Connecticut 2022 2022 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00279 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 03/30/2022

                     
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 279  
February Session, 2022 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 
LEGISLATIVE COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE REGARDING MINOR AND 
TECHNICAL CHANGES TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION AND 
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT STATUTES.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 4-124jj of the 2022 supplement to 1 
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2 
thereof (Effective from passage): 3 
(b) Not later than October 1, 2022, and annually thereafter until 4 
October 1, 2025, the Chief Workforce Officer shall submit to the 5 
Governor and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the 6 
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance 7 
of matters relating to finance, higher education and employment 8 
advancement, education, commerce, and labor and public employees a 9 
report regarding the workforce training programs funded through the 10 
Office of Workforce Strategy account. Such report shall include, but not 11 
be limited to, information on the number of individuals served, 12 
demographic information about such individuals and outcomes of such 13 
individuals after completion of a workforce training program. 14 
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10a-1a of the 2022 supplement to the 15 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 16 
thereof (Effective from passage): 17  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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(a) There shall be a Board of Regents for Higher Education that shall 18 
serve as the governing body for the regional community-technical 19 
college system, the Connecticut State University System and Charter 20 
Oak State College. The board shall consist of [twenty-one] twenty-two 21 
members who shall be distinguished leaders of the community in 22 
Connecticut. The board shall reflect the state's geographic, racial and 23 
ethnic diversity. The voting members shall not be employed by or be a 24 
member of a board of trustees for any independent institution of higher 25 
education in this state or the Board of Trustees for The University of 26 
Connecticut nor shall they be public officials or state employees, as such 27 
terms are defined in section 1-79, during their term of membership on 28 
the Board of Regents for Higher Education. The Governor shall appoint 29 
nine members to the board as follows: Three members for a term of two 30 
years; three members for a term of four years; and three members for a 31 
term of six years. Thereafter, the Governor shall appoint members of the 32 
board to succeed such appointees whose terms expire and each member 33 
so appointed shall hold office for a period of six years from the first day 34 
of July in the year of his or her appointment. Four members of the board 35 
shall be appointed as follows: One appointment by the president pro 36 
tempore of the Senate, who shall be an alumnus of the regional 37 
community-technical college system, for a term of four years; one 38 
appointment by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be a 39 
specialist in the education of children in grades kindergarten to twelve, 40 
inclusive, for a term of three years; one appointment by the speaker of 41 
the House of Representatives, who shall be an alumnus of the 42 
Connecticut State University System, for a term of four years; and one 43 
appointment by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, 44 
who shall be an alumnus of Charter Oak State College, for a term of 45 
three years. Thereafter, such members of the General Assembly shall 46 
appoint members of the board to succeed such appointees whose terms 47 
expire and each member so appointed shall hold office for a period of 48 
four years from the first day of July in the year of his or her appointment. 49 
The chairperson and vice-chairperson of the student advisory 50 
committee created under section 10a-3 shall serve as members of the 51 
board. The chairperson and vice-chairperson of the faculty advisory 52  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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committee created under section 10a-3a shall serve as ex-officio, 53 
nonvoting members of the board for a term of two years and, in their 54 
respective roles as chairperson and vice-chairperson, may be invited to 55 
any executive session, as defined in section 1-200, of the board by the 56 
chairperson of the board. The Commissioners of Education, Economic 57 
and Community Development and Public Health, the Labor 58 
Commissioner and the Chief Workforce Officer shall serve as ex-officio, 59 
nonvoting members of the board. 60 
Sec. 3. Subsection (d) of section 10-14aa of the 2022 supplement to the 61 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 62 
thereof (Effective from passage): 63 
(d) Not later than January 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the office 64 
shall (1) review, and request updates of as necessary, the webinar 65 
modules and trainings developed or endorsed by the Department of 66 
Education for the purpose of aligning such webinar modules with the 67 
compliance measures developed by the office pursuant to subsection (c) 68 
of section 10-14z; and (2) submit, in accordance with the provisions of 69 
section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 70 
[have] having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and 71 
education status reports on the compliance of such webinar modules 72 
and trainings. 73 
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 10a-22f of the 2022 supplement to the 74 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 75 
thereof (Effective from passage): 76 
(a) A certificate of authorization issued to a private occupational 77 
school pursuant to sections 10a-22a to 10a-22o, inclusive, and sections 78 
10a-22u to 10a-22w, inclusive, may be revoked by the executive director 79 
if such school (1) ceases to meet the conditions of its authorization; (2) 80 
commits a material or substantial violation of sections 10a-22a to 10a-81 
22o, inclusive, or sections 10a-22u to 10a-22w, inclusive, or the 82 
regulations prescribed thereunder; (3) makes a false statement about a 83 
