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is on the verge of retiring . The very young workers – those in their early 20 ’ s , aka millennials – have a tendency not to like to work with their hands nor work outdoors . Ultimately , the construction industry has lost an entire generation of workers who would normally be taking the lead as those most experienced workers retire . Since the market started rebounding in 2012 , there has been much talk about the shortage we all saw coming , but ultimately limited action .
The Taskforce , funded by the state from building permit surcharge fees and led by the UF Rinker School of Construction , was established as part of last year ’ s building code bill to bring various trades together , analyze the labor shortage and find solutions to the problem . The Taskforce is comprised of not only construction trades , but also includes a sitting Florida state representative , Dane Eagle and a state senator , Travis Hutson , whose roles are to address how our state government could assist in solving the critical shortage and draft / sponsor legislation as needed . We have been meeting quarterly since August 2016 and efforts to obtain funding for continuation of the Taskforce have already begun , led by our state Association lobbyist , Kari Hebrank . The Legislative Recommendations of the Construction Industry Workforce Taskforce
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include :
Legislative Recommendations :
1 . Recommendation : Expand the definition of a Local Educational Agency ( LEA ), as used in apprenticeship programs in Florida , to include institutions other than public schools , such as private training organization ( for profit and nonprofit ), labor unions , industry trade associations or other community based organizations .
2 . Recommendation : Create a legislative study to consider the appropriateness of moving apprenticeship programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Economic Opportunity . In addition , the study should address and provide clarity regarding how current apprenticeships are funded from the state to the LEAs and what options the LEAs have in how they spend apprenticeship funding .
3 . Recommendation : The Department of Education recognizes the NCCER curriculum , or other comparable national curriculum , as eligible for high school credits , college credits , and state
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supported scholarships ( e . g ., bright futures ).
4 . Recommendation : Additional state Career and Technical Education ( CTE ) support to be directed towards K-12 programs so that “ shop ” or other construction related programs are added back into CTE programs .
5 . Recommendation : Extend the ‘ sunset ’ timeframe for this Taskforce four additional years and provide funding of $ 100,000 per year , and a mechanism to obtain matching funds to continue to coordinate this task force . Funding will be used to continue data collection and analysis , ongoing economic impact studies , and subsequent strategies , implementation planning , and follow up .
6 . Recommendation : Direct CareerSource Florida to set aside existing federal training dollars for construction training programs using the previous state-wide ‘ Florida Rebuilds ’ program as an implementation model .
7 . Recommendation : Provide funding from the existing DBPR “ Building Permit Surcharge ” trust
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NUCA OF FLORIDA |