89R9018 KSD-F
By: Gerdes H.B. No. 2545
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Rural Workforce Training Grant
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.0039 to read as follows:
Sec. 302.0039. RURAL WORKFORCE TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. (a)
In this section, "program" means the Rural Workforce Training Grant
Program established under this section.
(b) The commission shall establish and administer the Rural
Workforce Training Grant Program for the purpose of providing
targeted funding for job-specific workforce training and related
services to strengthen the skills, resources, and career
opportunities of the rural workforce in this state.
(c) Under the program, the commission shall award grants to
public, private, or nonprofit entities, including business
associations, political subdivisions, local workforce development
boards, and educational institutions, that:
(1) provide on-the-job training, apprenticeships,
workforce education courses, and other job-specific workforce
development activities in a county with a population of less than
200,000; and
(2) apply to the commission in the manner provided by
commission rule.
(d) Grant money awarded to an entity under the program may
be used only to cover costs associated with training materials,
instructors' fees, participant wraparound expenses, facility fees,
administrative costs, and outreach, mentoring, and recruiting
costs for the training, apprenticeship, course, or other activity
for which the money is awarded.
(e) The commission shall require a grant recipient to
provide periodic reports regarding the recipient's use of grant
money received under the program and related training participant
outcomes.
(f) The commission may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
donations from any public or private source for purposes of the
program.
(g) The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
of the program.
(h) Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission
shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
of the house of representatives, and the standing committee of each
house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over workforce
development matters a report regarding:
(1) the grants awarded under the program during the
most recent state fiscal year; and
(2) the program's effectiveness.
SECTION 2. The Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt the
rules required under Section 302.0039(g), Labor Code, as added by
this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.