BILL ANALYSIS AB 2696 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2696 (Bass) As Amended August 2, 2010 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |72-2 |(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |25-11|(August 23, | | | | | | |2010) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: L. & E. SUMMARY : Sets forth additional specified duties of the Green Collar Jobs Council (GCJC). The Senate amendments 1)Delete the provision that establishes a Green Collar Jobs Council Account (GCJC Account) in the California State Treasure; 2)Require GCJC to analyze, rather than interpret, the regional market data that it develops and collects on California's new and emerging green industries workforce needs, trends, and job growth; and; 3)Require, on or before April 1of each year, beginning in 2011, the California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB) to report to the Legislature on the status of GCJC activities, grants awarded, and its development and implementation of green workforce strategic initiative. 4)Authorize the Employment Development Department (EDD), upon appropriation by the Legislature, to expend those moneys and revenues for purposes related to the strategic initiative and the award of grants, as provided. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill established a GCJC Account in the State Treasury, created additional duties for the GCJC, and required the CWIB to provide an annual report to the Legislature on the status of the GCJC's activities. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, $200,000 to $500,000 annually depending on the amount of green workforce training funds available to CWIB. AB 2696 Page 2 COMMENTS : This bill is a follow-up to AB 3018 (Nunez), Chapter 312, Statutes of 2008, which establishes the Green Collar Jobs Council (GCJC) within the CWIB. AB 3018 specifies that the GCJC is comprised of the appropriate representatives from the CWIB's existing membership, including the K-12 representative, the California Community Colleges representative, the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency representative, the Employment Development Department (EDD) representative, and other appropriate members. AB 3018 also requires the GCJC to develop a strategic initiative to identify and develop the framework, funding, strategies, programs, policies, partnerships, and opportunities necessary to address the growing need for a highly skilled and well-trained workforce to meet the needs of California's emerging green economy. The GCJC convened for the first time on February 11th, 2009 (and has met regularly thereafter), and adopted the following vision statement: "Over the next 18 to 24 months the Council will identify and facilitate the development of the framework, funding, strategies, programs policies, partnerships and opportunities necessary to address the need for a highly skilled and well-trained workforce in support of California's green businesses and economy. Through its work, the Council will serve as a catalyst for the creation of sustainable regional sector strategies that will be managed through regional partnerships." Following the enactment of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the GCJC has been focusing some of its attention on opportunities for green collar jobs made possible as a result of ARRA. According to the author's office statement, "With California's unemployment rate at an all time high of 10.5%, California needs to develop short and long term goals to put Californians back to work in jobs that provide a wage. We have an opportunity to make an investment in our existing workforce training infrastructure. Under the federal ARRA, California is receiving over $400 million in job training funds to be administered through our existing workforce infrastructure. No time is greater than now to form partnerships with state agencies, community colleges, community based organizations, and labor AB 2696 Page 3 apprenticeship programs to train a highly skilled and well trained workforce to meet the needs of California's growing green economy. According to a recent report by Next 10, titled California Innovation Index 2009 , since 2005 the green collar job has continued to grow by 10% and business establishments by 2%, while job growth in other sectors has been only 1%. With the infusion of federal economic stimulus funds California stands to create thousands of jobs in energy efficiency building retrofits, green building, solar and green technology. The time is now to develop much needed workforce training partnerships to better serve California." Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinley / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN: 0005921