SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3071

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 10, 2018

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3071,with committee amendments.

      Senate Bill No. 3071, as amended, requires contractors that are subject to “The Public Works Contractor Registration Act” and that are directly employing craftworkers to participate in a registered apprenticeship program.

      Under the bill, a registered apprenticeship program means an apprenticeship program that is registered with and approved by the United States Department of Labor and provides the trainee with combined classroom and on-the-job training in an occupation recognized as a trade and meets the program standards of enrolment and graduation under the Code of Federal Regulations.

      The bill requires a public works contractor to file with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development a certification form provided by the commissioner, with documentation satisfactory to the commissioner, that the contractor has all valid and effective licenses, registrations or certificates required by State law, including registrations or certifications required to do business in the State of New Jersey, and that the contractor, if directly employing craftworkers, participates in a registered apprenticeship program.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments remove the requirement that contractors’ workers are to participate in or have completed a registered apprenticeship program, and instead require that the contractor, if directly employing craftworkers, participate in a registered apprenticeship program. The amendments revise the synopsis accordingly, and further provide that the bill would become effective on the 90^th day next following enactment, instead of immediately upon enactment.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.