BILL NUMBER: AB 1910 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gray
FEBRUARY 19, 2014
An act to amend Sections 14000, 14013, and 14020 of
add Division 11 (commencing with Section 19000) to
the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to
unemployment insurance workforce investment .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1910, as amended, Gray. Unemployment insurance:
education and workforce investment systems. California
Workforce Investment Board: San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning and
Preparedness Act of 2014.
Existing law declares that a well-educated and highly skilled
workforce is necessary for the state to remain competitive in the
global economy and that workforce investment programs and services
need to work collaboratively with state and local entities to
accomplish this policy goal.
Existing law provides that the California Workforce Investment
Board (CWIB) is responsible for assisting the Governor in,
among other things, the development, oversight, and continuous
improvement of California's workforce investment system. Existing law
requires the board, in collaboration with specified state and local
partners, and the local workforce investment boards to develop a
specified strategic workforce plan, updated at least every 5 years,
to address the state's economic, demographic, and workplace needs,
and to meet the single state plan requirement of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998. In that regard, the board aligns and
leverages state and local Workforce Investment Act funding streams,
identifies specified industry sectors and clusters, provides
skills-gap analysis, and establishes specified eligibility criteria
for the Workforce Investment Act eligible training provider list.
This bill would require the CWIB to establish the San Joaquin
Valley Regional Economic Planning and Preparedness Council as a
special committee, composed of specified members, to, among other
things, 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 the San Joaquin Valley's emerging
technology and energy economy. The bill would require the council to
report to the Legislature, by April 1 each year, on the status of its
activities and its development of an oil and natural gas workforce
strategic initiative.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Division 11 (commencing wi
th Section 19000) is added to the Unemployment Insurance
Code , to read:
DIVISION 11. San Joaquin Valley Regional Economic Planning and
Preparedness Act of 2014
19000. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the San
Joaquin Valley Regional Economic Planning and Preparedness Act of
2014.
19001. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The San Joaquin Valley composed of the Counties of Fresno,
Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare is
home to an estimated 4 million Californians.
(b) For the last two decades, the San Joaquin Valley Region has
maintained average annual unemployment rates ranging from 62 percent
to 150 percent above the state average.
(c) The San Joaquin Valley's per capita income is $31,533 and 50
percent of the San Joaquin Valley's population is in poverty
including thousands of unemployed and underemployed people.
(d) The San Joaquin Valley continues to face significant economic
challenges including, poverty, unemployment, and an inadequately
trained workforce.
(e) The San Joaquin Valley is also home to hard-working
immigrants, new entrepreneurs, business and labor leaders, learning
institutions including the new University of California, Merced,
cities and towns renewing themselves, and community and nonprofit
agencies uniting to develop civic leadership.
(f) Developing the San Joaquin Valley's workforce skills and
aligning public and private workforce development resources with
industry growth opportunities in the region to meet current and
future business workforce requirements and close the
business-workforce skills gap will cultivate higher paying jobs and
will allow its economy to flourish.
19002. (a) The California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB) shall
establish a special committee known as the San Joaquin Valley
Regional Economic Planning and Preparedness Council (SJVREPPC), with
appropriate representatives from the CWIB existing membership,
including a K-12 education representative, a California Community
Colleges representative, an Employment Development Department
representative, a Department of Food and Agriculture representative,
a Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development
representative, a California Transportation Commission
representative, and other appropriate members. The CWIB may call on
other state agencies, other higher education representatives, and
industry representatives as well as philanthropic and nongovernmental
groups as appropriate and necessary to serve as consultants to the
SJVREPPC in the development of this strategic initiative.
(b) As part of the strategic initiative the SJVREPPC shall
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 the San Joaquin Valley's emerging technology and energy
economy. The SJVREPPC shall do all of the following:
(1) Assist in identifying and linking emerging technology and
energy job opportunities with workforce development training
opportunities in local workforce investment areas (LWIAs), and
encouraging regional collaboration among LWIAs to meet regional
economic demands.
(2) Develop public, private, philanthropic, and nongovernmental
partnerships to build and expand the state's workforce development
programs, network, and infrastructure.
