BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1378
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JOBS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE ECONOMY
V. Manuel Perez, Chair
AB 1378 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: January 4, 2010
SUBJECT : California Workforce Investment Board: veterans'
workforce accountability act.
SUMMARY : Implements the Veterans Workforce Accountability Act
(Act) under the administration of the California Workforce
Investment Board (CWIB) for the purposes of providing a method
for the comprehensive outcome-oriented evaluation on the
effectiveness of the state's expenditures for veteran workforce
development programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the CWIB to conduct an annual assessment evaluating
the effectiveness of federally funded and state administered
programs that are designed to assist veterans transition into
civilian work, including but no limited to, the eighteen
million dollar ($18,000,000) annual grant that the state
receives from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) for veteran
workforce training.
2)Requires the CWIB to develop clear, comprehensive and
transparent objectives and appropriate criteria that can be
used to undertake the required assessment of the effectiveness
of the existing workforce training and job referral programs
for California veterans.
3)Requires the CWIB, in consultation with the Employment
Training Panel (ETP), the Department of Veterans' Affairs
(CDVA) and Employment Development Department (EDD), to
outline, implement and administer the provisions of the Act.
4)Requires that the assessment contain ways to evaluate the
extent to which:
a) Moneys are being spent for outreach, assessment of job
skills, and interests and referral of veterans to specific
training opportunities and prospective jobs;
b) Information is provided to veterans regarding ways to
finance training opportunities that require fees or the
payment of tuition.
AB 1378
Page 2
c) Funds are being used to assess job skills acquired
during military service that could be used or adapted for
civilian jobs by the veteran.
d) Funds are being used to provide workforce training and
job referral programs for eligible veterans at one-stop
career centers.
5)Requires an annual report to the Governor and the appropriate
policy and budget committees in the Legislature on the
effectiveness of the job skills training and employment
opportunities being provided to transitioning veterans.
6)Provides that the requirements of this bill will only be
implemented to the extent that federal funds are made
available.
EXISTING LAW:
1)The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 offers a
comprehensive range of workforce development moneys to finance
activities through statewide and local organizations.
Eligible clients include, but are not limited to, people
looking for jobs, laid off workers, youth, or persons just
entering the job market, veterans and persons with
disabilities.
2)Establishes the CWIB for the purpose of assisting the state in
meeting the requirements of the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998 (WIA), as well as assisting the Governor in the
development, oversight, and continuous improvement of
California's workforce investment system.
3)Requires each local workforce investment board to establish at
least one full service one-stop career center in the local
workforce investment area. One-stop career centers are
required to include a specified group of job search related
entities and provide jobseekers with integrated employment,
education, training, and job search services. Employers can
also be provided with access to career and labor market
information, job placement assistance, and other such services
as the businesses in the community may require.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 1378
Page 3
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose : According to the author, over the years, our nation
has called on our service men and women in the Armed Forces to
protect and serve Americans at home and abroad. Upon their
honorable completion of service and their return home,
veterans face tremendous challenges transitioning back into
civilian life. In fact, many desperately struggle to find
jobs, housing, health services, and other needed social
services. In some cases, recovery from physical and
psychological injuries makes the transition into civilian life
even more challenging. Without adequate employment
opportunities or workforce training, American veterans have
few options for their futures outside of reenlistment for
military service or unemployment and potential homelessness.
According to the author, every veteran should be afforded the
opportunity for a bright future and that the state should try
to help them access all tools and resources necessary to
achieve success in their civilian lives. Upon returning home,
veterans should not have to suffer a diminished quality of
life as a result of their service to the nation.
Currently, California receives $18 million dollars annually
from the USDOL to pay for approximately 180 workforce training
staff. Assigned to positions within EDD, these federally
funded staff are exclusively dedicated to serving the needs of
veterans. The purpose of AB 1378 is to ensure that money
designated to assist veterans is best utilized and that
veterans have the opportunity to develop the competitive
workforce skills required to obtain good paying jobs.
2)California Veterans: The CDVA is responsible for
administering a number of special programs, benefits and
services for California veterans and their families. The US
Department of Veterans Affair (USDVA) estimates the National
Veteran Population as of 2007 was 23,442,000. In California
there are roughly 2,078,000 veterans, which make up 8.8% of
the national population. While most veterans are men, 8% of
the veteran population is women.
Veterans are facing a tremendous challenge transitioning back
into civilian life. After having served in the armed forces,
veterans returning to the California civilian workforce find
AB 1378
Page 4
that the jobs they once had are now gone. A USDVA study
found that 18% of the veterans who sought jobs within one to
three years of discharge are unemployed, while one out of
four veterans who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 a
year.
3)How well are veterans being served ? Although federal and
state law provides for a variety of workforce development
programs, the needs of veterans can sometimes be overlooked or
overshadowed by other workforce development priorities.
