ARPA Broadband Infrastructure Challenge Application

The ConnectMT program Challenge process information and updates is available at: https://connectmt.mt.gov/apply/

Providers wishing to submit challenges on multiple applications must submit a separate challenge for each application.

Challenges can be made to portions of a proposed project area without invalidating the entire project.

The ConnectMT Program reserves the right to invalidate a portion(s) of a proposed project area, aggregate challenges by different providers to determine percentage of locations served in a proposed project area, and invalidate insufficient challenges.

Challengers must demonstrate that more than 90% of locations in the project area have access to speeds above 25/10 mbps (unserved) or 100/20 (underserved) as of the date of the application or that the application is ineligible as a result of committed state or federal funding subject to the conditions described above.

The ConnectMT Program must receive all of the information detailed below or the challenge will be deemed incomplete and invalid.

The scope of the challenge must meet the criteria set forth in Senate Bill 297:  https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/SB0297.pdf

The Governor's Health Care Workforce Recruitment Program is now accepting applications. This program is intended to help address increasing demand for services by providing relocation reimbursements as an incentive to recruit skilled health care professionals to Montana. Health care businesses can click "Submit" next to the program information to submit an application and begin the process.

• Total funds available for this program are $4 million. Awards will be made on a first come, first served basis.
• Official Program Policy available at: https://wsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/wsd-policy/gov-healthcare_workforce-recuitment-program.pdf
• Questions? Please submit them to: dlihcwr@mt.gov.

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House Bill 632 from the 67th Regular Session of the Montana Legislature established the Economic Transformation and Stabilization and Workforce Development Advisory Commission. The Commission exists to review policies and program recommendations to be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. The Commission convened on October 27, 2021, and recommended approval of the Governor’s Health Care Workforce Recruitment program to attract of out-of-state health care workers to become part of the Montana health care workforce. The Program also supports health care employers whose labor forces and business models were compromised, changed, or reduced due to COVID-19.

The Program was approved by Governor Gianforte on November 8, 2021. Amendments to the policy were made effective April 29, 2022.

Health Care jobs that qualify for reimbursement

• Acupuncturist and Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other
• Anesthesiologists
• Assisted Living Center Workers
• Athletic Trainers
• Audiologists
• Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians
• Certified Nursing Assistants
• Chiropractors
• Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
• Dental Assistants
• Dental Hygienists
• Dentists, All Other Specialists
• Dentists, General
• Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
• Dietetic Technicians
• Dietitians and Nutritionists
• Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics
• Exercise Physiologists
• Family Medicine Physicians
• General Internal Medicine Physicians
• Genetic Counselors
• Health Info Technologists, Medical Registrars, Surgical Assistants, & Practitioners
• Healthcare Support Workers, All Other
• Hearing Aid Specialists
• Home Health and Personal Care Aides
• Licensed Addiction Counselor
• Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
• Licensed Clinical Social Workers
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
• Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists
• Massage Therapists
• Medical Assistants
• Medical Dosimetrists, Records Specialists, and Health Technologists and Technicians
• Medical Equipment Preparers
• Medical Transcriptionists
• Naturopathic Physicians, Assistants, and all other related
• Nuclear Medicine Technologists
• Nurse Anesthetists
• Nurse Midwives
• Nurse Practitioners
• Nursing Assistants
• Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Occupational Therapists
• Occupational Therapy Aides
• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
• Opticians, Dispensing
• Optometrists
• Orderlies
• Orthodontists
• Orthotists and Prosthetists
• Paramedics
• Pediatricians, General
• Pharmacists
• Pharmacy Aides
• Pharmacy Technicians
• Phlebotomists
• Physical Therapist Aides
• Physical Therapist Assistants
• Physical Therapists
• Physician Assistants
• Physicians, All Other; and Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric
• Podiatrists
• Psychiatric Aides
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
• Psychiatric Technicians
• Psychiatrists
• Radiation Therapists
• Radiologic Technologists
• Recreational Therapists
• Registered Nurses
• Respiratory Therapists
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Surgeons, Except Ophthalmologists
• Surgical Technologists
• Therapists, All Other

Functional Job Title to Occupational Classification Job Title website:

• https://www.onetonline.org/find/

o Enter the title in the “Keyword Or Code” box and click GO

o If you cannot find what you believe to be an appropriate/related match, please contact DLI at dlihcwr@mt.gov.

In furtherance of the Commission’s recommendation and the Governor’s approval, this Policy sets forth the details of implementation of the Program. This Policy may be amended from time to time as deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Labor & Industry.

Section I: Definitions

The following definitions apply to this policy unless reasonable interpretation demands otherwise:

1. “Application” means the document and supporting information submitted by an employer to the Department setting forth the employer’s intent to hire for a reimbursable position.

2. “Creation date” means the date of approval of this Policy.

3. “Department” means the Department of Labor & Industry, as defined in 2-15-1701, MCA.

4. “Destination” means the location in Montana where the employer is based or where the employee intends to live.

5. “Employee” has the meaning set forth in 39-71-118, MCA.

6. “Employer” has the meaning set forth in 39-51-202, MCA.

7. “Healthcare business” means a business employer in Montana which has the principal purpose of providing healthcare services. The term includes public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit entities.

