Amended Substitute House Bill No. 2 Summary

• Creates the TechCred Program to reimburse employers for training costs (up to $2,000 per employee) when prospective or incumbent employees earn industry-recognized microcredentials completable in one year or less.

• Establishes the Individual Microcredential Assistance Program to reimburse training providers (up to $3,000 per microcredential, maximum $250,000 per fiscal year) for training low-income, partially unemployed, or totally unemployed individuals to earn microcredentials.

• Creates a grant program administered by the Development Services Agency to support industry sector partnerships and sector partnership networks focused on meeting industry cluster human resources needs through hiring coordinators, curriculum development, and marketing activities.

• Allocates $12.3 million annually to TechCred Program (divided equally among three business size categories: 1-50 employees, 51-200 employees, and 201+ employees), $2.5 million annually to Individual Microcredential Assistance Program, and $2.5 million to industry sector partnerships grant program.

• Requires annual reporting to the General Assembly beginning August 1 with wage data, unemployment rates, demographic analysis, and completion rates for all three programs, categorized by region and statewide.