As noted earlier, EDD annually receives $18 million in federal
funding to support veteran outreach professionals in
Sacramento and in the EDD One-Stop Career Centers throughout
the state. Concerns have been raised by the veteran advocacy
community that these workforce development professionals may
not be used to their maximum potential. Additionally, in 2009
significant new federal dollars were provided for California
workforce development programs, but it is unclear how much of
those moneys will end up serving veterans.
With moneys available, it then falls to the state to ensure
that those moneys are best leveraged and integrated with other
resources available to serve veterans. Following is a list of
questions regarding workforce resources and training that
could be addressed through the implementation of this bill:
a) How well does the state strategically combine federal,
state and local veteran workforce resources?
b) Are the EDD One-Stop Career Centers successful in helping
veterans connect with small business information?
c) Are the EDD veteran workforce specialists trained to know
other state, local and federal programs and services that
are designed to meet the workforce training needs of
veterans.
As an example of unique local resources, several, but not all,
local workforce investment boards are linking through the
Internet to a web-based portal developed by CALED's affiliate
education nonprofit, "Tools for Business." On this portal,
veterans can learn about economic and workforce development
programs for which they or their employer could be eligible.
Currently, the San Bernardino's One-Stop Career Center
www.sbeta.toolsfortrade.info , the Imperial Economic
Development Corporation www.ivedc.toolsforbusiness.info , and
AB 1378
Page 5
the Smart Business Resource Center funded through the Northern
Rural Training and Employment Consortium
www.thesmartcenter.biz/aboutus.htm all use "Tools for
Business."
California isn't alone in assessing and addressing the quality
of its services to veterans. Other states have faced similar
challenges leading to modest and dramatic changes in program
delivery. As an example, in 2005, Texas enacted H.B. 2604,
which reorganized all the veteran focused programs under one
entity and named it the "Texas Veterans Commission." Under
this bill, the Texas Veterans Commission became the central
administering entity for all veteran related programs.
According to the USDOL, the hiring success rate for veterans
in Texas increased from 57% in 2006 to 85% in 2008.
By comparison, California's success rate for helping veterans
obtain jobs was 52% in 2006 and remained constant through
2008.
AB 1378 proposes that the state take a comprehensive,
systematic and outcome oriented look at how it currently
serves the workforce development needs of veterans. This
assessment could provide key information on how California
could have a more integrated and successful approach to
providing veteran services using existing resources, including
outreach, skill assessments, training, and help with job
placement.
4)California Economic Development Recovery Strategy: In
anticipation of the enactment of the $787 billion federal
stimulus package, Assemblyman P?rez, Chairman of the Assembly
Economic Development Committee, called for the preparation of
a statewide 24 month blueprint on how to most effectively use
federal stimulus funds to address the state's most immediate
economic and workforce needs while still serving as a catalyst
for advancing the state's long-term economic growth.
The Recovery Strategy proposed to use the broadest set of
community, economic, and workforce development tools to link
these new federal resources with the people and organizations
they are designed to serve. In order to accomplish this
important task, the Recovery Strategy recommends that the
state serve as a facilitator to support and enhance each
community's individual initiative to design and implement
AB 1378
Page 6
policies and programs which best meet their needs.
This bill implements several recommendations in the Recovery
Strategy, including the overall objective to manage resources
toward defined outcomes, utilizing solid planning principles
and good data. The Recovery Strategy further recommends that
the state take a special focus on the workforce training,
assessment and referral needs for veterans including
idenitifying and enhancing skills that service men and woman
acquired while serving in the military and converting those
skills for civilian work.
5)Background on workforce training dollars : The following are
descriptions, including funding levels, for existing workforce
training programs and services.
a) Workforce Investment Board (WIB) : The role of the WIB
is to assist the Governor in designing a statewide plan and
establishing appropriate policy for workforce development
programs. WIA funding is distributed to states based on a
set formula which includes specified economic and
demographic data. California's share has declined over the
years from a high of $630 million in 2000-01 to an
estimated $427 million 2009-10.
Pursuant to federal WIA requirements, 85% of funding
flowing to the states ius reallocated to the local
workforce investment boards. Resources used to carry out
CWIB activities are derived from the Governor's 15% WIA
Discretionary funds. The 2009-10 estimated WIA allocation
to local workforce investment boards is $363 million, while
the state will receive about $63 million in discretionary
moneys. Recent budget actions, however, redirected
portions of state discretionary moneys to offset General
Fund employment and training costs at the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the
California Conservation Corp.
Under the $787 billion federal stimulus package, California
was expected to receive $480 million in supplemental
funding through three WIA funding streams: Youth formula
grants, dislocated worker funding, and adult services
grants. The chart below outlines the expected WIA funding
for California.
