87R4656 KKR-F
By: Button, Guillen H.B. No. 1791
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for job-training programs provided under
the self-sufficiency fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 309.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Subject to the availability of funds, the
self-sufficiency fund is created as an account in the general
revenue fund for use by public community and technical colleges,
community-based organizations, and state extension agencies to
develop [for certain recipients of financial assistance under
Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, customized] job-training
programs in which individuals who are identified by the commission
as being low-income or at risk of becoming dependent on public
assistance benefits are [the recipients will be] provided job
training by:
(1) an entity that develops a job-training program
under this section;
(2) a small or medium-sized business or trade union;
or
(3) an informal partnership between an entity that
develops a job-training program under this section and a small or
medium-sized business network or consortium.
SECTION 2. Section 309.003(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An entity that receives money from the fund for a
job-training program shall work in conjunction with employers to
place participants who successfully complete [graduates of] the
program in positions of employment in which the participants
[graduates] will earn [be earning] wages sufficient to enable the
participants [graduates] to become independent of or avoid becoming
dependent on benefits under the financial assistance program
established under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, and if
applicable, benefits [assistance] provided under the supplemental
nutrition assistance [food stamp] program established
[administered by the Texas Department of Human Services] under
Chapter 33, Human Resources Code.
SECTION 3. Section 309.004, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 309.004. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. The commission shall
adopt rules to implement this chapter, including rules to:
(1) identify individuals who are low-income or at risk
of becoming dependent on public assistance benefits; and
(2) determine which individuals identified under
Subdivision (1) [recipients of financial assistance under Chapter
31, Human Resources Code,] are eligible to participate in
job-training programs developed with money from the fund.
SECTION 4. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.