BILL ANALYSIS
SB 410
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Date of Hearing: June 24, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
William W. Monning, Chair
SB 410 (Ducheny) - As Amended: May 21, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 23-11
SUBJECT : California Workforce Investment Act: federal funding.
SUMMARY : Seeks to provide greater oversight over the spending
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, as
well as to set clear legislative goals and priorities for the
use of those funds relative to workforce readiness programs.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Prescribes eligibility criteria for recipients of financial
assistance in the form of needs related payments and would
require the one-stop career centers to coordinate and deliver
services to persons enrolled in job training programs.
2)Expands training services to include preapprenticeship and
registered apprenticeship training with entrance into a
registered apprenticeship program to be considered placement
into a job.
3)Requires the California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB) to
develop policies, funding recommendations, and strategies that
will maximize funding across all workforce programs for
developing workforce skills.
4)Requires local workforce investment boards to develop a policy
on supportive services.
5)Requires funding available through the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to be for
increasing training services, and would require training
priorities to be consistent with those identified in the
Act.
6)Revises existing reporting requirements to include information
on funds made available through the ARRA and training
expenditures incurred by organizations funded by the
Governor's 15 percent discretionary fund from the federal
Workforce Investment Act (WIA).
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EXISTING STATE LAW :
1)Establishes the CWIB, and requires the CWIB to assist the
Governor with promoting the development, oversight, and
continuous development of a well-educated and highly skilled
workforce, and also assist in the development of the State
Workforce Investment Plan.
2)Declares the intent of the Legislature to deliver
comprehensive workforce services to jobseekers, students, and
employers at those comprehensive one-stop career centers to,
among other things, make outreach, intake, job search and
placement assistance, and other related services available in
one location.
3)Authorizes EDD to administer various job training and
placement programs and services for eligible persons, as
provided and requires the EDD to develop a statewide plan and
to coordinate all programs it administers, as specified.
4)Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD) to report
annually to the Governor, the Legislature, and the CWIB, no
later than November 30, regarding the training expenditures
made by local workforce investment boards in the prior fiscal
year.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW :
1)Created the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998,
which established an ongoing program to provide funding for,
and to give direction and support to, state workforce
development activities. WIA creates incentives for the
formation of integrated systems of state workforce development
boards, appointed by individual state governors, and local
workforce investment boards run by local service providers and
officials. WIA requires that 85 percent of the federal funds
supplied for the Act go to the local workforce investment
boards, with the remainder allocated by the Governor for state
discretionary purposes.
2)Establishes the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) which allocates additional WIA funds over the 2009-2010
and 2010-2011 fiscal years. ARRA also makes additional funds
available nationally through competitive grants which may be
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accessed, among other groups, by state workforce investment
boards and local workforce investment boards.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee analysis, unknown major costs annually depending on
cost of services and number of persons receiving needs related
payments.
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 2009 the Senate
Labor and Industrial Relations Committee and the Assembly
Committee on Labor and Employment held a joint informational
hearing on the state of the economy and its affects on working
families, as well as how the stimulus funds would affect
California. At that hearing, the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO) stated that there would be an additional $494 million over
the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fiscal years, on top of the $491
million allocated for fiscal year 2009-2010. Most of the funds
will go to the local workforce investment boards, $427 million
of the WIA funds for the 2009-2010 fiscal years and
approximately an additional $420 million over the 2009-2010 and
2010-2011 fiscal years.
During the buildup to the passage of the ARRA, the author's
office began discussions with local workforce investment boards
and other workforce development partners on their current fiscal
priorities, how they will handle the influx of ARRA stimulus
funds, and if California law complies with federal law and
federal Department of Labor regulations. This bill is the fruit
of those discussions.
In brief, the bill requires that job training be the priority
for the ARRA funds going to local workforce investment boards,
expands the definition of training programs to apprenticeship
and pre-apprenticeship programs, allows for the use of training
funds for supportive services to keep individuals enrolled in
the job training programs, and requires additional reporting
requirements to track the use of these funds.
Prior Legislation :
SB 302 (Ducheny), Statutes of 2008, Chapter 376, created the
requirement that the Employment Development Department (EDD)
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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.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Community College Association for Occupational
Education
California Workforce Association
Community College League of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lorie Erickson / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091