Bill Text: IN SB0288 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Hoosier youth corps program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-06 - First reading: referred to Committee on Appropriations [SB0288 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2011-SB0288-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 21-12-10.
Synopsis: Hoosier youth corps program. Establishes the Hoosier youth
corps program (program) to provide college students summer
internships with state and local governments and nonprofit
organizations to help meet critical community needs. Provides that the
state student assistance commission (commission) is the program
administrator. Provides that an internship must provide work for at
least 30 hours per week for at least 10 weeks, and pay a weekly stipend
of at least $50. Provides that the employer offering the internship is
responsible for selecting and supervising program participants taking
part in its internships. Provides that a program participant who
successfully completes an internship is entitled to receive a tuition
grant of up to $2,500 for use at an approved postsecondary educational
institution. Establishes the Hoosier youth corps program fund to pay
the tuition grants offered by the program.
Effective: July 1, 2011.
January 6, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Appropriations.
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
education.
Chapter 10. Hoosier Youth Corps Program
Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, "employer" means any of the following:
(1) The executive, legislative, or judicial branches of state government, or an agency, board, commission, department, division, institution, office, or other instrumentality of state government.
(2) A political subdivision (as defined in IC 36-1-2-13) and an agency, board, commission, department, division, institution, office, or other instrumentality of a unit of local government.
(3) A nonprofit association or organization that qualifies as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "fund" refers to the Hoosier
youth corps program fund established by section 12 of this chapter.
Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "program" refers to the Hoosier
youth corps program established by section 6 of this chapter.
Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "program participant" means an
individual who submits an application and meets the requirements
of section 7(a) of this chapter.
Sec. 5. As used in this chapter, "qualified employer" means an
employer that offers an internship that meets the requirements of
section 9 of this chapter.
Sec. 6. (a) The Hoosier youth corps program is established to
encourage college students to engage in summer internships with
state and local governments and nonprofit organizations to help
meet critical community needs in areas such as education, public
safety, social services, health, and the environment.
(b) The commission shall administer the Hoosier youth corps
program.
Sec. 7. (a) An individual is eligible for an internship in the
program if the individual meets the following requirements:
(1) The individual is a resident of Indiana, as defined by the
commission.
(2) The individual:
(A) is enrolled as a full-time student in an approved
postsecondary educational institution (as defined in
IC 21-7-13-6) and making satisfactory progress, as
determined by the commission, toward completion of a
course of study that leads to an associate or baccalaureate
degree or a technical certificate; or
(B) has:
(i) completed, or will complete by the end of the current
academic year, a program of study at an approved
secondary school; or
(ii) been granted a general educational development
(GED) diploma under IC 20-20-6;
and will enroll, not later than the beginning of the next
academic year, as a full-time student at an approved
postsecondary educational institution in a course of study
that leads to an associate or baccalaureate degree or a
technical certificate.
(3) The individual meets any other requirements established
by the commission.
(b) An individual who wants to participate in the program shall
submit to the commission a properly completed written application
in a form specified by the commission.
(c) The commission shall notify each individual who submits an
application:
(1) that the individual meets the requirements under
subsection (a) and is a program participant eligible for an
internship; or
(2) the reason or reasons why the individual does not meet the
requirements under subsection (a).
Sec. 8. (a) The commission shall make available to program
participants information about:
(1) qualified employers with available internships; and
(2) the process of applying with those qualified employers.
(b) The commission shall establish an online source that enables
a program participant to:
(1) obtain information about qualified employers with
available internships; and
(2) apply for available internships.
(c) A program participant may continue to apply for available
internships until the individual accepts an internship with a
qualified employer.
Sec. 9. (a) To become a qualified employer, an employer must
offer an internship that meets the following requirements:
(1) The work to be performed by the intern must help meet
critical community needs that are not being met by the
employer's current employees in areas such as education,
public safety, social services, health, and the environment.
(2) The internship must provide work for at least thirty (30)
hours each week for at least ten (10) weeks.
(3) The internship must offer a stipend paid by the employer
of at least fifty dollars ($50) for each week in which the intern
performs work for the qualified employer.
(4) The internship must comply with any other requirements
established by the commission.
(b) The commission shall determine whether a proposed
internship meets the requirements listed in subsection (a) and
notify the employer of its decision.
(c) The number of internships approved each year by the
commission may not exceed the number of tuition grants available
for the year under section 11 of this chapter.
Sec. 10. (a) An employer that has an internship approved by the
commission under section 9 of this chapter becomes a qualified
employer.
(b) Each qualified employer is responsible for selecting and supervising program participants taking part in the employer's internships.
(c) A qualified employer shall agree to provide to the commission:
(1) information necessary for the commission to list the qualified employer's internships on the commission's online source described in section 8(b) of this chapter; and
(2) records and reports necessary to document each intern's performance during the internship, including whether the intern successfully completed the internship.
Sec. 11. (a) A program participant who successfully completes an internship offered under this chapter is entitled to receive a tuition grant for use at an approved postsecondary educational institution (as defined in IC 21-7-13-6).
(b) The total number of tuition grants given under this section is limited to the amount appropriated by the general assembly.
(c) The maximum tuition grant that a program participant may receive is the greater of:
(1) the program participant's tuition for the academic year that immediately follows the individual's internship; or
(2) two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(d) The commission shall distribute the tuition grants made to program participants on a first come, first served basis.
Sec. 12. (a) The Hoosier youth corps program fund is established to provide the financial resources necessary to pay tuition grants to program participants.
(b) The fund consists of the following:
(1) Appropriations made by the general assembly.
(2) Donations to the fund.
(3) Interest.
(4) Money transferred to the fund from other funds.
(5) Money from any other source transferred or appropriated to the fund.
Sec. 13. (a) The commission shall administer the fund.
(b) The expenses of administering the fund shall be paid from money in the fund.
(c) The treasurer of state shall invest the money in the fund not currently needed to meet the obligations of the fund in the same manner as other public funds may be invested. Interest that accrues from the investments shall be deposited in the fund.
(d) Money in the fund at the end of a state fiscal year does not
revert to the state general fund but remains available to be used for
providing money for employer grants and tuition grants under this
chapter.
Sec. 14. The commission may adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to
implement this chapter.
