BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 118
Author: Lieu (D), et al.
Amended: 8/13/13
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-0, 3/13/13
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Leno, Lara
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 35-3, 4/22/13
AYES: Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Gaines,
Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen, Padilla, Pavley,
Price, Roth, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Fuller, Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-1, 8/26/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Unemployment insurance: education and workforce
investment
system
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Workforce
Investment Board (CWIB) to incorporate specific principles into
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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.
Assembly Amendments add coauthors, add language to prevent
chaptering out issues with AB 285 (Brown) of the current
legislative session, and make technical and clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS : The federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998
provides funding for job training and employment investment
programs in which states may participate, including work
incentive and employment training outreach programs. Following
passage of the federal WIA, the state established the CWIB and
charged the CWIB 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.
There are 49 Local Workforce Investment Boards that plan and
oversee the workforce investment system at the local level.
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 five years, to
address the state's economic, demographic, and workplace needs.
Among its other responsibilities, the CWIB develops protocols to
ensure that policies are developed with full public input and
discussion. The CWIB is also responsible for establishing
criteria for development of (1) the formula to be used for
allocating funds to the local areas, (2) dissemination of the
Governor's 15% WIA discretionary funding, and (3) certification
and re-certification of local WIBs. The CWIB also provides
recommendations to the Governor on policy and vision for the
statewide employment statistics system.
This bill requires the 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.
This bill:
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1. Establishes six principles to guide the state's workforce
investment system that include:
A. Programs and services must be responsive to the needs
of employers, workers, and students, as specified.
B. Encourage state and local WIBs to collaborate with
other public and private institutions to adopt local and
regional training and education strategies across all
delivery systems.
C. Workforce investment programs and services shall be
data driven and evidence based when setting priorities,
investing resources, and adopting practices.
D. Develop strong partnerships with the private sector,
ensuring industry involvement in needs assessment,
planning, and program evaluation.
E. Making investments outcome oriented and accountable,
measuring results through program completion,
employment, and earnings.
F. Making programs and services accessible to employers,
self-employed, workers, and students, including
individuals with employment barriers, such as persons
with economic, physical, or other barriers to
employment.
2. Directs the CWIB to:
A. Target resources towards high-wage competitive and
emerging industry sectors that have a significant
economic impact on the state, have immediate education
and workforce development needs, and have documented
career opportunities.
B. As part of its strategic workforce plan, create a
California Industry Sector Initiative to provide a
framework for state workforce investments and support
for sector strategies.
C. By considering the expertise of local WIBs, annually
identify industry sectors with a competitive economic
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advantage and annually conduct skills-gap analyses
enumerating occupational and skills shortages in the
industries identified as having strategic importance to
the state.
D. Establish, with input from local WIBs and other
stakeholders, initial and subsequent eligibility
criteria for the WIA Eligible Training Provider List
(ETPL) that effectively directs training resources into
training programs leading to employment in high-demand,
high-priority, and high-wage occupations, as specified.
3. Provide definitions for specific terms used in the bill,
including, "career pathways," "sector strategies," "industry
sectors" and "economic security," among others.
4. Adds language to prevent chaptering out issues with AB 285
(Brown) of the current legislative session.
Comments
Eligible Training Provider List : California's ETPL was
established in compliance with the WIA. The purpose of the ETPL
is to provide customer-focused employment training for adults
and dislocated workers. Training providers who are eligible to
receive Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) through CWIA Title
I-B funds are listed on the ETPL. California's statewide list
of qualified training providers offers a wide range of
educational programs, including classroom, correspondence,
Internet, broadcast, and apprenticeship programs.
Existing law requires the establishment of two separate
procedures for the ETPL : Initial eligibility and subsequent
eligibility. California has been granted a waiver of the
requirement for subsequent eligibility specified in WIA Section
122(c)(5) and Title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Section 663.530. This current federal waiver allows providers
and programs to remain on the State ETPL indefinitely as long as
their initial eligibility is still valid.
