BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1559
Author: Assembly Labor and Employment Committee
Amended: 9/2/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUS. RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-1, 7/8/09
AYES: DeSaulnier, Wyland, Ducheny, Leno, Yee
NOES: Hollingsworth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-1, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Workforce development: summer youth job
training
SOURCE : California Workforce Association
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Workforce
Investment Board, in collaboration with local workforce
investment boards (WIBs), to establish the California Youth
at Work Program, for the purposes of providing summer job
training and work experience opportunities for youth in the
state. This bill additionally provides that it shall be
the duty of WIBs to facilitate the implementation of summer
youth training programs through partnerships and effective
collaboration. Because this bill imposes new duties on
CONTINUED
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WIBs with respect to the implementation of these programs,
this bill imposes a state-mandated local program.
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 WIA 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 (ARRA) allocates additional WIA
funds over the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years. ARRA 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 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 requires any mandated WIB costs be reimbursed
with ARRA funds and to terminate the program when there is
no longer sufficient ARRA or other federal funds to pay for
the program.
This bill specifies that:
1. 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
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end dates may vary within this time period.
2. The California Youth at Work Program must include a work
experience component that conforms to the federal WIA
and its implementing regulations.
3. California Youth at Work Program services shall target
low-income youth and certain youth populations facing
barriers to employment, as specified.
4. Eligible youth who participate in the California Youth
at Work Program shall be between 14 years of age and 24
years of age.
5. Wages or stipends may be provided to youth in a
classroom-based component of a summer employment
opportunity.
This bill requires that minors under 18 years of age who
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 CWIB, 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 that local WIBs facilitate the
implementation of summer youth training programs through
partnerships and effective collaboration.
Comments
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the
ARRA, which sought to use federal stimulus dollars to
combat the current economic recession. In March, the
Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee held an
informational hearing on the state of the economy, as well
as how the stimulus funds would affect California. At that
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hearing, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) stated that
California would receive an additional $494 million over
the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years, on top of the $491
million allocated for fiscal year 2009-10 in 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 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.
This bill 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
ARRA funds.
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Prior Legislation
SB 302 (Ducheny), Statutes of 2008, Chapter 376 , created
the requirement that the Employment Development Department
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
CA Youth at Work Unknown, major
costs ongoing Federal*
Program
* Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
California Workforce Association (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Workforce
Association (CWA), the sponsor of this bill, states that
this bill will codify a summer youth employment program in
California, as per federal guidelines, and that this
program is not new, nor 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
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disadvantaged youth this summer.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block, Duvall, Hall,
Harkey, Bass
AGB:do 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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