Bill H.4035 187th (2011 - 2012)

SECTION 1. Subsection (a) of section 13 of chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking, in line 1, the figure "17" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 18

SECTION 2. Subsection (a) of section 13 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 8, the word "consumers." and inserting in place thereof the following words:-

consumers; and a vocational-technical licensed practical nursing educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of three nominees, to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.

SECTION 3. Section 32 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 4, the word "eight" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- nine

SECTION 4. Section 32 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "forty-one.", in line 8, the following sentence:- One of the appointees shall be a vocational-technical electrical educator or administrator, who shall be selected from a group of three nominees, to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.

SECTION 5. Section 36 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 3, the word "nine" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- ten

SECTION 6. Section 36 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 16, after the word “systems,” the following words:- one of whom shall be a vocational-technical plumbing educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of three nominees to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators,

SECTION 7. Section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 2, the word "seven" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- eight

SECTION 8. Section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 35, the word "and".

SECTION 9. Section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 36, the word "cosmetology" and inserting in place thereof the following words:-

cosmetology; and (c) one member shall be a vocational-technical cosmetology educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of three nominees, to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.

SECTION 10. Section 101 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking, in line 4, the figure "5" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 6

SECTION 11. Subsection (a) of section 101 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, after the word “work,” in line 9 the following words:- , 1 of whom shall be a vocational-technical sheet metal educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of three nominees, to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators,

SECTION 12. Section 16 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fifth paragraph the following new paragraph:-

There shall be a Finish-Line Scholarship Program to provide scholarships to cover the entire cost of tuition and fees for the last year leading to an associate or bachelor’s degree at a Massachusetts public college or university to residents of the Commonwealth in need of financial assistance. The council shall establish guidelines governing the program which shall include, but not be limited to eligibility requirements and selection criteria, including requiring that the applicant show proof of eligibility to graduate by the end of the scholarship year and has, with exceptions granted for illness, military service or other valid reasons, been a student in good standing continuously since first enrolling in a public college or university; provided, further, that no funds from this scholarship program may be used to pay the tuition or fees for any course or program offered or administered by a non-public entity and that no student shall be eligible to receive a scholarship from this program more than one time. If funds appropriated for this program are insufficient to cover its costs, the council shall develop a pilot program that will provide assistance to a subset of the eligible students.

SECTION 13. Section 21 of said chapter 15A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, after the second paragraph, the following:-

For those public institutions of higher learning named in clause (iii) of section 5 of this chapter, each community college’s board of trustees shall designate a member or members to serve as a non-voting member of the district trustees for vocational-technical schools that share the same geographic region as the community college, provided that the board elementary and secondary education shall promulgate regulations to ensure that each vocational-technical school board of trustees is represented by a member from every community college in the region. The designated member shall serve as a liaison between the two boards for the purposes of sharing information and developing policies that will promote greater interaction between the community college and the vocational-technical school while maximizing the educational resources available to individuals seeking to learn a trade or develop targeted employment skills.

SECTION 14. Section 21 of said chapter 15A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the sixth paragraph the following paragraph:-

Each community college board of trustees shall also include a vocational school district trustee, pursuant to section 5 of chapter 74, representing a vocational-technical school in the region, to serve as a non-voting member.

SECTION 15. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 41, the following new section:-

Section 42. (a) The board shall coordinate and adopt a uniform policy requiring each public institution of higher education to award educational credits to a student who is enrolled in such an institution and who is also a veteran, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4, for the student’s military occupation(s), and military training and experience relevant to the occupation(s), and for courses that were a component of the student’s military training or service; provided, that the occupation(s), training, experience, or courses meet the standards of the American Council on Education or equivalent standards for awarding academic credit; provided further, that the award of educational credit is based upon a institution’s admissions standards and is consistent with the mission of the commonwealth’s system of public higher education, as defined by the board, pursuant to section 1 of chapter 15A.

(b) The board shall consult and collaborate with the boards of trustees in implementing the policy set forth in subsection (a) and the policy adopted by the board shall, to the greatest extent possible, provide for consistent application by all the commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education and promote accurate and complete academic counseling.

(c) The board shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement the provisions of this section, effective beginning January 1, 2013 and continuing thereafter.

SECTION 16. Chapter 21A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 41 the following section:-

Section 42. Each community college board of trustees shall submit an annual report developed in conjunction with the district trustees and advisory committees of vocational-technical schools in the same geographic region as the community college, pursuant to geographic region determinations made by the board of higher education. Said report shall be developed in conjunction with employers, local workforce investment boards and regional economic stakeholders. The report shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of the collaboration between the community college and regional vocational-technical schools and the training and job development programs implemented by the community college and regional vocational-technical schools. Copies of said report shall be filed with the board of higher education and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on labor and workforce development not later than March 31, annually.

SECTION 17. Chapter 23A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 10A the following new section:-

Section 10B. (a) There shall be established and set upon the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Student Entrepreneurial Development and Economic Investment Fund, hereinafter referred to as the Student Investment Fund, to which shall be credited any appropriations, bond proceeds, or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited thereto and additional funds designated for deposit to the student investment fund, including any pension funds, federal grants or loans, or private donations made available to the secretary of economic development. The secretary of economic development shall hold the student investment fund in an account separate from other funds or accounts. Amounts credited to the student investment fund shall be available to the investment board as established in subsection (b) to carry out the purposes of subsection (c).

(b) The investment board shall consist of the following members: the secretary of economic development or his designee, who shall serve as the chairperson of the board; the chairman of the board of higher education or his designee, who shall serve as the vice-chairperson of the board; the president of the Massachusetts technology development corporation, or his designee; the executive director of commercial ventures and intellectual property, or his designee; two private Massachusetts-based investors to be chosen by the chairperson in consultation with the president of the Massachusetts technology development corporation; one student representative selected by the university of Massachusetts representative to the board of higher education; one student representative selected by the state college representative to the board of higher education; and one student representative selected by the community college representative to the board of higher education. The chairman of the board of higher education shall establish a student application program to aid the representatives of the board of higher education in the selection of student members to the board.

