BILL NUMBER: AB 2349 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fong
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 14206 of, and to add Section 14021 to, the
Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to workforce development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2349, as introduced, Fong. Workforce development: Youth at Work
Program.
The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provides for
workforce investment activities, including activities in which states
may participate. Existing law establishes the California Workforce
Investment Board (CWIB), and specifies that the CWIB is responsible
for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and
continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system.
This bill would require the CWIB, in collaboration with the 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, in accordance
with prescribed requirements.
Existing law contains various programs for job training and
employment investment, including work incentive programs, as
specified, and a local workforce investment board to perform various
duties related to the implementation and coordination of local
workforce investment activities, including, among other things, the
award of grants and contracts to eligible providers of youth
activities on a competitive basis, consistent with the federal law.
This bill would specify that a local board is to award grants or
contracts to eligible providers of youth activities, in a manner
consistent with other funding sources and to identify eligible
providers in a manner consistent with federal law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14021 is added to the Unemployment Insurance
Code, to read:
14021. (a) The California Workforce Investment Board, in
collaboration with local workforce investment boards, shall establish
the California Youth at Work Program, for the purpose of providing
summer job training and work experience opportunities for youth in
the state. The program shall be established in accordance with the
following requirements:
(1) The program shall include work experience and academic
enrichment components.
(2) Eligible youth who participate in the program shall be between
14 and 24 years of age.
(3) The program shall primarily focus on providing summer job
training and work experience opportunities for youth. For purposes of
this section, the period of "summer" shall be from May 1 through
September 30 of each year. However, the program's start and end dates
may vary within this time period.
(4) The following youth shall be deemed automatically eligible for
the California Youth at Work Program: low-income youth and certain
youth populations facing barriers to employment, including, but not
limited to, youth in foster care, youth who have aged out of foster
care, youth whose families are enrolled in the CalWORKs program
(Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code), youth who are enrolled in the
CalWORKs program, homeless youth, youth with disabilities, youth who
are under the care of the court system, youth who participate in the
National School Lunch Program, youth with one parent or guardian who
is in a dislocated worker, or a recipient of unemployment
compensation benefits, and youth with additional barriers. Military
veterans and their spouses who are under 24 years of age shall be
given priority for services under the program.
(5) The program shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate,
incorporate work-based learning strategies, work experience, and
other activities that involve exposing youth to industrial job sector
opportunities that are key to the economic region. Local workforce
investment boards may incorporate secondary and postsecondary
education as deemed appropriate.
(6) Wages or stipends, or both, may be provided to youth in a
classroom-based component of a summer employment opportunity.
(7) Minors under 18 years of age who are enrolled in the program
shall be paid at least the minimum wage and applicable overtime rates
established by the state's Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC).
(8) High school graduates or those persons holding an equivalent
degree shall be paid at the same levels as the local workforce
investment area's workforce experience policy for adults and
dislocated workers, when those individuals perform the same quantity,
quality, and classification of work.
(b) The board, in consultation with local workforce investment
boards, shall request, if required, any necessary waivers from the
United States Department of Labor, to ensure effective and efficient
implementation of the program set forth in this section.
(c) The program established by this section shall only be
implemented if the Director of Finance determines that there are
sufficient federal or state funds made available to the state for
expenditure for the program.
(9) The California Youth at Work Program shall incorporate career
pathways or career ladders as part of the summer youth program, and
should be coordinated with existing employment training programs and
economic development programs, including, but not limited to,
programs funded under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C.
Sec. 2801 et seq.), or other federally funded workforce investment
program, the California Community Colleges, the regional occupational
programs and regional occupation centers, vocational education
programs, joint labor-management training programs, and
preapprenticeship or registered apprenticeship programs authorized by
the Department of Industrial Relations Division of Apprenticeship
Standards.
SEC. 2. Section 14206 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14206. It shall be the duty of the local board to do all of the
following:
(a) Coordinate workforce investment activities in the local area
with economic development strategies.
(b) Promote participation of private sector employers in the local
workforce investment system.
(c) Develop and submit a local workforce investment plan to the
Governor.
(d) Select one-stop operators, with the agreement of the local
chief elected official, annually review their operations, and
terminate for cause the eligibility of such operators.
(e) Award grants or contracts to eligible providers of youth
activities in the local area on a competitive basis, consistent with
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, or other funding sources,
based upon the recommendations of the youth council.
(f) Identify, consistent with the Workforce Investment Act of
1998, or other federal statutes, eligible providers of
training services.
(g) Identify eligible providers of intensive services and, when
the one-stop operator does not provide intensive services to the
local area, award contracts to those providers.
(h) Develop local policy on the amount and duration of individual
training accounts based upon the market rate for local training
programs.
(i) Conduct program oversight over workforce investment activities
in the local area.
(j) Negotiate with the local chief elected official in the local
area and the Governor on local performance measures for the local
area.
(k) Assist in the development of a statewide employment statistics
system, which shall be developed in conjunction with and shall
utilize to the fullest extent possible, the Employment Development
Department's labor market information system.