BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2147
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Sandre Swanson, Chair
AB 2147 (Swanson) - As Amended: April 3, 2008
SUBJECT : Green Jobs Corps.
SUMMARY : Enacts the "Green Jobs Corps Act of 2008" to funds
grants for energy efficiency and renewable worker training
programs, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1 Enacts the Green Jobs Corps Act of 2008 with the purpose of
providing financial assistance to energy efficiency and
renewable energy worker training programs, specifically
targeted at individuals, including at-risk youth and formerly
incarcerated individuals, seeking employment pathways out of
poverty and into economic self-sufficiency.
2)Requires the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) to
establish a Green Jobs Grant Program.
3)Requires LWDA to do each of the following:
a) Develop application criteria and procedures for the
awarding of Green Jobs Corps grants.
b) Award grants to community-based organizations, local
agencies, and service providers (or partnerships of those
entities) to establish and operate energy efficiency and
renewable energy worker training programs, specifically
targeted at individuals, including at-risk youth and
formerly incarcerated individuals, seeking employment
pathways out of poverty.
c) Evaluate the effectiveness of the funded programs.
d) Report biennially to the Governor and Legislature on the
results of the grant program.
4)Specifies that Green Jobs Corps grants will be awarded by LWDA
on a competitive basis to community-based organizations, local
agencies, and service providers working in collaboration to
fulfill the purposes of this bill.
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5)Specifies that grants will be awarded to entities who have
demonstrated all of the following:
a) A readiness to begin operation of a
program or expand and existing program.
b) Ties to employers in the energy efficiency and renewable
energy industries or other high-growth industries that
contribute measurably to greenhouse gas emissions
reductions.
c) The ability to place trainees with stable, long-term
employment.
6)Specifies that grants shall be awarded in an amount not
exceeding $500,000 with a specified local matching
requirement.
7)Specifies that grants shall be funded either from federal and
state workforce development and job training funds, funds
allocated for rehabilitation and treatment of prison inmates
and parolees, or both, but only to the extent funds are made
available and appropriated.
8)Provides that grants shall be awarded to community-based
organizations, local agencies, and service providers in urban,
suburban, and rural areas of northern, central, and southern
California.
9)Provides that grants shall be awarded to applicants that
demonstrate the greatest need and meet the program
requirements, and requires LWDA to consider demographic data,
including unemployment rates and recidivism rates, for the
intended target population and the geographic location of the
program in determining need.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, as the green economy grows,
there is an increased demand for, and recognition of, the need
for a highly skilled and well-trained "green collar" workforce.
At the same time, there are segments of California's population
(such as at-risk youth and formerly incarcerated individuals)
who have traditional barriers to employment.
AB 2147
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Therefore, any funding for green job training should
specifically target those who need assistance the most and who
typically don't have access to employer-funded training. Toward
that end, local entities have begun to establish "Green Jobs
Corps" programs to train people in the green economy and
demonstrate that green economic development is a pathway out of
poverty.
Successful programs such as this will create partnerships
between job training programs and green employers. They will
also provide key links to educational institutions, labor unions
and community-based organizations.
This concept is patterned after a Green Jobs Corps program
jointly-established by the Oakland Apollo Alliance, the Ella
Baker Center for Human Rights, and the City of Oakland. The
Oakland Green Jobs Corps will provide job training to prepare
young adults in Oakland for green-collar careers. The program
will have a special focus on providing "green pathways out of
poverty" by recruiting and training people with barriers to
employment (e.g., lack of job skills, lack of education,
language/cultural barriers, or history in juvenile/criminal
justice system).
The program involves recruitment and outreach, a three-month
training component that provides wraparound services and
classroom training, a six-month paid internship and graduation
and subsequent job placement assistance.
However, funding is critical for the success of such programs.
The City of Oakland recently provided $250,000 in seed money to
establish the local program there. However, in order for these
programs to succeed and be replicated, the author believes that
the state needs to make an investment in these types of
programs.
Therefore, this bill establishes a statewide grant program, to
be administered by the LWDA and funded out of state and federal
workforce development funding, as well as funds already
allocated for rehabilitation and treatment of inmates and
parolees.
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green for All,
writing in support of this measure, state that it will serve
multiple goals, including providing employers with a trained
workforce, providing persons in poverty with an employment
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pathway to success for themselves and their families, cleaning
our air of pollutants that contribute to global warming, and
cleaning our water and land of toxins. They express particular
support for the bill's focus on job training programs in
California designed to benefit at-risk youth, the formerly
incarcerated, and individuals facing barriers to employment.
This bill is part of the solution to global warming and
unemployment in California, providing an economic boost to our
state economy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Green for All
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091