BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2726
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

               AB 2726 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Labor and  
          Employment   Vote:                            6-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill makes changes relating to workforce investment boards.  
          Specifically, the bill:

          1)States that local workforce investment boards can count an  
            entrance into an approved apprenticeship program as a  
            successful job placement.

          2)Requires the state and local workforce investment boards to  
            ensure that programs and services funded by the Workforce  
            Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 are connected to apprenticeship  
            programs approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.  

           
          FISCAL EFFECT

           By imposing a new duty on local apprenticeship boards, the bill  
          contains a reimburseable local mandate. The magnitude of this  
          mandate is unknown, but could exceed $200,000.
           
          COMMENTS
           
           1)Background  . The WIA was established by federal law in 1998 for  
            purposes of job training and workforce develop. It requires  
            states to form state workforce investment boards, and for  
            governors to designate local workforce investment areas and  
            oversee local workforce investment boards for purposes of  
            coordinating and distributing job training funds. In  
            California WIA funds are provide through State Workforce  
            Investment Board and 49 Local Boards.









                                                                  AB 2726
                                                                  Page  2

            The Division of Apprenticeship Standards, within the  
            Department of Industrial Relations, administers the state's  
            apprenticeship law and enforces apprenticeship standards for  
            wages, hours, working conditions and the specific skills  
            required for state certification as a journey person in an  
            apprenticeable occupation.  

          2)Rationale  . The main purpose of the bill is to ensure that WIA  
            funding goes for preapprenticeship programs that are connected  
            with apprenticeship programs approved by DAS. According to the  
            author, "many WIA funded programs for job training are not  
            connected to the programs that provide employment and training  
            simultaneously.  These WIA funded programs compete with  
            apprenticeship programs and are subsidizing programs that  
            often fail to connect participants to clear career pathways to  
            well paying middleclass jobs."
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081