October 19, 2016, Introduced by Rep. Driskell and referred to the Committee on Financial Services.
A bill to establish and provide for the operation of a program
of joint employee-employer lifelong learning accounts; to provide
for the powers and duties of certain state governmental officers
and entities; and to authorize the promulgation of rules.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"lifelong learning account act".
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Agency" means the Michigan talent investment agency.
(b) "Department" means the department of talent and economic
development.
(c) "Financial institution" includes any federally chartered
or state chartered bank, savings bank, savings and loan
association, or credit union.
(d) "Lifelong learning account" means a joint savings account
that is established by an employee and his or her employer to
support the employee's education and training and that is aligned
with the employee's approved career development plan.
(e) "Michigan works system" means the integrated system
created in the Michigan works one-stop service center system act,
2006 PA 491, MCL 408.111 to 408.135.
(f) "Program" means the lifelong learning account program
established under section 3.
Sec. 3. A lifelong learning account program is established
within the department to provide an opportunity for employees, with
the support of their employers, to create educational savings
accounts to be used to fund approved education and training. The
agency shall implement and operate the program.
Sec. 4. In implementing and operating the program, the agency
shall consult with any partners under section 5 to do all of the
following:
(a) Establish policies, rules, and procedures that support the
operation of the program, including, but not limited to, standards
for fund management and for program managers to approve career
development plans and education and training. Career development
plan standards shall ensure that the plans include information
necessary to determine whether expenditures are aligned with
program criteria. Education and training standards shall ensure
that expenditures are aligned with an approved career development
plan and eligible for funding through a lifelong learning account.
(b) Ensure that the program is marketed to various geographic
areas and industry sectors of this state, as well as to low-wage
workers, their employers, and the communities in which the workers
reside.
(c) Help partners coordinate new career counseling services
with existing online and other providers, including this state's
Michigan works system.
Sec. 5. In operating the program, the agency may do any of the
following:
(a) Partner with and coordinate the voluntary alignment of
program services with financial institutions and other public,
private, and nonprofit organizations to enable low-wage workers to
attain high-skilled and high-wage jobs in their communities.
(b) Encourage financial institutions to engage in any of the
following:
(i) Management functions of the program, including managing
lifelong learning accounts for individual employers and their
respective employees, consistent with program requirements and
guidelines.
(ii) Adding value to the program by providing financial
literacy and career counseling.
(iii) Integrating activities under a consolidated partnership,
which may include the designation of 1 fund manager to streamline
the establishment and management of the program.
(c) Develop program policies and system options that will lead
the program toward becoming self-sustaining.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date it is enacted into law.