material fact in application for authorization or renewal; (4) fails to make 84  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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a required payment to the private occupational school student 85 
protection account pursuant to section 10a-22u; or (5) fails to submit a 86 
complete application for a [renewed] renewal of a certificate of 87 
authorization pursuant to section 10a-22d. 88 
Sec. 5. Subdivision (18) of section 10a-223 of the 2022 supplement to 89 
the general statutes, as amended by section 273 of public act 21-2 of the 90 
June special session, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 91 
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 92 
(18) "Education assistance program" means a program to assist in 93 
financing the costs of education through education loans, [or] education 94 
grants [, or both] or any other form of financial assistance; 95 
Sec. 6. Section 31-3j of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes is 96 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 97 
passage): 98 
As used in [sections 31-3j to 31-3r, inclusive] this section and sections 99 
31-3k to 31-3o, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-3r, as amended 100 
by this act: 101 
(1) "Board" means a regional workforce development board 102 
established under section 31-3k, as amended by this act; 103 
(2) "Commissioner" means the Labor Commissioner; 104 
(3) "Municipality" means a town, city, borough, consolidated town 105 
and city or consolidated town and borough; 106 
(4) "Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act" means the federal 107 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as 108 
amended from time to time; and 109 
(5) "Workforce development region" or "region" means an area 110 
designated as a service delivery area in accordance with the provisions 111 
of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 112  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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Sec. 7. Subsection (c) of section 31-3k of the 2022 supplement to the 113 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 114 
thereof (Effective from passage): 115 
(c) Each board shall make use of grants or contracts with appropriate 116 
service providers to furnish all program services under sections 31-3j to 117 
[31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-3r, as amended 118 
by this act, unless the Governor's Workforce Council concurs with the 119 
board that direct provision of a service by the board is necessary to 120 
assure adequate availability of the service or that a service of 121 
comparable quality can be provided more economically by the board. 122 
Any board seeking to provide services directly shall submit to the 123 
commissioner, the Chief Workforce Officer and the Governor's 124 
Workforce Council a plan of service and appropriate justification for the 125 
need to provide services directly. Such plan of service shall be subject to 126 
review and approval by the Governor's Workforce Council. 127 
Sec. 8. Section 31-3m of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes is 128 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 129 
passage): 130 
Not later than July 1, 1992, the Governor shall designate appropriate 131 
state agencies as agencies involved in employment and training. The 132 
department heads of each agency involved in employment and training 133 
shall: Not later than August 15, 1992, and annually thereafter, identify 134 
to the commissioner and the Chief Workforce Officer the employment 135 
and training programs administered by the agency that are subject to 136 
oversight by one or more boards under the provisions of sections 31-3j 137 
to [31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-3r, as amended 138 
by this act. The Chief Workforce Officer, jointly with the commissioner 139 
and the Governor's Workforce Council, shall facilitate communication 140 
and the exchange of information between the boards and the state 141 
agencies involved in employment and training. 142 
Sec. 9. Section 31-3n of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes is 143 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 144  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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passage): 145 
(a) The commissioner, in consultation with the Chief Workforce 146 
Officer and the Governor's Workforce Council, may adopt regulations 147 
in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the provisions of sections 31-148 
3j to [31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-3r, as 149 
amended by this act. 150 
(b) The Chief Workforce Officer shall distribute all information 151 
received under the provisions of sections 31-3j to [31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, 152 
as amended by this act, and 31-3r, as amended by this act, to the 153 
Governor's Workforce Council in order to ensure that the review and 154 
coordination duties of the council are effectively carried out. 155 
(c) The Governor may approve, upon the recommendation of the 156 
Governor's Workforce Council, each board established pursuant to 157 
section 31-3k, as amended by this act, which meets the requirements of 158 
sections 31-3j to [31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-159 
3r, as amended by this act. 160 
Sec. 10. Section 31-3r of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes is 161 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 162 
passage): 163 
Nothing in this section or sections 31-3j to [31-3r] 31-3o, inclusive, as 164 
amended by this act, shall be construed or administered in any manner 165 
that would conflict with the requirements of the Workforce Innovation 166 
and Opportunity Act or supersede any statutory duties, responsibilities 167 
or obligations of any agency or board, including, but not limited to, any 168 
local board of education. 169 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 from passage 4-124jj(b) 
Sec. 2 from passage 10a-1a(a) 
Sec. 3 from passage 10-14aa(d)  Substitute Bill No. 279 
 
 
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Sec. 4 from passage 10a-22f(a) 
Sec. 5 October 1, 2022 10a-223(18) 
Sec. 6 from passage 31-3j 
Sec. 7 from passage 31-3k(c) 
Sec. 8 from passage 31-3m 
Sec. 9 from passage 31-3n 
Sec. 10 from passage 31-3r 
 
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:   
In Sections 8 and 9(b), "31-30" was changed to "31-3o" for accuracy. 
 
HED Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO