AB314 - Revises provisions relating to economic development. (BDR 18-670)

EXEMPT (Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 21, 2025) FIRST REPRINT A.B. 314 - *AB314_R1* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 314–ASSEMBLYMEMBER EDGEWORTH FEBRUARY 27, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Government Affairs SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to economic development. (BDR 18-670) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact. Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation not included in Executive Budget. CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 3.7) (NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT) ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to economic development; requiring the State Treasurer to include in an existing tuition reimbursement program a program to provide reimbursement for certain fees related to the education of persons who are preparing for certain careers in health care; revising certain provisions governing that tuition reimbursement program; requiring the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation within the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to include health care in the Career Pathways Demonstration Program; requiring large school districts and authorizing other school districts to offer a Health Care Workforce Pathway Program; authorizing the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada to enter into certain agreements related to the Health Care Workforce Pathway Program; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law creates the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation within the 1 Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and prescribes the duties 2 of the Office and its Executive Director, which include, without limitation, defining 3 career pathways and identifying priority career pathways for secondary and 4 postsecondary education. (NRS 232.965, 232.975) Under existing law, the 5 Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation is required to establish and administer 6 a Career Pathways Demonstration Program. Pursuant to the Program, the Office is 7 – 2 – - *AB314_R1* required to identify not more than three priority industries, including K-12 8 education, for the development and implementation of career pathways and to take 9 certain steps to implement the Program, including, without limitation, establishing 10 measurable objectives for the outcomes of the Program and implementing a 11 competitive process to select proposals for career pathway projects. (NRS 232.985) 12 Section 3.5 of this bill requires one of the priority industries for the purposes of the 13 Program to be health care. 14 Existing law: (1) requires each large school district in this State, meaning any 15 school district which has more than 100,000 pupils enrolled in its public schools 16 (currently only the Clark County School District), to offer a Teacher Academy 17 College Pathway Program at every high school in the school district with 250 or 18 more pupils enrolled to enable pupils in grades 9 to 12 to prepare for employment 19 in professions in K-12 education; (2) authorizes a large school district to offer the 20 Program at high schools with fewer than 250 pupils; and (3) authorizes a school 21 district which is not a large school district to offer the Program at high schools in 22 the school district. (NRS 388.223) Section 3.7 of this bill enacts similar provisions 23 to establish a Health Care Workforce Pathway Program. 24 Existing law requires the State Treasurer to establish a program to provide 25 reimbursement for tuition charges, registration fees, laboratory fees and any other 26 mandatory fees paid to an institution within the Nevada System of Higher 27 Education by a person who completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway 28 Program and who worked as a full-time, licensed teacher for at least 3 consecutive 29 school years at a public school in this State. Under existing law, the State Treasurer 30 is authorized to provide partial reimbursement for such tuition charges and fees to a 31 person who completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program and who 32 has worked as a full-time, licensed teacher for 1 year or 2 consecutive years. (NRS 33 226.420) Section 3.1 of this bill authorizes the State Treasurer to provide similar 34 reimbursements to persons who complete the Health Care Workforce Pathway 35 Program and who work in this State in the field of health care for a certain period. 36 Section 3.3 of this bill renames the Nevada Grown Educator Account as the 37 Nevada Grown Educator and Health Care Workforce Account to reflect that the 38 Account will be used to carry out the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program 39 and the Health Care Workforce Pathway Program established pursuant to 40 section 3.7. 41 Existing law authorizes the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada to: 42 (1) enter into an agreement with a school district to assist in the implementation of 43 the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program; and (2) establish a program to 44 identify pupils who have completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway 45 Program, or who are expected to complete the Program by the end of grade 12, and 46 who wish to apply for admission to an institution within the Nevada System of 47 Higher Education, and inform such pupils of the institutions within the System 48 where such pupils may qualify for admission. (NRS 396.1219) Section 3.9 of this 49 bill extends similar authority to the Board of Regents to enter into an agreement 50 with a school district to assist in the implementation of the Health Care Workforce 51 Pathway Program established pursuant to section 3.7. 52 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. (Deleted by amendment.) 1 Sec. 2. (Deleted by amendment.) 2 Sec. 3. (Deleted by amendment.) 3 – 3 – - *AB314_R1* Sec. 3.1. NRS 226.420 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 226.420 1. The State Treasurer shall establish by regulation a 2 program to provide reimbursement for tuition charges, registration 3 fees, laboratory fees and any other mandatory fees paid to an 4 institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education by a 5 person who: 6 (a) [Completed] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, 7 completed a : 8 (1) Teacher Academy College Pathway Program offered 9 pursuant to NRS 388.223 [;] and 10 [(b) Except] , except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, has 11 worked as a full-time, licensed teacher at a public school in this 12 State for at least 3 consecutive school years [.] ; or 13 (2) Completed a Health Care Workforce Pathway Program 14 offered pursuant to section 3.7 of this act and, except as otherwise 15 provided in subsection 3, has worked in this State for at least 3 16 consecutive years as a full-time employee in the field of providing, 17 or directly assisting with the provision of, health care; 18 (b) Has completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid 19 provided for by 20 U.S.C. § 1090; and 20 (c) Has successfully completed a program at an institution 21 within the Nevada System of Higher Education for the 22 preparation of a person to work in the field of providing health 23 care, or directly assisting with the provision of health care. 24 2. The program may not provide reimbursement for any tuition 25 charge, registration fee, laboratory fee or any other mandatory fee 26 which was paid or otherwise provided for through a scholarship, 27 financial aid, waiver or similar financial assistance. For the 28 purposes of this subsection, a student education loan, as defined in 29 NRS 226.510, must not be considered financial aid or financial 30 assistance. 31 3. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, the 32 State Treasurer may provide partial reimbursement of tuition 33 charges, registration fees, laboratory fees and any other mandatory 34 fees paid by a person who [completed] : 35 (a) Completed a Teacher Academy College Pathway Program 36 offered pursuant to NRS 388.223 and who has worked as a full- 37 time, licensed teacher at a public school in this State for 1 year or 2 38 consecutive years [in an] ; or 39 (b) Completed a Health Care Workforce Pathway Program 40 offered pursuant to section 3.7 of this act and who has worked in 41 this State for 1 year or 2 consecutive years as a full-time employee 42 in the field of providing, or directly assisting with the provision of, 43 health care. 44 – 4 – - *AB314_R1* 4. The amount of any partial reimbursement provided 1 pursuant to subsection 3 must not [to] exceed, for each year of 2 service at a public school in this State [,] or for each year of service 3 in the health care field in this State, one-third of the total tuition 4 charges, registration fees, laboratory fees and any other mandatory 5 fees paid by the person to an institution within the Nevada System 6 of Higher Education which are subject to reimbursement pursuant to 7 this section and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto. 8 5. If a person has not completed a Health Care Workforce 9 Pathway Program offered pursuant to 3.7 of this act because of 10 circumstances beyond the control of that person, including, 11 without limitation, because the person attended a high school that 12 did not offer a Program, but the person satisfies the criteria set 13 forth in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection 1, the State 14 Treasurer may, upon the submission of an application by that 15 person, provide: 16 (a) Reimbursement for tuition charges, registration fees, 17 laboratory fees and any other mandatory fees paid to an institution 18 within the Nevada System of Higher Education by the person if 19 the person has worked as a full-time, licensed teacher at a public 20 school in this State for at least 3 consecutive years. 21 (b) Partial reimbursement for tuition charges, registration 22 fees, laboratory fees and any other mandatory fees paid to an 23 institution within the Nevada System Education, in the amount 24 described in subsection 3, if the person has worked as a full-time, 25 licensed teacher at a public school in this State for 1 year or 2 26 consecutive years. 27 Sec. 3.3. NRS 226.425 is hereby amended to read as follows: 28 226.425 1. The Nevada Grown Educator and Health Care 29 Workforce Account is hereby created in the State General Fund. 30 The Account must be administered by the State Treasurer. 31 2. The money in the Account must be used to carry out the 32 program established pursuant to NRS 226.420. 33 3. The State Treasurer may apply for and accept any donation, 34 gift, grant, bequest or other source of money for deposit in the 35 Account. 36 4. The interest and income earned on money in the Account, 37 after deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to the 38 Account. 39 5. Any money in the Account remaining at the end of a fiscal 40 year does not revert to the State General Fund, and the balance in 41 the Account must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. 42 Sec. 3.5. NRS 232.985 is hereby amended to read as follows: 43 232.985 1. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation 44 shall establish and administer a Career Pathways Demonstration 45 – 5 – - *AB314_R1* Program to develop and implement career pathways that will enable 1 students to prepare for employment in professions which serve the 2 long-term needs of this State. The Office shall identify not more 3 than three priority industries, including, without limitation, K-12 4 education [,] and health care, for the development and 5 implementation of career pathways as part of the Program. 6 2. In implementing the Program, the Office shall: 7 (a) Establish clear, measurable objectives for the outcomes of 8 the Program which are aligned with the State Plan for Economic 9 Development developed by the Executive Director of the Office of 10 Economic Development within the Office of the Governor pursuant 11 to subsection 2 of NRS 231.053, including, without limitation, 12 targets based on reliable data concerning: 13 (1) The number of persons entering the career pathway; 14 (2) The number and percentage of persons completing 15 distinct phases of the career pathway, as marked by earning course 16 credit or a credential, certificate or other recognized documentation 17 showing progression in the career pathway; 18 (3) The number and percentage of participants in a career 19 pathway who obtain high-quality employment in the target industry; 20 and 21 (4) The number and percentage of participants in a career 22 pathway employed for at least 2 years in the target industry. 23 (b) Rely on economic and workforce development data to 24 inform decision-making, including, without limitation: 25 (1) Estimates of the number of high-quality jobs in the 26 priority industries identified by the Office, including, without 27 limitation, K-12 education and health care, that will be required in 28 this State in the next 5 to 10 years; 29 (2) Projected workforce capacity in relation to the estimates 30 pursuant to subparagraph (1); 31 (3) The number and capacity of existing industry-aligned 32 career pathway programs; 33 (4) Enrollment, participation and completion rates for 34 industry-aligned career pathway programs; 35 (5) Credentialing rates or other industry-aligned indicators of 36 workforce readiness; 37 (6) Industry-aligned, skill-based employee retention rates; 38 (7) The demographic information of the participants in the 39 Program, including, without limitation, race, gender and enrollment 40 at a Title I school; and 41 (8) Other relevant data available through the statewide 42 longitudinal data system maintained by the Executive Director of 43 the Office pursuant to NRS 232.975. 44 – 6 – - *AB314_R1* (c) Collaborate with school districts, the Nevada System of 1 Higher Education, regional development authorities and 2 representatives from priority industries. 3 (d) Establish criteria for evaluating the performance of career 4 pathway projects and the entities that assist in the development and 5 implementation of career pathway projects, including, without 6 limitation, the Department of Education, school districts, the Nevada 7 System of Higher Education, regional development authorities and 8 representatives from priority industries. 9 3. The Office shall develop [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]