(3) Provide policy guidance for job training programs in the
emerging technology and energy sector to assist and prepare specific
populations, such as at-risk youth, displaced workers, veterans,
formerly incarcerated individuals, and others facing barriers to
employment.
(4) Develop, collect, interpret, and distribute statewide and
regional labor market data on California's new and emerging
technology and energy workforce needs, trends, and job growth.
(5) Identify funding resources and make recommendations on how to
expand and leverage these funds.
(6) Foster regional collaboration in the emerging technology and
energy economic sector.
19003. On or before April 1, 2015, and each April 1 thereafter,
the CWIB shall report to the Legislature on the status of SJVREPPC
activities and its development of an oil and natural gas workforce
strategic initiative. The report shall be submitted in compliance
with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 14000 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
14000. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, in order for
California to remain prosperous and globally competitive, it needs to
have a well-educated and highly skilled workforce.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that all of the following
principles shall guide the state's workforce investment system:
(1) Workforce investment programs and services shall be responsive
to the needs of employers, workers, and students by accomplishing
the following:
(A) Preparing California's students and workers with the skills
necessary to successfully compete in the global economy.
(B) Producing greater numbers of individuals who obtain
industry-recognized certificates and degrees in competitive and
emerging industry sectors and filling critical labor market skills
gaps.
(C) Adapting to rapidly changing local and regional labor markets
as specific workforce skill requirements change over time.
(D) Preparing workers for good-paying jobs that foster economic
security and upward mobility.
(2) State and local workforce investment boards are encouraged to
collaborate with other public and private institutions, including
businesses, unions, nonprofit organizations, kindergarten and grades
1 to 12, inclusive, career technical education programs, adult career
technical education and basic skills programs, community college
career technical education and basic skills programs,
entrepreneurship training programs, where appropriate, the California
Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program, and
the Employment Training Panel, to better align resources across
workforce education and training service delivery systems and build a
well-articulated workforce investment system by accomplishing the
following:
(A) Adopting local and regional training and education strategies
that build on the strengths and fill the gaps in the education and
workforce development pipeline in order to address the needs of job
seekers, workers, and employers within regional labor markets by
supporting sector strategies.
(B) Leveraging resources across education and workforce training
delivery systems to build career pathways and fill critical skills
gaps.
(3) Workforce investment programs and services shall be data
driven and evidence based when setting priorities, investing
resources, and adopting practices.
(4) Workforce investment programs and services shall develop
strong partnerships with the private sector, ensuring industry
involvement in needs assessment, planning, and program evaluation.
(A) Workforce investment programs and services shall encourage
industry involvement by developing strong partnerships with an
industry's employers and the unions that represent the industry's
workers.
(B) Workforce investment programs and services may consider the
needs of employers and businesses of all sizes, including large,
medium, small, and microenterprises, when setting priorities,
investing resources, and adopting practices.
(5) Workforce investment programs and services shall be outcome
oriented and accountable, measuring results for program participants,
including, but not limited to, outcomes related to program
completion, employment, and earnings.
(6) Programs and services shall be accessible to employers, the
self-employed, workers, and students who may benefit from their
operation, including individuals with employment barriers, such as
persons with economic, physical, or other barriers to employment.
SEC. 2. Section 14013 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
14013. The board shall assist the Governor in all of the
following:
(a) Promoting the development of a well-educated and highly
skilled 21st century workforce.
(b) Developing the State Workforce Investment Plan.
(c) Developing guidelines for the continuous improvement and
operation of the workforce investment system, including:
(1) Developing policies to guide the one-stop system.
(2) Providing technical assistance for the continuous improvement
of the one-stop system.
(3) Recommending state investments in the one-stop system.
(4) Targeting resources to competitive and emerging industry
sectors and industry clusters that provide economic security and are
either high-growth sectors or critical to California's economy, or
both. These industry sectors and clusters shall have significant
economic impacts on the state and its regional and workforce
development needs and have documented career opportunities.
(5) To the extent permissible under state and federal laws,
recommending youth policies and strategies that support linkages
between kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and community
college educational systems and youth training opportunities in order
to help youth secure educational and career advancement. These
policies and strategies may be implemented using a sector strategies
framework and should ultimately lead to placement in a job providing
economic security or job placement in an entry-level job that has a
well-articulated career pathway or career ladder to a job providing
economic security.