AB 1378
Page 7
-----------------------------------------------------------
| WIA Funding in the 2009 Federal Stimulus Package |
-----------------------------------------------------------
|----------------+---------------------+---------------------|
| | Funding Available |Funding Available in |
| | Nationally | California |
|----------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Youth | $1,188,000,000| $186,622,034|
|Activities | | |
|----------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Adult | $495,000,000| $80,117,954|
|Activities | | |
|----------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Dislocated | $1,435,500,000|$221,906,888 |
|Worker | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
Of the $480 million in WIA moneys targeted for California,
the CWIB is expected to receive approximately $70 million
to carry out supplemental activities related to the federal
stimulus programs. These moneys are required to be fully
expended in 24 months. The dislocated worker and adult
activities moneys are distributed to the state under
existing Workforce Investment Act formulas.
b) One-Stop Service Centers and Wagner-Peyser Funding :
Among EDD's most important missions is to ensure that
California's workforce has the skills that employers need
to manage their businesses. EDD's major workforce
investment programs include the California One-Stop Career
Centers, the California Jobs Service Program (CalJOBS),
Employment Training Panel, and the Workforce Investment
Program.
The One-Stop Career Center system is a statewide network of
centers that provide employment, education, and training
services all in one location. The One-Stop Centers work
with public and private non-profit partners to provide
their services. The One-Stop Centers include programs such
as Job Services, Unemployment Insurance, Vocational
Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation. The One-Stop
Centers provide their services in English and Spanish and
are organized around a locally determined set of
priorities, which are designed to meet the unique
employment needs in each community. All but two of
AB 1378
Page 8
California's 58 counties have a One-Stop Center, with many
counties having multiple one-stop locations.
The federal Wagner-Peyser Act (WPA) funds employment
training programs administered through EDD, most
specifically, the employment services through the One-Stop
Career Center service delivery structure. The state
currently receives about $80 million in WPA funds.
Services funded with WPA moneys include: job search
assistance, job referral, placement assistance for job
seekers, reemployment services to unemployment insurance
(UI) claimants, and recruitment services to employers with
job openings.
The Recovery Act provides an additional $47 million in WPA
funds for state employment services. Of this amount,
approximately $29 million is required to be used for
reemployment services to UI claimants.
State Total Allotment RES Other
Total $396,000,000
$247,500,000 $148,500,000
California 46,970,564
29,356,604 17,613,960
c) California Employment Training Panel: The Employment
Training Panel (ETP) was created in 1983. It assists
employers in strengthening their competitive edge by
providing funds to offset the costs of job skills training
necessary to maintain high-performance workplaces. ETP is
governed by an 8 member panel, of which 7 are appointed by
the Governor and the Assembly and Senate leadership and the
last member is the Secretary of Business, Transportation
and Housing.
The ETP has made service to veterans a priority and
included a new pilot program for veterans as part of its
Strategic plan for FY 2008-09. The ETP had planned to
award $2 million for the veteran's pilot program, however,
due to the state's budget deficit, larger than anticipated
amounts of money were shifted to the CalWORKS Program.
6) Related legislation: Below are bills related to the veteran
and workforce training.
AB 1378
Page 9
a) AB 165 (Carter) : This bill would have required the CWIB
to make recommendations and provide technical assistance on
entrepreneurial training opportunities that could be made
available through local workforce investment boards. The
bill makes other related changes to the definition of
microenterprise, as well as deleting requirements from the
duties of the CWIB. Status: Held by the Assembly
Committee on Appropriations in May 2009.
b) AB 1567 (Committee on Veterans Affairs): This bill
would have required that the Employment Training Panel Plan
include a statement detailing the employment training
goals, objectives, and strategies that may be implemented
to support target populations in need of employment
training, including military veterans. Status: The bill
is in Assembly Committee on Veteran Affairs.
c) AB 2998 (Carter) : This bill would have required the
California Workforce Investment Board to develop guidelines
for entrepreneurial training by January 1, 2010. The bill
also adds legislative intent on the importance of all
Californians having access to training related to self
employment and entrepreneurship. Status: Held in the
Senate Appropriations Committee in 2008.
d) SB 293 (Ducheny): This bill replaced the Family
Economic Security Act in the California Unemployment
Insurance Code with provisions that generally implement the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in California. Even
though a majority of the provisions in the bill are taken
from the federal WIA, there are new, California provisions
which will require substantive changes in the workforce
system.
There are also re-articulations of some federal
requirements that require interpretation and guidance to
local WIBs, as well as minor adjustments in the way that
the state and local WIBs conduct business. The first is
the requirement that the California WIB create a strategic
workforce plan for the state. The State Plan is intended
to serve as a framework for the Strategic Two-Year Plan for
the WIA. It also serve's as a framework for the
development of workforce policy and fiscal investment, and
for the operation of California's labor exchange, workforce
education, and training programs. Status: Signed into law,
AB 1378
Page 10
Chapter 630, Statutes of 6006
7)Double Referral : The Assembly Rules Committee referred this
bill to two policy committees. Should this measure pass the
Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the
Economy, it will be referred to the Assembly Committee on
Veterans Affairs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy
(Sponsor)
California Association of Veteran Service Agencies
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mercedes Flores/Toni Symonds / J., E.D.
& E. / (916) 319-2090