According to an Employment Development Department (EDD)
information notice to the workforce development community, it
was notated that the current ETPL contained more than 5,000
program/providers that never had a WIA client referred to them,
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nor had the programs been validated for at least two years. In
an effort to meet the terms of the waiver pertaining to
subsequent eligibility, the Workforce Services Division had to
deactivate all existing ETPL programs that were more than two
years old (i.e. initial approval date prior to January 1, 2010)
and did not have a single WIA client referred to them during
their tenure on the ETPL. However, if the local board
determines that an unused program/provider should be reactivated
and remain on the ETPL, a verification must be done at the local
level to ensure that the data on the inactive ETPL is valid and
that this program/provider is a not a duplication of an existing
program/provider on the ETPL.
California State Auditor Report on Federal WIA : A March 2012
report, "Federal Workforce Investment Act: More Effective State
Planning and Oversight Is Necessary to Better Help California's
Job Seekers Find Employment," evaluated the state's
administration of WIA funding.
Among its finding, the audit revealed that:
More than five years after state law required the CWIB to
develop a strategic workforce plan to serve as a framework for
public policy, fiscal investment, and state labor programs to
address workforce needs; it has failed to do so and thus, has
not provided sufficient guidance to its workforce development
partners.
Both EDD and the CWIB can do more to assess the quality of
services - neither has a mechanism to evaluate whether an
appropriate match exists between a participant's skills,
education, and experience and the employment the participant
attains.
Although the CWIB is building partnerships with various
entities to coordinate workforce investment planning, it has
done little to ensure that the one-stop delivery system does
not duplicate services for program participants.
The State Auditor made several recommendations in the report,
including one that the Legislature consider establishing a due
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date for the CWIB to develop a strategic workforce plan, and
clarify the roles and responsibilities of the CWIB and EDD. The
State Auditor also made recommendations to the CWIB aimed at
developing, overseeing, and continuously improving California's
workforce investment system by collaborating with state and
local workforce partners and clearly defining terminology and
identifying state-specific performance measures.
According to the report, the Labor Agency, the CWIB, and the EDD
agreed with the recommendations. In 2012, the CWIB went through
many changes, including the introduction of new membership on
its board. CWIB has taken several steps to address the concerns
raised by the audit, including incorporating some of the
requirements included in this bill.
Prior Legislation :
SB 698 (Lieu, Chapter 497, Statutes of 2011) requires the
Governor to establish, through the California WIB, standards for
certification of high-performance local WIBs, in accordance with
specified criteria.
SB 734 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 498, Statutes of 2011) requires
local WIBs to spend a certain percentage of available WIA funds
(25% now and increased to 30% in 2016) on workforce training
programs. A Local WIB that does not meet the expenditure must
provide the EDD with a corrective action plan.
AB 3018 (Nunez, Chapter 312, Statutes of 2007) enacts the
California Green Collar Jobs Act of 2008, which creates the
Green Collar Jobs Council within the CWIB to perform specified
tasks related to addressing the green economy workforce needs of
the state.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there will
be minor, absorbable administrative costs to the Employment
Development Department (EDD) to implement this bill. According
to EDD, it currently collects the labor market data necessary to
implement the bill's requirements.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/13)
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Association of California Healthcare Districts
California Hospital Association
California Labor Federation
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California State Pipe Trades Council
California Workforce Association
City of Long Beach
Community College League of California
Council of California Goodwill Industries
EDGE Coalition
Jewish Vocational Services of San Francisco
National Skills Coalition
South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Torrance Chamber of Commerce
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
workers in California are facing the toughest jobs crisis in
over 50 years and, unfortunately, at a time when workers,
families and communities need more support, states are facing
unprecedented budget challenges. The author's office argues
that now more than ever, it is crucial that every dollar of
workforce funds is invested in high quality employment services
that connect workers with good paying jobs.
Proponents argue that despite the state's high unemployment
rate, job openings in key industries are going unfilled because
employers cannot find workers with the necessary credentials and
training for these jobs. They argue that this workforce
shortage has the potential of becoming a full blown crisis as
baby boomers continue to retire in increasingly high numbers.
In addition, many of these openings are "middle-skill" jobs,
which require education and training past high school.
According to proponents, 47% of jobs in California's labor
market are middle-skill, but only 38% of Californians likely
have the credentials and training for these jobs. This bill
takes important steps to close this skills gap by providing new
principles to guide the work of the State WIB.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-1, 8/26/13
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AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Donnelly
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jones, Vacancy, Vacancy
PQ:d 8/27/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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