(6) To the extent permissible under state and federal law,
recommending adult and dislocated worker training policies and
investments that offer a variety of career opportunities while
upgrading the skills of California's workforce. These may include
training policies and investments pertaining to any of the following:
(A) Occupational skills training, including training for
nontraditional employment.
(B) On-the-job training.
(C) Programs that combine workplace training with related
instruction, which may include cooperative education programs.
(D) Training programs operated by the private sector.
(E) Skill upgrading and retraining.
(F) Entrepreneurial training.
(G) Job readiness training.
(H) Adult education and literacy activities provided in
combination with any of the services described in this paragraph.
(I) Customized training conducted with a commitment by an employer
or group of employers to employ an individual upon successful
completion of the training.
(d) Developing and continuously improving the statewide workforce
investment system as delivered via the one-stop delivery system and
via other programs and services supported by funding from the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, including:
(1) Developing linkages in order to ensure coordination and
nonduplication among workforce programs and activities.
(2) Reviewing local workforce investment plans.
(3) Leveraging state and federal funds to ensure that resources
are invested in activities that meet the needs of the state's
competitive and emerging industry sectors and advance the education
and employment needs of students and workers so they can keep pace
with the education and skill needs of the state, its regional
economies, and leading industry sectors.
(e) Commenting, at least once annually, on the measures taken
pursuant to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology
Education Act Amendments of 1990 (Public Law 101-392; 20 U.S.C. Sec.
2301 et seq.).
(f) Designating local workforce investment areas within the state
based on information derived from all of the following:
(1) Consultations with the Governor.
(2) Consultations with the chief local elected officials.
(3) Consideration of comments received through the public comment
process, as described in Section 112(b)(9) of the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998.
(g) Developing and modifying allocation formulas, as necessary,
for the distribution of funds for adult employment and training
activities, for youth activities to local workforce investment areas,
and dislocated worker employment and training activities, as
permitted by federal law.
(h) Coordinating the development and continuous improvement of
comprehensive state performance measures, including state adjusted
levels of performance, to assess the effectiveness of the workforce
investment activities in the state.
(i) Preparing the annual report to the United States Secretary of
Labor.
(j) Recommending policy for the development of the statewide
employment statistics system, including workforce and economic data,
as described in Section 15 of Title 29 of the United States Code, and
using, to the fullest extent possible, the Employment Development
Department's existing labor market information systems.
(k) Recommending strategies to the Governor for strategic training
investments of the Governor's 15-percent discretionary funds.
(l) Developing and recommending waivers, in conjunction with local
workforce investment boards, to the Governor as provided for in the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(m) Recommending policy to the Governor for the use of the
25-percent rapid response funds, as authorized under the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(n) Developing an application to the United States Department of
Labor for an incentive grant under Section 9273 of Title 20 of the
United States Code.
SEC. 3. Section 14020 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
14020. (a) The California Workforce Investment Board, in
collaboration with state and local partners, including the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges, the State Department of
Education, other appropriate state agencies, and local workforce
investment boards, shall develop a strategic workforce plan to serve
as a framework for the development of public policy, fiscal
investment, and operation of all state labor exchange, workforce
education, and training programs to address the state's economic,
demographic, and workforce needs. The strategic workforce plan shall
also serve as the framework for the single state plan required by the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The plan shall be updated
at least every five years.
(b) The state shall develop a California Industry Sector
Initiative that will serve as the cornerstone of the state plan and
provide a framework for state workforce investments and support for
sector strategies.
(c) The California Workforce Investment Board shall work
collaboratively with state and local partners to identify ways to
eliminate systemwide barriers and better align and leverage federal,
state, and local Workforce Investment Act funding streams and
policies to develop, support, and sustain regional alliances of
employers and workforce and education professionals who are working
to improve the educational pipeline, establish well-articulated
career pathways, provide industry-recognized credentials and
certificates, and address the career advancement needs of current and
future workers in competitive and emergent industry sectors and
clusters. The California Workforce Investment Board and its partners
shall work collaboratively to maximize state and local investments
and pursue other resources to address the skills-gap needs identified
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d).
