SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3562

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 6, 2021

      The Senate Labor Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3562.

This bill establishes the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

     Under the bill, the program is required to:

     1.    produce guidelines, in consultation with the Department of Education and the Civil Service Commission and an application for State agencies to register an apprenticeship program and seek a State incentive to cover the costs of apprenticeship-related instruction;

     2.    allocate funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction;

     3.    consult interested State agencies to identify occupations for a registered apprenticeship program;

     4.    plan and prepare an information strategy to guide State agencies in selecting apprenticeship-related instruction.  Information will identify all financial aid resources available to support registered apprenticeships, including the funding program for agencies to support apprenticeship-related instruction; and

     5.    submit an annual report to the Legislature by March 1 of each year, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1).

     The bill also appropriates from the General Fund to the Registered Apprenticeship Program for State Agencies in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a sum of $210,000 for costs associated with allocating funds to support apprenticeship-related instruction.