This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
H.B. No. 2604
AN ACT
relating to state-funded job training or employment assistance
programs, services, and preferences available to veterans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.014 to read as follows:
Sec. 302.014. JOB TRAINING OR EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS, SERVICES, AND PREFERENCES AVAILABLE TO VETERANS. (a) In
this section, "veteran" has the meaning assigned by Section
657.002(c), Government Code.
(b) A veteran qualifies for a preference under this section
if the veteran qualifies for a veteran's employment preference
under Section 657.002(a), Government Code.
(c) In selecting applicants to receive training or
assistance under a job training or employment assistance program or
service that is funded wholly or partly with state money,
preference must be given to a veteran who:
(1) qualifies for a preference under Subsection (b);
and
(2) meets any minimum eligibility requirements to
participate or enroll in the program or receive the service.
(d) The Texas Veterans Commission shall operate programs in
this state to enhance the employment opportunities of veterans of
the armed forces of the United States, including the employment
program funded under 38 U.S.C. Chapters 41 and 42. The programs
must exclusively enhance the employment opportunities of eligible
veterans, and the services provided under those programs must be
provided by state employees. A state employee providing services
under a program may only provide services to veterans.
SECTION 2. Section 302.021(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In addition to the programs consolidated under the
authority of the commission under Subsection (a), the commission
shall administer:
(1) [programs in this state to enhance the employment
opportunities of veterans of the armed services of the United
States, including the employment program funded under Chapters 41
and 42, Title 38, United States Code;
[(2)] child-care services provided under Chapter 44,
Human Resources Code; and
(2) [(3)] programs established in this state through
federal funding to conduct full service career development centers
and school-to-work transition services.
SECTION 3. Section 302.062(g), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(g) Block grant funding under this section does not apply
to:
(1) the work and family policies program under Chapter
81;
(2) a program under the skills development fund
created under Chapter 303;
(3) the job counseling program for displaced
homemakers under Chapter 304;
(4) the Communities In Schools program under
Subchapter E, Chapter 33, Education Code, to the extent that funds
are available to the commission for that program;
(5) the reintegration of offenders program under
Chapter 306;
(6) apprenticeship programs under Chapter 133,
Education Code;
(7) the continuity of care program under Section
501.095, Government Code;
(8) employment programs under Chapter 31, Human
Resources Code;
(9) the senior citizens employment program under
Chapter 101, Human Resources Code;
(10) the programs described by Section 302.021(b)(2)
[302.021(b)(3)];
(11) the community service program under the National
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Section 12501 et seq.);
(12) the trade adjustment assistance program under
Part 2, Subchapter II, Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. Section 2271 et
seq.);
(13) the programs to enhance the employment
opportunities of veterans; and
(14) the functions of the State Occupational
Information Coordinating Committee.
SECTION 4. If Sections 302.014(b) and (c), Labor Code, as
added by this Act, conflict with federal law or a limitation
provided by a federal grant, Sections 302.014(b) and (c), Labor
Code, as added by this Act, are void and have no effect.
SECTION 5. (a) Not later than October 1, 2005, the Texas
Veterans Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission shall
establish a transition team to transfer the veterans employment
programs from the Texas Workforce Commission to the Texas Veterans
Commission. The transition team shall consist of a commissioner
and an employee of each agency and representatives from other
agencies that the veterans commission and workforce commission
determine are necessary to accomplish the transition of the
veterans employment programs.
(b) The Texas Veterans Commission and the Texas Workforce
Commission shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to
transfer the veterans employment programs of the Texas Workforce
Commission to the Texas Veterans Commission. The memorandum of
understanding must provide for the transfer of all powers, duties,
obligations, rights, contracts, leases, records, employees, real
or personal property, and unspent and unobligated appropriations
and other funds of the Texas Workforce Commission that are
necessary to accomplish the transfer of the veterans employment
programs under this Act to the Texas Veterans Commission. The
transition shall be completed not later than October 1, 2006.
(c) The transfer of the veterans employment programs from
the Texas Workforce Commission to the Texas Veterans Commission
does not affect the validity of a right, privilege, or obligation
accrued, a contract or acquisition made, any liability incurred, a
permit or license issued, a penalty, forfeiture, or punishment
assessed, a rule adopted, a proceeding, investigation, or remedy
begun, a decision made, or other action taken by the Texas Workforce
Commission in connection with the veterans employment programs.
(d) All rules, policies, procedures, and decisions of the
Texas Workforce Commission relating to the veterans employment
programs transferred to the Texas Veterans Commission by this Act
are continued in effect as rules, policies, procedures, and
decisions of the Texas Veterans Commission until superseded by a
rule or other appropriate action of the Texas Veterans Commission.
(e) Until the date the veterans employment programs are
transferred to the Texas Veterans Commission as provided by this
Act, the Texas Workforce Commission shall continue to exercise the
powers and perform the duties relating to the veterans employment
programs assigned to the Texas Workforce Commission under the law
as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act or,
if applicable, as modified by another Act of the 79th Legislature
that becomes law, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2604 was passed by the House on April
21, 2005, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2604 on May 26, 2005, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 2604 on May 29, 2005, by a
non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2604 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
3; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2604 on May 29, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor