AJR 46, as introduced, Bonta. Unemployment: Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act.
This measure would request that the United States Congress include unemployment rates by race and ethnicity into the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act scoring criteria.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, The Legislature acknowledges that California’s
2economy has significantly improved since the Great Recession,
3with unemployment rates down to 5.4 percent in March 2016,
4according to the Employment Development Department. California
5has added 2,134,400 jobs since the recovery began in February
62010; and
7WHEREAS, The Legislative Analyst’s Office notes that while
8unemployment rates are improving, California still has the second
9highest unemployment rate in the United States, an indicator of
10the depth of job loss experienced during the great recession and
11the size of California’s economy; and
12WHEREAS, The United States Department of Labor, in
13coordination with the United States Department of Education and
14Department of Health and Human Services, is working diligently
P2 1to ensure that states, local areas, other grantees, and stakeholders
2are prepared for the implementation of the Workforce Innovation
3and Opportunities Act (WIOA), signed by President Obama on
4July 22, 2014; and
5WHEREAS, The Public Policy Institute of California also found
6that while jobs have been growing for five continuous years, 45
7percent of Californians believed economic bad times were likely
8in 2015, while only 44 percent predicted good times; and
9WHEREAS, Pew Charitable Trusts found that California ranked
10among the bottom 10 states in bringing people 25 through 54 years
11of age back to employment. In 2014, 73.6 percent of California’s
12prime working population had jobs compared with 77.9 percent
13in 2007; and
14WHEREAS, California’s economy generates jobs at a rate
15similar to the national rate, but it is not enough to keep up with
16the state’s fast-growing population; and
17WHEREAS, California has also had an uneven economic
18recovery, with the coastal regions rebounding with more economic
19vigor relative to inland areas of the state. However, employment
20disparities continue to persist at a city level even in counties that
21have high rates of economic and job growth; and
22WHEREAS, The San Francisco bay area as a region is closest
23to closing the employment gap since 2007, while county averages
24continue to hide persistent unemployment among certain
25populations. In Alameda County, where unemployment dropped
26to 4.3 percent in March 2016, African-American and Latino
27unemployment in the City of Oakland is still high at 18 percent
28and 16 percent, respectively; and
29WHEREAS, The Legislature recommends that the United States
30Congress implement a racial equity lens when structuring
31workforce investment proposal requirements under the WIOA to
32ensure that unemployment rates are analyzed from multiple
33perspectives and not only average unemployment rates; and
34WHEREAS, For every dollar of wealth a median Caucasian
35household has, a median Asian household has about 81 cents, a
36median Hispanic family has 7 cents, and a median
37African-American family has 6 cents. The disparity in employment
38exists not just by region in California, but also by race; now,
39therefore, be it
P3 1Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
2California, jointly, That the Legislature requests that the United
3States Congress include unemployment rates by race and ethnicity
4into the WIOA scoring criteria; and be it further
5Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
6of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
7States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
8Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
9from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
10author for appropriate distribution.
O
99