8. “Notification” means the written document submitted to the department by an employer informing the department of a successful hire and including all receipts or other documentation on which a request for reimbursement is based.

9. “Origin” means the location where the employee lived prior to moving to the destination.

10. “Reimbursable position” means a position as an employee in a health care occupation listed in Addendum A as defined by O*NET code.

Section II: Eligibility for application

1. Healthcare businesses which self-attest to having 250 or more full-time employees at the time of application may:

• May have up to 10 different job classification approved for reimbursement under the program.

2. Healthcare businesses which self-attest to having 249 or fewer full-time employees at the time of application may:

• May have up to 10 different job classification approved for reimbursement under the program.

3. Origin of employees reimbursed must be outside Montana.

Section III: Reimbursement and Application Procedure

1. Application process:

• A healthcare business may complete an application and submit it to the department as set forth in Section VI.
• Upon receipt of a complete application, the department will review to determine eligibility of the employment for reimbursement.
• A determination of eligibility will be issued to the employer, if applicable.

2. Recruitment process:

• The applicant may then recruit an employee.
• The applicant is encouraged to reference the “Governor Gianforte’s Claim Allowance for Relocation Expenses (CARE) in Montana Program” in communications with potential employees, job postings, and other related materials.

3. Reimbursement process:

• Upon successfully recruiting an employee and after the employee’s start date with the employer, the applicant employer may submit all eligible receipts for reimbursement.
• DLI will review all receipts to determine eligibility and will issue a reimbursement amount to the applicant.

4. Reimbursement amount:

• The total reimbursement includes: (1) the total amount of the receipts deemed eligible by the department; (2) an additional 35% of the reimbursement amount.
• The total reimbursement must be transmitted to the employee by the employer. The total reimbursement is taxable.

5. Performance measures:

• Employees should be hired with the expectation of at least one year of employment.
• The employer should notify DLI if an employee leaves less than one year from the start date.

Section IV: Application Receipt

1. Applications are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Only 500 applications may be open at one time. If 500 applications are open and a new application is received, further applications will be rejected until applications close. In addition, 125 application positions are reserved for healthcare business which target rural and underserved populations.

2. Applications remain open for 200 days from submission. After 200 days, the application closes. Reimbursement is not available unless, during the open period, the employee has begun employment. An employer may renew an application for the same job classification if no reimbursement has been issued and other eligibility requirements are met.

3. An employer may only have one application open at a time.

Section V: Eligible and Ineligible Reimbursements

1. The following expenses are eligible for reimbursement if necessary supporting documentation is submitted to the department and the expense is incurred after the creation date and after acceptance of employment:

• Airfare: Airline tickets may be reimbursed solely for economy or coach seating and baggage charges.
• Housing: The costs of securing housing, such as rental application fees, down payments, or initial lease costs may be reimbursed to a maximum of $2,500.
• Licensing fee: Fees paid directly to a state of Montana licensing board for obtaining a Montana license to practice.
• Lodging: Lodging may be reimbursed at $125 per night, or the actual cost of lodging, whichever is lower.
• Meals: Meals may be reimbursed at a rate of $59 per day of travel from the origin to the destination.
• Mileage: Mileage may be reimbursed for the most direct route from the place from which an employee is moving to the final destination within Montana, at the 2021 IRS Medical & Moving Mileage Rate of $0.16 per mile.
• Moving costs: The costs of renting a moving truck or hiring a moving company.
• Other expenses may be reimbursed by the department at its sole discretion.

2. The following are expenses which are not eligible for reimbursement:

• Expenses incurred prior to the creation date or prior to acceptance of employment, including without limitation, costs relating to in person interviews.
• No reimbursement is available for any employee whose hire date is before the creation date.
• Packing supplies, including without limitation, boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and similar.
• Storage expenses.
• Utility cut-off costs, including without limitation, electricity, internet, and water.
• Expenses submitted more than 30 days after employment start date.
• Expenses in excess of a total of $12,500 per employee.

Section VI: Funding Limitations

1. All reimbursement requests are subject to available funding provided to the program by the Economic Transformation and Stabilization and Workforce Development Advisory Commission. Reimbursements will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. No reimbursements whose fulfillment would result in the program exceeding its available funding and DLI’s budget authority will be processed.

Section VII: Exceptions

1. On a case-by-case basis, DLI may grant policy exceptions within the parameters of the program as authorized.

Section VIII: Submissions to Program

1. All applications and supplemental information must be submitted by one of the following means:

• online via at www.covidreliefmt.org/submit;
• electronic mail to: dlihcwr@mt.gov;
• facsimile to 406-444-3037.

Adopted on the 3rd day of December, 2021.

Updated this 29 day of April, 2022.

Note

A business must have an approved ItHA on or prior to the Hire Date for expenses to be eligible for reimbursement.

Mobile Users: Please note file uploads may not work on all mobile devices. We recommend using the Chrome [salesloft.submittable.com] or Firefox [salesloft.submittable.com] browser, if possible. Please note that certain elements of our platform -- including file uploads -- may not run as efficiently on Explorer, or older versions of Edge [salesloft.submittable.com].

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Please note that it will not be possible to edit your application once it's submitted. We encourage you to take your time and fill out the application completely and accurately and review before submitting.