Section 260C.18A. Workforce training and economic development funds.

  1.  a.  A workforce training and economic development fund is created for each community college. Moneys shall be deposited and expended from a fund as provided under this section.

  b.  Moneys in the funds shall consist of any moneys appropriated by the general assembly and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the department from federal sources or private sources for placement in the funds. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the funds at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to any other fund but shall remain in the funds for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years.

  2.  Moneys deposited in the funds and disbursed to community colleges for a fiscal year shall be expended for the following purposes, provided seventy percent of the moneys shall be used on projects in the areas of advanced manufacturing, information technology and insurance, alternative and renewable energy including the alternative and renewable energy sectors listed in section 476.42, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (1), and life sciences which include the areas of biotechnology, health care technology, and nursing care technology:

  a.  Projects in which an agreement between a community college and an employer located within the community college’s merged area meet all of the requirements of the accelerated career education program under chapter 260G.

  b.  Projects in which an agreement between a community college and a business meet all the requirements of the Iowa jobs training Act under chapter 260F.

  c.  For the development and implementation of career academies designed to provide new career preparation opportunities for high school students that are formally linked with postsecondary career and technical education programs. For purposes of this section, “career academy” means a program of study that combines a minimum of two years of secondary education with an associate degree, or the equivalent, career preparatory program in a nonduplicative, sequential course of study that is standards based, integrates academic and technical instruction, utilizes work-based and worksite learning where appropriate and available, utilizes an individual career planning process with parent involvement, and leads to an associate degree or postsecondary diploma or certificate in a career field that prepares an individual for entry and advancement in a high-skill and reward career field and further education. The state board, in conjunction with the division of community colleges and workforce preparation of the department, shall adopt administrative rules for the development and implementation of such career academies pursuant to section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph “h”, section 260C.1, and Tit. II of Pub. L. No. 105-332, Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998.

  d.  Programs and courses that provide vocational and technical training, and programs for in-service training and retraining under section 260C.1, subsections 2 and 3.

  e.  Development and implementation of pathways for academic career and employment programs under chapter 260H.

  f.  Development and implementation of programs for the gap tuition assistance program under chapter 260I.

  g.  Entrepreneurial education, small business assistance, and business incubators.

  h.  Development and implementation of the national career readiness certificate and the skills certification system endorsed by the national association of manufacturers.

  3.  The department shall allocate the moneys appropriated pursuant to this section to the community college workforce training and economic development funds utilizing the same distribution formula used for the allocation of state general aid to the community colleges.

  4.  Each community college shall do all of the following:

  a.  Adopt a two-year workforce training and economic development fund plan outlining the community college’s proposed use of moneys appropriated under subsection 2.

  b.  Update the two-year plan annually.

  c.  Prepare an annual progress report on the two-year plan’s implementation.

  d.  Annually submit the two-year plan and progress report to the department in a manner prescribed by rules adopted by the department pursuant to chapter 17A.

2003 Acts, 1st Ex, ch 2, §76, 209

; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §330, 331, 345, 370, 400

; 2004 Acts, 1st Ex, ch 1002, §8 – 13

; 2005 Acts, ch 150, §35 – 37

; 2006 Acts, ch 1142, §20

; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180

; 2011 Acts, ch 25, §130

; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89

; 2011 Acts, ch 132, §70, 106

; 2012 Acts, ch 1021, §58

; 2012 Acts, ch 1132, §17

; 2013 Acts, ch 141, §35 – 39

; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §65

; 2014 Acts, ch 1132, §22