BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 342 Hearing Date: April 22,
2015
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|Author: |Jackson |
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|Version: |February 23, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Alma Perez-Schwab |
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Subject: California Workforce Investment Board:
responsibilities
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature require that the California Workforce
Investment Board assist the Governor in helping individuals with
barriers to employment, including low-skill, low-wage workers,
the long-term unemployed, and members of single-parent
households, achieve economic security and upward mobility?
ANALYSIS
The former federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998
provided for activities and programs for job training and
employment investment in which states could participate,
including work incentive and employment training outreach
programs. Following passage of the federal WIA, the state
established the California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB or
State Board) and charged the board with the responsibility of
developing a unified, strategic planning process to coordinate
various education, training, and employment programs into an
integrated workforce development system that supports economic
development.
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Existing law requires the local chief elected officials in a
local workforce development area to form, pursuant to specified
guidelines, a Local Workforce Investment Board (Local WIB) to
plan and oversee the workforce investment system at the local
level. There are currently 49 local WIBs in the state.
(Unemployment Insurance Code §1400 et al)
Existing law requires the CWIB, in collaboration with specified
state and local partners, and the Local WIBs to develop a
strategic workforce plan, updated at least every 5 years, to
address the state's economic, demographic, and workplace needs.
Among its responsibilities, the State Board develops protocols
to ensure that policies are developed with full public input and
discussion. The State Board also assists the Governor in
targeting resources to specified industry sectors and provides
guidance to ensure that services reflect the needs of those
sectors.
This Bill would additionally require the State Board to assist
the Governor in helping individuals with barriers to employment,
including low-skill, low-wage workers, the long-term unemployed,
and members of single-parent households, achieve economic
security and upward mobility by implementing policies that
encourage the attainment of marketable skills relevant to
current labor market trends.
COMMENTS
1. The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA):
The federal WIOA, passed by a wide bipartisan majority and
signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 22, 2014, is
the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in
more than 15 years. WIOA supersedes the Workforce Investment
Act of 1998. WIOA brings together, in strategic coordination,
the core programs of Federal investment in skill development,
including employment and training services for adults,
dislocated workers, youth and individuals with disabilities.
WIOA also authorizes programs for specific vulnerable
populations including Indian and Native Americans and migrant
and seasonal farmworker programs, among others.
The following are some highlights of the WIOA reforms:
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Strategically aligns investments in workforce
development programs to ensure that services provided are
coordinated and complementary to ensure job seekers acquire
skills and credentials that meet employers' needs.
Promotes accountability and transparency by ensuring
that investments are evidence-based and data-driven, and
accountable to participants and tax-payers.
Fosters regional collaboration to promote alignment of
programs with regional economic development strategies to
meet local needs.
Improves quality and accessibility of services received
by job seekers and employers at their local job centers by,
among other things, establishing criteria for certification
of the centers that ensures continuous improvements.
Improves services to employers and promotes work-based
training - matching employers with skilled individuals by
promoting the use of industry and sector partnerships.
Promotes the use of Registered Apprenticeship programs
which has proven successful at providing workers with
career pathways and opportunities to earn while they learn.
Streamlines and strengthens the roles of Workforce
Development Boards - both state and local - to ensure
programs are coordinated, complementary and consistent
across the state.
2. Need for this bill?
The new WIOA law recognizes the need for change and
reauthorizes the nation's employment, training, adult
education, and vocational rehabilitation programs created
under WIA. WIOA improves connections to employment and
training opportunities that lead to economic prosperity for
workers and their families. The U.S. Department of Labor, in
coordination with the U.S. Departments of Education and Health
and Human Services, are working to ensure that states and
local areas, other grantees, and stakeholders are prepared for
implementation of WIOA by providing technical assistance,
tools, and resources to its website, webinars, and virtual and
in-person discussions. The U.S. Department of Labor has also
recommended that state's review their existing laws to
identify areas that may conflict with WIOA and develop plans
and strategies to resolve these conflicts.
This bill is needed to ensure that the new statutes and
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guidelines for our states workforce development plan includes
a focus on assisting individuals with barriers to employment,
including low-skill, low-wage workers, the long-term
unemployed, and members of single-parent households, achieve
economic security and upward mobility by implementing policies
that encourage the attainment of marketable skills relevant to
current labor market trends.
3. Proponent Arguments :
According to the author, historically, throughout our country,
workforce development service providers have focused their
efforts on easier to place unemployed persons and overlooked
those with barriers to employment, like low-skilled employees,
who lack economic security. SB 342 ensures that, at the state
level, we are prioritizing workforce development in hard to
serve communities for people with barriers to employment,
including low-skill, low-wage workers, the long-term
unemployed, and members of single-parent households. The
federal WIOA makes it clear the importance of ensuring
workforce development providers prioritize finding jobs for
those with barriers to employment. This bill will help workers
escape poverty by asking the California Workforce Investment
Board to implement policies that encourage the attainment of
marketable skills relevant to current labor market trends
which will lead to economic security and upward mobility.
4. Opponent Arguments :
None received.
5. Prior or Related Legislation :
SB 45 (Mendoza) of 2015: Pending in the Assembly
SB 45 is one of two being sponsored by the CA Labor and
Workforce Development Agency and the CA Workforce Investment
Board that will make the necessary changes to existing law for
the implementation of the federal WIOA in our State. Among
other things, this bill requires the state, in conformity with
WIOA and after consultation with local boards and chief
elected officials, to identify planning regions and require
the locals to prepare regional workforce development plans.
AB 1270 (Garcia) of 2015: Pending in the Assembly Com. on J.,
E.D., & E.
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AB 1270 is the second bill sponsored by the CA Labor and
Workforce Development Agency and the California Workforce
Investment Board that will make the necessary changes to
existing law for the implementation of WIOA. Specifically, AB
1270 would update statutory references to the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 to instead refer to the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and makes related
conforming changes.
SB 118 (Lieu) of 2013: Chaptered
SB 118 required the California Workforce Investment Board
(CWIB) to incorporate specific principles into the
state's strategic plan that align the education and workforce
investment systems of the state to the needs of the 21st
century economy and promotes a well-educated and
highly skilled workforce to meet the future workforce needs.
SB 118 was a re-introduction of SB 1401 from 2012.
SUPPORT
American Association of University Women
California Budget Project
California Hospital Association
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Manufacturing and Technology Association
California Workforce Association
Career Ladders Project for the California Community Colleges
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
National Council of La Raza
Policy Link
San Francisco Jewish Vocational Services
State Building and Construction Trades of California
OPPOSITION
None received
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