SECTION 803.14. Procedure for Requesting Funding

(a) An eligible applicant shall present to the executive director or his or her designee, an application for funding, in order to acquire grant funds for the provision of customized training as may be identified by the eligible applicant. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the eligible applicant will request the review and comments of the Board in the applicable workforce area(s), where there is a significant impact on job creation or incumbent worker training, and submit these comments to the executive director or his or her designee with the application for funding.

(b) An eligible applicant is not required to obtain or provide the comments if the Board informs the applicant that the Board is preparing an application or has submitted an application that has not been approved or rejected. A Board is not required to comment on its own applications.

(c) An eligible applicant shall submit any updates to the original application for funding in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) TEEX, or the public community or technical college that is a partner to a training proposal for a grant from the Skills Development Fund, may be non-local.

(e) The training proposal shall not duplicate a training project available in the workforce area in which the private partner or trade union is located.

(f) Proposals shall disclose other grant funds sought or awarded from the Agency or other state and federal entities for the proposed job training project.

(g) Applicants shall indicate whether they are submitting concurrent proposals for the Skills Development Fund and the Texas Enterprise Fund. For the purposes of this subsection, "concurrent proposal" shall mean:

(1) a proposal for the Skills Development Fund that has been submitted and is pending at the time an applicant submits a proposal for the Texas Enterprise Fund; or

(2) a proposal for the Texas Enterprise Fund that has been submitted and is pending at the time an applicant submits a proposal for the Skills Development Fund.

(h) Proposals shall be written and contain the following information:

(1) The number of proposed jobs created and/or retained;

(2) A brief outline of the proposed training project, including the skills acquired through training and the employer's involvement in the planning and design;

(3) A brief description of the measurable training objectives and outcomes;

(4) The occupation and wages for participants who complete the customized training project;

(5) A budget summary, disclosing anticipated project costs and resource contributions, including the dollar amount the private partner is willing to commit to the project;

(6) A signed agreement between the private partner or trade union and the Board, public community or technical college, or TEEX outlining each entity's roles and responsibilities if a grant is awarded;

(7) A statement explaining the basis for the determination that there is an actual or projected labor shortage in the occupation in which the proposed training project will be provided that is not being met by an existing institution or program in the workforce area;

(8) A comparison of costs per trainee for the customized training project and costs for similar instruction at the public community or technical college, TEEX, and the Board;

(9) A statement describing the private partner's or trade union's equal opportunity employment policy;

(10) A list of the proposed employment benefits;

(11) An indication of a concurrent proposal as required by subsection (g) of this section; and

(12) Any additional information deemed necessary by the Agency to complete evaluation of a proposal.

(i) An applicant may, with the approval of the executive director or his or her designee, submit a proposal for funding that does not contain or identify all of the required elements under subsection (h) of this section. The release of any funding is contingent upon the applicant's submission, and the Agency's approval, of all the required elements in subsection (h) of this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §803.14 adopted to be effective January 29, 2003, 28 TexReg 751; amended to be effective January 9, 2006, 31 TexReg 174; amended to be effective January 25, 2021, 46 TexReg 580; amended to be effective November 28, 2022, 47 TexReg 7913