BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2349
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2349 (Fong)
As Introduced February 19, 2010
Majority vote
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-1
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|Ayes:|Swanson, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Ammiano, |
| |Furutani, Gaines, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Monning, Yamada | |Calderon, Coto, Davis, |
| | | |Nava, Hall, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Workforce Investment Board
(CWIB) to collaborate with the local workforce investment boards
to establish the California Youth at Work Program (Program) to
provide summer job training and work experience opportunities
for youth, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies the Program shall be established with the following
requirements, among other things:
a) The 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 Program must include a work experience and academic
enrichment components;
c) Eligible youth who participate in the California Youth
at Work Program shall be between 14 years of age and 24
years of age;
d) Low-income youth and certain youth populations facing
barriers to employment, as specified, shall be deemed
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automatically eligible for the Program;
e) 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 opportunities that are key to the
economic region, as specified;
f) Wages or stipends, or both, may be provided to youth in
a classroom-based component of a summer employment
opportunity;
g) The 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, as specified;
h) The CWIB in consultation with the 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 bill; and,
i) The Program established by this bill shall only be
implemented if the Director of Finance determines that
there are sufficient federal or state funds made available
to the state to expend on for the Program.
1)Specifies that local workforce investment boards are to award
grants or contracts to eligible providers of youth activities,
consistent with federal law or with other funding sources and
to identify eligible providers of training in a manner
consistent with federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no new costs to the state although the bill may have
some impact on the distribution of federal funds earmarked for
job training programs in the future.
COMMENTS : In February 2009, President Obama signed into law the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) [Pub.L.
111-5], which sought to use federal stimulus dollars to combat
the current economic recession. In March 2009, the Senate Labor
and Industrial Relations Committee and the Assembly Committee on
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Labor and Employment 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 for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years, on top of the
$491 million allocated for fiscal year 2009-10 in the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) funds. Of the $494 million that 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.
According to the author, in the summer of 2009, nearly 50,000
youth in California were employed through the Program partly due
to the temporary ARRA funding. The Program provided thousands
of California youth throughout our state good jobs with skill
building and work readiness training. With the increase from
ARRA being a limited one-time occurrence along with the
significant decreases in WIA funding since 2001, all but a few
WIA youth programs still remain.
Once the ARRA funds are no longer available, the author hopes
that with the enactment of this bill the Program will continue
to be an effective and beneficial resource for disadvantaged
youth that will afford them an opportunity to gain vital work
experience and important learning based strategies, within the
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guidelines of the WIA, which benefit the economy by helping
California's youth gain the skills necessary to become and
remain competitive in the workforce.
Please review the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment's
policy committee analysis for federal and state existing law and
for prior legislation.
Analysis Prepared by : Lorie Erickson / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091
FN: 0003975