Establishes Statewide Skills Academy Network; appropriates $1 million.

A4484

ASSEMBLY, No. 4484

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Statewide Skills Academy Network,
appropriates $1 million.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
establishing the Statewide Skills Academy Network,
supplementing chapter 64A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making
an appropriation.�

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.� The Secretary of
Higher Education, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College
Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, shall establish the
Statewide Skills Academy Network.� It shall be the purpose of the network to
improve communication and collaboration among county colleges, vocational
schools, and union training providers to better meet the skills needs of the
State�s workforce.� The network shall comprise of regional skills academies
approved pursuant to section 2 of this act.

���� b.� The network shall:

���� (1)� support the ongoing
exchange of best practices and resources in skills development among county
colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers;��

���� (2)� identify opportunities
for improving geographic equity in access to training opportunities throughout
the State;

���� (3)� identify any gaps between
the industry-recognized credentials required by employers and the availability
of training programs needed for acquiring those credentials; and

���� (4)� advise and assist the
secretary in the development of an integrated, Statewide credentialing system
that supports career mobility and labor market success.

���� c.� The Office of the
Secretary of Higher Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and
other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the network
requires to carry out its work.�

���� d. The network shall be
entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the
employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau,
commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its
purposes.

���� 2.� a.� To be eligible for
consideration to establish a regional skills academy, a county college,
vocational school, or union training provider seeking to participate in the
Statewide Skills Academy Network shall submit an application to the Secretary
of Higher Education, in accordance with application procedures and requirements
prescribed by the secretary.

���� b.� (1) �The secretary, in
consultation with the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and
Economic Development, shall establish criteria for the selection of skills
academies and the awarding of grants available pursuant to this act.�

���� (2) �The secretary shall
select skills academies and award grants to skills academies based upon review
of the applications and subject to the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise
made available for this purpose.�

���� (3) �Priority for grants
awarded pursuant to this act shall be given to skills academies that will offer
training opportunities in evening hours and on weekends.�

���� c.� Grants provided pursuant
to this act shall be used for the development and maintenance of accessible
training sites, including, but not limited to, costs associated with
facilities, curriculum development, equipment, staffing, and ongoing operating
costs.�

���� 3.� A regional skills academy
approved pursuant to section 2 of this act shall:

� a.� support the Statewide
Skills Academy Network in the fulfillment of its work;
and

� b.� develop a training site
that provides short-term, stackable credential programs in high-demand sectors that
will improve employee readiness and job placement outcomes of participants.

���� 4. The Secretary of Higher
Education shall annually apply for any federal, State, and private grant funds
or other assistance which may be available to be used for the Statewide Skills
Academy Network and regional skills academies established pursuant to this act.

���� 5. There is appropriated from
the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of
$1,000,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.

���� 6.� This act shall take effect
immediately.�

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes the
Statewide Skills Academy Network and appropriates $1 million to the Office of
the Secretary of Higher Education for the bill�s purposes.�

���� Under the bill, the Secretary
of Higher Education, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College
Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, is directed to establish the
Statewide Skills Academy Network.� The purpose of the network is to improve
communication and collaboration among county colleges, vocational schools, and
union training providers and to better meet the skills needs of the State�s
workforce.� The network would be comprised of regional skills academies and:

���� (1) support the ongoing
exchange of best practices and resources in skills development among county
colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers;��

���� (2)� identify opportunities
towards improving geographic equity in access to training opportunities
throughout the State;

���� (3)� identify any gaps between
the industry-recognized credentials required by employers and the availability
of training programs needed for acquiring those credentials; and

���� (4)� advise and assist the
secretary in the development of an integrated, Statewide credentialing system
that supports career mobility and labor market success.

���� The bill requires a county
college, vocational school, or union training provider interested in
establishing a regional skills academy to submit an application to the
Secretary of Higher Education, in accordance with application procedures and
requirements prescribed by the secretary.� The secretary, in consultation with
the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic
Development, is directed to establish criteria for the selection of skills
academies and the awarding of grants available pursuant to the bill.� The
secretary is further directed to select skills academies and award grants to
skills academies based upon review of the applications and subject to the limit
of available funds.� Under the bill, priority for grants would be given to
skills academies that offer training opportunities in evening hours and on
weekends.� Grants are to be used for the development and maintenance of
accessible training sites.�

���� Under the bill, a skills
academy is required to:

�

support the Statewide Skills Academy Network in the fulfillment
of its work; and

�

develop a training site that provides short-term, stackable
credential programs in high-demand sectors that will improve employee readiness
and job placement outcomes of participants.

���� The bill directs the secretary
to annually apply for any federal, State, and private grant funds or other
assistance which may be available to be used for the network and skills
academies.�

���� The bill appropriates $1
million to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education ��to effectuate the
bill�s purposes.