Five members of the board shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of five members shall be necessary for any action taken by the board. No vacancy in the membership of the board shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the board.

(c) The purpose of the student investment fund shall be to provide an opportunity for interested students to gain experience in entrepreneurialism and early-stage business development while fostering an economic environment that will attract students to the commonwealth and forge a relationship between the public higher education system and the Massachusetts business community with the intent of driving economic growth. Funds made available to the student investment board from the student investment fund shall be used for a grant program administered by the board for prototype funding of Massachusetts’ student ideas in early development stages; provided however, that the development of such ideas, plans, or business occur within the commonwealth. The secretary of economic development shall promulgate rules regarding the enforcement and penalties for recipients who relocate outside of the commonwealth. The board shall not be limited in the number of grants distributed to students in any one year; provided however, that the total monetary amount of all grants distributed by the board in a fiscal year shall not exceed twenty percent of the fund’s first year balance. The board shall hold periodic hearings to allow selected students, who have submitted a statement of interest and initial business plan, the opportunity to present a comprehensive business plan describing characteristics and proprietary positions of the student’s product or services; present and future markets for such products or services; potential strategies for the future development and funding of the prototype product or service; a statement of amount, timing and projected use of the capital sought by the student; and a statement of the projected growth in employment or other positive economic impacts. Comprehensive business plans may be written and reviewed in consultation with the Massachusetts technology transfer center at the University of Massachusetts.

(d) The board shall, by January 1 of each year, submit a report of its activities for the preceding fiscal year to the governor, the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies, and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate. Each report shall set forth a complete financial statement covering its operation during the year and shall also include any requests for additional appropriations.

SECTION 18. Section 1 of chapter 74 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “service programs” contained in lines 43 to 44, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

“Service programs”, the preparation of students in occupational areas such as hotel and lodging, cosmetology, child care or any service occupation that by its nature is characterized as being a service, professional or non-professional. Such programs shall be in compliance with the program approval criteria regulations published by the state board.

SECTION 19. Section 4 of said chapter 74, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:-

Pursuant to section 21 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, one member of said board shall be designated by the district trustees to serve as a non-voting member of the board of trustees for any community college that shares the same geographic region as the independent vocational-technical school, provided that the board of higher education promulgate regulations to ensure that each community college board of trustees is represented by a member of every vocational-technical school in the same geographic region as the community college. The designated member shall serve as a liaison between the two boards for the purposes of sharing information and developing policies that will promote greater interaction between the vocational-technical school and the community college while maximizing the educational resources available to individuals seeking to learn a trade or develop targeted employment skills.

SECTION 20. Section 6 of said chapter 74, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 5, after the word “program,” the following words:-

representatives from the board of trustees of community colleges in the region,.

SECTION 21. Chapter 74 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding after section 55 the following section:-

Section 56. The district trustees shall establish a program, in collaboration with the advisory committee, the director of the department of career services and a representative of the local workforce investment board, to expand not-for-credit vocationally-oriented instruction provided through contracts with Massachusetts employers. The program shall allow interested business partners to sponsor a prospective or current employee for training provided by the vocational school at the expense of the employer. Each vocational school shall report not later than December 31, annually, to the commissioner of education on the level of not-for-credit vocationally-oriented instruction provided in the preceding fiscal year and the anticipated level of such instruction in the current fiscal year. The report shall detail enrollment levels, revenues received, sources of revenues, recruitment tools, the number of service contracts established with Massachusetts employers and such other information as the commissioner may require. The commissioner shall prepare a comprehensive report of the information and present copies of which to the board of higher education and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on labor and workforce development not later than March 31, annually.

SECTION 22. Chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 1A the following new section:-

Section 1B. (a)The director and each of the boards of registration and examination under the director’s supervision, shall upon presentation of satisfactory evidence by an applicant for certification or licensure, accept education, training, or service completed by an individual as a member of the armed forces, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4; or the United States military reserves toward the qualifications required to receive the license or certification in question.

(b) The commissioner of public health and each of the boards of registration and examination under the commissioner’s supervision, shall upon presentation of satisfactory evidence by an applicant for certification or licensure, accept education, training, or service completed by an individual as a member of the armed forces, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4, or the United States military reserves toward the qualifications required to receive the license or certification in question.

(c) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, if a licensee or certificate holder, pursuant to chapter 112, is engaged in active service in the armed forces of the United States, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4, the license or certification held by a licensee or certificate holder shall remain valid until the licensee or certificate holder is released from active duty and for a period of not less than 90 days following said release.

(d) The director and each of the boards of registration and examination under the director’s supervision shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement the provisions of this section, effective beginning January 1, 2013.

(e) The commissioner and each of the boards of registration and examination under the commissioner’s supervision shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement the provisions of this section, effective beginning January 1, 2013.

SECTION 23. Chapter 147 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 61 the following new section:-

Section 62. (a) The commissioner shall coordinate and adopt a uniform policy within the department to, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence by an applicant for certification or licensure under the authority of the department, accept education, training, or service completed by an individual as a member of the armed forces, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4, or the United States military reserves toward the qualifications required to receive the license or certification in question.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, if a licensee or certificate holder, who received a license or certificate under the authority of the department, is engaged in active service in the armed forces of the United States, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4, the license or certification held by a licensee or certificate holder shall remain valid until the licensee or certificate holder is released from active duty and for a period of not less than ninety days following said release.

(c) The commissioner and the department shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement the provisions of this section, effective January 1, 2013.