(d) In order to support the requirement of the plans in
subdivision (a), the California Workforce Investment Board shall do
all of the following:
(1) Annually identify industry sectors and industry clusters that
have a competitive economic advantage and demonstrated economic
importance to the state and its regional economies. In developing
this analysis, the California Workforce Investment Board shall
consider the expertise of local workforce investment boards in the
state's respective regional economies and shall encourage the local
workforce investment boards to identify industry sectors and industry
clusters that have a competitive economic advantage and demonstrated
economic importance in their respective local workforce investment
areas.
(2) Annually identify new dynamic emergent industry sectors and
industry clusters with substantial potential to generate new jobs and
income growth for the state and its regional economies. In
developing this analysis, the California Workforce Investment Board
shall consider the expertise of local workforce investment boards in
the state's respective regional economies and shall encourage the
local workforce investment boards to identify new dynamic emergent
industry sectors and industry clusters with substantial potential to
generate new jobs and income growth in their respective local
workforce investment areas.
(3) Provide an annual skills-gap analysis enumerating occupational
and skills shortages in the industry sectors and industry clusters
identified as having strategic importance to the state's economy and
its regional economies. In developing this analysis, the California
Workforce Investment Board shall consider the expertise of local
workforce investment boards in the state's respective regional
economies and shall encourage the local workforce investment boards
to conduct skills-gap analysis for their respective local workforce
investment areas. Skills-gap analysis for the state and its regional
economies shall use labor market data to specify a list of
high-priority, in-demand occupations for the state and its regional
economies. This list shall be used to inform investment decisions and
eligible training provider policies.
(4) Establish, with input from local workforce investment boards
and other stakeholders, initial and subsequent eligibility criteria
for the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 eligible training
provider list that effectively directs training resources into
training programs leading to employment in high-demand,
high-priority, and occupations that provide economic security,
particularly those facing a shortage of skilled workers. The
subsequent eligibility criteria, to the extent feasible, shall use
performance and outcome measures to determine whether a provider is
qualified to remain on the list. At a minimum, initial and subsequent
eligibility criteria shall consider the following:
(A) The relevance of the training program to the workforce needs
of the state's strategic industry sectors and industry clusters.
(B) The need to plug skills gaps and skills shortages in the
economy, including skills gaps and skills shortages at the state and
regional level.
(C) The need to plug skills gaps and skills shortages in local
workforce investment areas.
(D) The likelihood that the training program will lead to job
placement in a job providing economic security or job placement in an
entry-level job that has a well-articulated career pathway or career
ladder to a job providing economic security.
(E) The need for basic skills and bridge training programs that
provide access to occupational skills training for individuals with
barriers to employment and those who would otherwise be unable to
enter occupational skills training.
(F) To the extent feasible, utilize criteria that measure training
and education provider performance, including, but not limited to,
the following:
(i) Measures of skills or competency attainment.
(ii) Measures relevant to program completion, including measures
of course, certificate, degree, licensure, and program of study rate
of completion.
(iii) For those entering the labor market, measures of employment
placement and retention.
(iv) For those continuing in training or education, measures of
educational or training progression.
(v) For those who have entered the labor market, measures of
income, including wage measures.
(G) The division of labor for making initial and subsequent
eligibility determinations under this division shall be modeled on
the division of labor envisioned in the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998 in that the state board shall establish, with input from
local workforce investment boards and other stakeholders, the initial
and subsequent eligibility procedures and criteria utilized by local
workforce investment boards to assess training provider performance.
The local boards shall have the authority to place and retain
training providers on the list, and shall provide relevant
performance data pertaining to the training provider criteria
established pursuant to this division to a state agency designated by
the Governor. The relevant state agency shall also have the
authority to remove training providers for nonperformance, provided
they do not meet the performance criteria established pursuant to
this division.
(H) If the state receives a waiver from the federal subsequent
eligibility provisions specified in the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998, the state workforce investment board shall establish its
own subsequent eligibility criteria that take into account all of
the criteria specified in subparagraphs (A) to (G), inclusive.