one must meet. She shared that APCA's apprenticeships are one to two years, and about 25-40 weeks are spent in a virtual classroom for 1-2 hours per week. 8:21:23 AM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS added that apprenticeship is regulated by DoL, so for any given occupation there are "standards of apprenticeship" which govern the skills taught on the job and RTI. He emphasized that the standards of apprenticeship are consistent for any occupation across the United States, which gives a guarantee of quality across sponsors. REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked how a university or school education program interfaced with an employer to give credits and accreditation. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the region's accrediting body, has long worked with universities. He explained that an institution of higher education must look at an apprenticeship program and determine whether the related technical instruction and the on-the-job learning align with a college degree program. The college can then either use an existing instructor, such as one from APCA, for the program, or have college professors deliver the RTI in a traditional college setting, he said. He explained that NWCCU accommodates that range of options. 8:23:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE GILLHAM asked Ms. Selle how CSHB 132(L&C) would help existing apprenticeship programs. He commented that he completed a union apprenticeship without needing college credits. MS. SELLE answered that healthcare apprenticeships are new. She said she believed the proposed legislation would help school districts strengthen apprenticeship programs and bring awareness to the value of apprenticeships to both school districts and employers. She commented that the financial incentive would intrigue employers. She said there are differences among different trades and said carpentry was an example of having a long history of established apprenticeships, while healthcare was still in the process of making apprenticeship an established norm. She emphasized that retention and recruitment in healthcare is an issue and has been for a long time. She suggested that this could be a tool to train an a highly skilled and qualified workforce. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS added that in South Carolina where similar proposed legislation had passed, the $1000 incentive was enough to incentivize employers to try the program, which then paid for itself with reduced turnover and higher productivity. He described it as an inducement that allowed employers to experiment. REPRESENTATIVE GILLHAM asked if the $1,000 incentive was one- time or repeated. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that it is a one-time incentive. 8:27:49 AM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS presented the sectional analysis of CSHB 132(L&C). He said Section 1 names the bill the Alaska Apprenticeship Expansion Act; Section 2 adds duties to DEED and states that it must collaborate with DLWD to provide financial and technical support to school districts. He commented that DEED has primarily supported CTE with the Carl D. Perkins grant, which is insufficient to scale up school-to-apprenticeship programs. He said this makes the statutory direction necessary, because DEED will have to think creatively beyond the Perkins grant. Section 3 provides statutory support to UA to collaborate with DEED on apprenticeships aligned with higher education, he explained. Section 4 is the registered apprentice tax credit, he said. 8:29:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND commented that Ms. Selle had said COVID- 19 did not disrupt the remote instruction but did not mention how it affected on the job training. She asked for discussion on healthcare training during the pandemic. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that APCA was well positioned because they have a robust system for digital communication including video from the APCA headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska. He said in terms of the participating community health centers, the health centers needed to identify the mentor for a given apprentice in one of APCA's five apprenticeship programs. He clarified that APCA is an umbrella organization that includes numerous health care organizations throughout the state. 8:31:53 AM CO-CHAIR STORY asked how the program would work for smaller village schools. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS pointed to a teaching program in the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) with registered apprenticeship embedded in it. He said LKSD identifies people who want to become elementary education teachers and allows them to start as an apprentice, either as an associate teacher or a teacher's aide. Students then work through apprenticeship while completing their University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Early Education distance delivered program. He explained that these participants are earning a wage while working towards a college degree. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS offered a second example with building trades. He said someone working in construction may complete apprenticeship hours in different communities. He also suggested there are rural residents who attend apprenticeship training at a training center in Anchorage or Fairbanks. 8:33:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE GILLHAM asked if individuals joining apprenticeships would be required to join unions. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied no, apprenticeship as a system works for both union and non-union employers. He said apprenticeship programs can be sponsored by a single employer or multiple employers. He gave Red Dog Mine as an example of a single-employer, non-union apprenticeship program sponsor. He said it has multiple apprenticeships and is a world leader in terms of apprenticeship. He offered APCA and ABC as non-union, multi-employer examples. He said there are also single-employer union programs and mentioned employees at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, which has employees represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1574 and started an apprentice program in partnership with the union. He explained that traditional building trades, such as carpentry, are the multi-employer unions. He summarized that all four models exist, and apprenticeship training is open to anyone. He said some of the new innovative programs are still developing standards of apprenticeship, which is what Dol and DLWD did with APCA and the Red Dog Mine. 8:36:47 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND said she would like to see a chart of the four models Representative Fields had described. She commented that she had seen a chart by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Alaska that compared apprenticeship wages while working and learning to college wages while working and learning, along with the debt at the end of either program. She asked if he could provide something similar to show the benefits of the program. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that all apprenticeship programs have a wage progression. He said the traditional building trades with AGC typically offer 60 percent of wages for the first year of apprenticeship, 70 percent for the second year, then 80 and 90 with a four-year apprenticeship. He explained that as an apprentice learns, he/she earns higher wages. He suggested this is instrumental for a win-win for both the employer and the employee. He referenced a study from the Palin Administration on apprenticeship, Alaska hiring, and wages. He suggested it had compelling data about apprenticeship leading to living wages. 8:39:08 AM CO-CHAIR STORY asked about the fiscal note. She observed that DLWD and DEED appeared to be able to build these partnerships with the current structure. She also commented that she was curious how it extended into post-secondary high school programs. REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS replied that DEED and DLWD told his office that both already wanted to support apprenticeship, so adding statutory support did not add cost. He said the cost in CSHB 132(L&C) is going to be the tax credit. CO-CHAIR STORY concluded by adding that CTE is one of DEED's five priorities of Alaska's Education Challenge. [HB 132 was held over.]