Senate Joint Resolution No. 10

Introduced by Senator Lieu

April 22, 2013

Senate Joint Resolution No. 10—Relative to the Workforce Investment Act.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 10, as introduced, Lieu. Workforce Investment Act: reauthorization by the United States Congress.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to reauthorize the federal Workforce Investment Act and to include specified policies and strategies in support of the act.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Over 8 million people were served nationally by
the public workforce system funded by the federal Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2801 et seq.), a 234 percent
increase in participation rates in just two years; and

WHEREAS, Over 4.3 million WIA participants found jobs
through the public workforce system; and

WHEREAS, The policy of investing in a highly productive
workforce through programs that foster skills, attainment, and
human capital development is important to ensure that California
and the United States can compete in the global economy; and

WHEREAS, The policy of investing in programs that foster
skills attainment and human capital development is important for
achieving employment, economic security, and opportunities for
career advancement and upward mobility for WIA service
recipients; and

WHEREAS, While the national economy is beginning to expand,
there continue to be areas of high unemployment throughout
California that are lagging behind the nation’s recovery from the
recession; and

WHEREAS, The federal budget for Fiscal Year 2010 and going
forward has reduced available funding for an array of national
workforce programs targeting dislocated workers, low-income
adults, veterans, disconnected young adults, and other highly
vulnerable groups in the labor market; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Labor has been extremely
supportive of operating and evaluating the Adult and Dislocated
Workers Program and Youth Employment and Youth Build
programs; and

WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure program
responsiveness to the needs of employers, workers, and students
who benefit from investment in the workforce; and

WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to encourage
collaboration between state and local workforce investment boards
and the stakeholders whom they serve, including businesses,
unions, nonprofit organizations, K-12 programs, career technical
education programs, basic skills programs, and systems of higher
education including community colleges; and

WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to link program
service delivery strategies to data analysis, ensuring that program
practices are evidence based; and

WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure that
programs and services are outcome oriented and accountable,
measuring results for program participants, including outcomes
related to program completion, skills attainment, employment, and
earnings; and

WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure that
programs are accessible to employers, workers, and students,
including disadvantaged populations and individuals with
employment barriers; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
ensure that state and local workforce investment boards are
representative of relevant stakeholders, including business and
labor leaders from statewide, regional, and locally competitive or
emergent industry sectors; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
utilize demand-driven strategies, including sector-based strategies,
that are connected to regional economies and labor markets,
particularly those strategies that link investment in skills attainment
with the skills needs of competitive or emergent industry sectors;
and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
expand opportunities for skills attainment, lifelong learning, and
enrollment in learn and earn programs which prepare workers for
jobs with a future; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
ensure adequate funding for programs that have demonstrated
success in engaging at risk populations, including high risk youth,
and are instrumental in developing a competitive workforce. These
include career pathways programs, summer youth employment
programs, contextualized adult basic skills education and G.E.D.
literacy programs, vocational training, and incumbent worker
programs; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
prioritize service strategies that target disadvantaged populations,
including strategies that expand outreach to immigrant
communities; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
utilize service delivery models that are efficient and effective by
encouraging and strengthening collaborative partnerships that
leverage the infrastructures, expertise, and resources of service
providers, educational institutions, businesses and unions, and
other stakeholders. These may include, when appropriate, One-Stop
Career Centers or other service delivery models facilitating
individuals’ access to employment programs, services and training
opportunities; and

WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to
provide incentives for public-private partnerships; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the California State Legislature urges the
Congress of the United States to reauthorize the Workforce
Investment Act this year and include in it the policies and strategies
referenced above; and be it further

Resolved, That the California State Legislature calls on business
leaders to collaborate with the State Workforce Investment Board
and local workforce investment boards in California to coinvest
in workforce education and career exploration counseling for high
school students and workers of all ages and to work with education
and local leaders to develop appropriate curriculum that is
responsive to workforce trends and results in industry-recognized
credentials that have currency in the job market.