BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2696
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2696 (Bass)
As Amended August 2, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-2 |(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |25-11|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY : Sets forth additional specified duties of the Green
Collar Jobs Council (GCJC).
The Senate amendments
1)Delete the provision that establishes a Green Collar Jobs
Council Account (GCJC Account) in the California State
Treasure;
2)Require GCJC to analyze, rather than interpret, the regional
market data that it develops and collects on California's new
and emerging green industries workforce needs, trends, and job
growth; and;
3)Require, on or before April 1of each year, beginning in 2011,
the California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB) to report to
the Legislature on the status of GCJC activities, grants
awarded, and its development and implementation of green
workforce strategic initiative.
4)Authorize the Employment Development Department (EDD), upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to expend those moneys and
revenues for purposes related to the strategic initiative and
the award of grants, as provided.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill established a GCJC Account
in the State Treasury, created additional duties for the GCJC,
and required the CWIB to provide an annual report to the
Legislature on the status of the GCJC's activities.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, $200,000 to $500,000 annually depending on the amount
of green workforce training funds available to CWIB.
AB 2696
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COMMENTS : This bill is a follow-up to AB 3018 (Nunez), Chapter
312, Statutes of 2008, which establishes the Green Collar Jobs
Council (GCJC) within the CWIB. AB 3018 specifies that the GCJC
is comprised of the appropriate representatives from the CWIB's
existing membership, including the K-12 representative, the
California Community Colleges representative, the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency representative, the Employment
Development Department (EDD) representative, and other
appropriate members.
AB 3018 also requires the GCJC to develop a strategic initiative
to identify and develop the framework, funding, strategies,
programs, policies, partnerships, and opportunities necessary to
address the growing need for a highly skilled and well-trained
workforce to meet the needs of California's emerging green
economy.
The GCJC convened for the first time on February 11th, 2009 (and
has met regularly thereafter), and adopted the following vision
statement: "Over the next 18 to 24 months the Council will
identify and facilitate the development of the framework,
funding, strategies, programs policies, partnerships and
opportunities necessary to address the need for a highly skilled
and well-trained workforce in support of California's green
businesses and economy. Through its work, the Council will
serve as a catalyst for the creation of sustainable regional
sector strategies that will be managed through regional
partnerships."
Following the enactment of the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the GCJC has been focusing some
of its attention on opportunities for green collar jobs made
possible as a result of ARRA.
According to the author's office statement, "With California's
unemployment rate at an all time high of 10.5%, California needs
to develop short and long term goals to put Californians back to
work in jobs that provide a wage. We have an opportunity to
make an investment in our existing workforce training
infrastructure. Under the federal ARRA, California is receiving
over $400 million in job training funds to be administered
through our existing workforce infrastructure. No time is
greater than now to form partnerships with state agencies,
community colleges, community based organizations, and labor
AB 2696
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apprenticeship programs to train a highly skilled and well
trained workforce to meet the needs of California's growing
green economy. According to a recent report by Next 10, titled
California Innovation Index 2009 , since 2005 the green collar
job has continued to grow by 10% and business establishments by
2%, while job growth in other sectors has been only 1%. With
the infusion of federal economic stimulus funds California
stands to create thousands of jobs in energy efficiency building
retrofits, green building, solar and green technology. The time
is now to develop much needed workforce training partnerships to
better serve California."
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinley / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091
FN: 0005921