BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009 2009-2010 Regular
Session
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Fiscal:Yes
Urgency: No
Bill No: AB 1559
Author: Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
Version: June 1, 2009
SUBJECT
Workforce development: summer youth job training.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature codify federal guidelines for existing
summer youth job training programs in order to facilitate the
use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds?
PURPOSE
To codify federal guidelines for the California Workforce
Investment Board (CWIB) and local workforce investment boards on
summer youth programs for the use of American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
ANALYSIS
Existing federal law in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of
1998 requires all states to form state workforce investment
boards, and for Governors to designate local workforce
investment areas and oversee local workforce investment boards.
WIA requires that 85 percent of the federal funds supplied for
the Act go to the local workforce investment boards, with the
remainder allocated for state discretionary purposes.
Existing federal law in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (AARA) allocates additional WIA funds over the
2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fiscal years. AARA also makes
additional funds available nationally through competitive grants
which may be accessed, among other groups, by state workforce
investment boards and local workforce investment boards.
Existing state law establishes the California Workforce
Investment Board (CWIB), and requires the CWIB to assist the
Governor with promoting the continuous development and oversight
of a well-educated and highly skilled workforce, and development
of the State Workforce Investment Plan.
This Bill requires the California Workforce Investment Board
(CWIB), in collaboration with local workforce investment boards,
to establish the California Youth at Work Program for the
purpose of providing summer job training and work experience
opportunities for youth in the state.
This bill would specify that:
a) The California Youth at Work Program must focus
primarily on providing summer job training and work
experience opportunities for youth in the state, and that
the period of "summer" shall be from May 1 through
September 30 of each year, but that program start and end
dates may vary within this time period;
b) The California Youth at Work Program must include a work
experience component that conforms to the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 and its implementing regulations;
c) California Youth at Work Program services shall target
low-income youth and certain youth populations facing
barriers to employment, as specified;
d) Eligible youth who participate in the California Youth
at Work Program shall be between 14 years of age and 24
years of age; and
e) Wages or stipends may be provided to youth in a
classroom-based component of a summer employment
opportunity.
This bill would require that minors under 18 years of age who
Hearing Date: July 8, 2009 AB 1559
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 2
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
are enrolled in the program shall be paid at least the
applicable state minimum wage and overtime rates, and that
graduates or those persons holding an equivalent degree shall be
paid at a level commensurate with adults doing the same job,
when those individuals perform the same quantity, quality, and
classification of work.
This bill requires the California Workforce Investment Board, in
consultation with local workforce investment boards, to request
and obtain any necessary waivers from the United States
Department of Labor (DOL) to ensure effective and efficient
implementation of the Program.
This bill requires the California Workforce Investment Board, in
consultation with local workforce investment boards, to evaluate
the effectiveness of the Program in providing summer job
training services to youth, and shall make public the results of
that evaluation.
This bill requires that local workforce investment boards
facilitate the implementation of summer youth training programs
through partnerships and effective collaboration.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which sought to
use federal stimulus dollars to combat the current economic
recession. In March, this Committee held an informational
hearing on the state of the economy, as well as how the
stimulus funds would affect California. At that hearing, the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) stated that California
would receive an additional $494 million over the 2009-2010
and 2010-2011 fiscal years, on top of the $491 million
allocated for fiscal year 2009-2010 in Workforce Investment
Hearing Date: July 8, 2009 AB 1559
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Act (WIA) funds. Of the $494 million that the LAO estimates
we will receive through the ARRA, $188 million has been
allocated for youth programs.
After the passage of the ARRA, the federal Department of Labor
released a Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) that
provided specific policy guidance and instructions for how to
expend ARRA funds. One area of focus in the TEGL was on youth
job programs, and how those program funds should be expended,
what programs are allowable, and what definitions should be
used when setting the parameters of youth programs.
Specifically, the TEGL notes the following when discussing
youth programming:
While the Act does not limit the use of the
Recovery Act funds to summer employment, the
Congressional explanatory statement for the Act
states that "the conferees are particularly
interested in these funds being used to create
summer employment opportunities for youth." ETA
[Employment Training Administration] strongly
encourages states and local areas to use as much
of these funds as possible to operate expanded
summer youth employment opportunities during the
summer of 2009, and provide as many youth as
possible with summer employment opportunities?.
Currently, the local workforce investment boards, in
partnership with the California Workforce Investment Board
(CWIB) and local partners, are rolling out summer youth
training programs geared for each specific workforce area for
more than 47,000 young people. The job training programs
include computer repair, solar panel installation and
weatherization, website design, and other trades specific to
the local workforce needs.
AB 1559 codifies ongoing summer youth job training programs,
as well as the requirements and definitions presented in the
Department of Labor's Training and Employment Guidance Letter
14-08, facilitating the use of American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
2. Proponent Arguments :
The California Workforce Association (CWA), the sponsor of
this bill, states that AB 1559 will codify a summer youth
employment program in California, as per federal guidelines,
and that this program is not new, nor is does this bill create
a new mandate for funding. CWA notes that research has shown
that youth engaged in work activity do better economically
throughout their lives, and that the 49 local workforce
investment boards will be providing services to more than
47,000 disadvantaged youth this summer.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None received.
4. Prior Legislation :
SB 302 (Ducheny), Statutes of 2008, Chapter 376, created the
requirement that the Employment Development Department (EDD)
report annually on the training expenditures made by local
workforce investment boards in the prior fiscal year, and
authorized additional accounting practices.
SB 293 (Ducheny), Statutes of 2006, Chapter 630, restructured
the local workforce investment boards and the state workforce
investment boards, as well as authorized the submittal of
unified local plans for welfare-to-work programs.
SUPPORT
California Workforce Association (CWA) - Sponsor
OPPOSITION
None received.
* * *
Hearing Date: July 8, 2009 AB 1559
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 5
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations