BILL NUMBER: SB 1401 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 30, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Sections 14000, 14005, 14010, 14013, and 14020 of
the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to unemployment insurance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1401, as amended, Lieu. Unemployment insurance: education and
workforce investment systems.
Existing law provides that the California Workforce Investment
Board is responsible for assisting the Governor in the development,
oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce
investment system. Existing law further provides that the board must
assist the Governor in targeting resources to specified high-wage
industry sectors and providing guidance to ensure that services
reflect the needs of those sectors.
This bill would provide that the board is also responsible for
assisting the Governor in the alignment of the education and
workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century
workforce and the promotion and development of a well-educated and
highly skilled 21st century economy and workforce. This bill would
require the board to assist the Governor in targeting resources to
specified high-wage industry clusters that
provide economic security and leverage state and federal funds
to ensure that resources are invested in activities that meet the
needs of specified industry sectors and advance the education and
employment of students and workers so they can meet the specified
needs of the state, its regional economies, and leading industry
sectors.
Existing law requires the board, in collaboration with specified
state and local partners, and the local workforce investment boards
to develop a specified strategic workforce plan, updated at least
every 5 years, to address the state's economic, demographic, and
workplace needs and to meet the single state plan requirement of the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
This bill would require, as part of the strategic workforce plan,
the creation of a California Industry Sector Initiative that will
accomplish specified tasks, including aligning and leveraging
federal, state, and local Workforce Investment Act funding streams,
identifying specified industry sectors and clusters, providing
skills-gap analysis, and establishing specified eligibility criteria
for the Workforce Investment Act eligible training provider list.
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 14000 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14000. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, in order for
California to remain prosperous and globally competitive, it needs to
have a well-educated and highly skilled workforce.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the following
principles shall guide the state's workforce investment system:
(1) Workforce investment programs and services shall be responsive
to the needs of employers, workers, and students by accomplishing
the following:
(A) Preparing California's students and workers with the skills
necessary to successfully compete in the global economy.
(B) Producing greater numbers of individuals who obtain
industry-recognized certificates and degrees in competitive and
emerging industry sectors and filling critical labor market skills
gaps.
(C) Adapting to rapidly changing local and regional labor markets
as specific workforce skill requirements change over time.
(D) Preparing workers for good-paying jobs that foster economic
security and upward mobility.
(2) State and local workforce investment boards are encouraged to
collaborate with other public and private institutions, including
businesses, unions, nonprofit organizations, kindergarten and grades
1 to 12, inclusive, career technical education programs, adult basic
education programs, community college career technical education and
basic skills programs, the California Community Colleges Economic and
Workforce Development Program, and the Employment Training Panel, to
better align resources across workforce education and training
service delivery systems and build a well-articulated workforce
investment system by accomplishing the following:
(A) Adopting local and regional training and education strategies
that build on the strengths and fill the gaps in the education and
workforce development pipeline in order to address the needs of job
seekers, workers, and employers within regional labor markets by
supporting sector strategies.
(B) Leveraging resources across education and workforce training
delivery systems to build career pathways and fill critical skills
gaps.
(3) Workforce investment programs and services shall be data
driven and evidence based when setting priorities, investing
resources, and adopting practices.
(4) Workforce investment programs and services shall develop
strong partnerships with the private sector, ensuring industry
involvement in needs assessment, planning, and program evaluation,
and by encouraging industry involvement by developing strong
partnerships with an industry's employers and the unions that
represent the industry's workers.
(5) Workforce investment programs and services shall be outcome
oriented and accountable, measuring results for program participants,
including, but not limited to, outcomes related to program
completion, employment, and earnings.
(6) Programs and services shall be accessible to employers,
workers, and students who may benefit from their operation, including
individuals with employment barriers, such as persons with economic,
physical, or other barriers to employment.
SEC. 2. Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14005. For purposes of this division:
(a) "Board" shall mean the California Workforce Investment Board.
(b) "Agency" means the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
(c) "Career pathways," "career ladders," or "career lattices" mean
an identified series of positions, work experiences, or educational
benchmarks or credentials with multiple access points that offer
occupational and financial advancement within a specified career
field or related fields over time.
(d) "Cluster-based sector strategies" means methods of focusing
workforce and economic development on those sectors that have
demonstrated a capacity for economic growth and job creation in a
particular geographic area.
(e) "Data driven" means a process of making decisions about
investments and policies based on systematic analysis of data, which
may include data pertaining to labor markets.
(e)
(f) "Economic security" means, with respect to a
worker, earning a wage sufficient to support a family adequately, and
, over time, to save for emergency expenses and adequate
retirement income, based on factors such as household size, the cost
of living in the worker's community, and other factors that may vary
by region.
(g) "Evidence-based" means making use of policy research as a
basis for determining best policy practices. Evidence-based policy
makers adopt policies that research has shown to produce positive
outcomes, in a variety of settings, for a variety of populations over
time. Successful, evidence-based programs deliver quantifiable and
sustainable results. Evidence-based practices differ from approaches
that are based on tradition, belief, convention, or anecdotal
evidence.
(f)
(h) "High-priority occupations" mean occupations that
have a significant presence in a targeted industry sector or industry
cluster, are in demand by employers, and pay or lead to payment of
high wage a wage that provides economic
security .
(g)
(i) "Individual with employment barriers" means an
individual with any characteristic that substantially limits an
individual's ability to obtain employment, including indicators of
poor work history, lack of work experience, or access to employment
in nontraditional occupations, long-term unemployment, lack of
educational , or occupational skills attainment,
dislocation from high-wage and high-benefit employment, low levels of
literacy or English proficiency, disability status, or welfare
dependency.
(h)
(j) "Industry cluster" means a geographic concentration
or emerging concentration of interdependent industries with direct
service, supplier, and research relationships, or independent
industries that share common resources in a given regional economy or
labor market. An industry cluster is a group of employers closely
linked by common product or services, workforce needs, similar
technologies, and supply chains in a given regional economy or labor
market.
(k) (1) "Industry or sector partnership" means a workforce
collaborative that organizes key stakeholders in a targeted industry
cluster into a working group that focuses on the workforce needs of
the targeted industry cluster. An industry or sector partnership
organizes the stakeholders connected with a specific local or
regional industry--multiple firms, labor groups, education and
training providers, and workforce and education systems--to develop
workforce development strategies within the industry. Successful
sector partnerships leverage partner resources to address both
short-term and long-term human capital needs of a particular sector,
including by analyzing current labor markets and identifying barriers
to employment within the industry, developing cross-firm skill
standards, curricula, and training programs, and developing
occupational career ladders to ensure workers of all skill levels can
advance within the industry.
(2) Industry or sector partnerships include, at the appropriate
stage of development of the partnership, all of the following:
(A) Representatives of multiple firms or employers in the targeted
industry cluster, including small-sized and medium-sized employers
when practicable.
(B) One or more representatives of state labor organizations,
central labor coalitions, or other labor organizations, except in
instances where no labor representations exists.
(C) One or more representatives of local workforce investment
boards.
(D) One or more representatives of kindergarten and grades 1 to
12, inclusive, and postsecondary educational institutions or other
training providers, including, but not limited to, career technical
educators.
(E) One or more representatives of state workforce agencies or
other entities providing employment services.
(3) An industry or sector partnership may also include
representatives from the following:
(A) State or local government.
(B) State or local economic development agencies.
(C) Other state or local agencies.
(D) Chambers of commerce.
(E) Nonprofit organizations.
(F) Philanthropic organizations.
(G) Economic development organizations.
(H) Industry associations.
(I) Other organizations, as determined necessary by the members
comprising the industry or sector partnership.
(i)
(l) "Industry sector" means those firms that produce
similar products or provide similar services using somewhat similar
business processes, and are closely linked by workforce needs, within
a regional labor market.
(j)
(m) "Local labor federation" means a central labor
council that is an organization of local unions affiliated with the
California Labor Federation or a local building and construction
trades council affiliated with the State Building and Construction
Trades Council.
(k)
(n) "Sector strategies" means methods of prioritizing
investments in competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry
clusters on the basis of labor market and other economic data
indicating strategic growth potential, especially with regard to jobs
and income, and exhibit the following characteristics:
(1) Focus workforce investment in education and workforce training
programs that are likely to lead to high-wage
jobs providing economic security or to an entry-level job
with a well-articulated career pathway into a high-wage
job pro viding economic security .
(2) Effectively boost labor productivity or reduce business
barriers to growth and expansion stemming from workforce supply
problems, including skills gaps , and occupational
shortages by directing resources and making investments to plug
skills gaps and provide education and training programs for
high-priority occupations.
(3) May be implemented using articulated career pathways or
lattices and a system of stackable credentials.
(4) May target underserved communities, disconnected youths,
incumbent workers, and recently separated military veterans.
(5) Frequently are implemented using industry or sector
partnerships.
(l)
(o) "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" means the
federal act enacted as Public Law 105-220.
SEC. 3. Section 14010 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14010. The California Workforce Investment Board is the body
responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight,
and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment
system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment
systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce.
SEC. 4. Section 14013 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14013. The board shall assist the Governor in the following:
(a) Promoting the development of a well-educated and highly
skilled 21st century workforce.
(b) Developing the State Workforce Investment Plan.
(c) Developing guidelines for the continuous improvement and
operation of the workforce investment system, including:
(1) Developing policies to guide the one-stop system.
(2) Providing technical assistance for the continuous improvement
of the one-stop system.
(3) Recommending state investments in the one-stop system.
(4) Targeting resources to high-wage
competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters that
provide economic security and are either high-growth
sectors or critical to California's economy, or both. These industry
sectors and clusters shall have significant economic impacts on the
state and its regional and local areas, have immediate education and
workforce development needs, and have documented career
opportunities.
(d) Developing and continuously improving the statewide workforce
investment system as delivered via the one-stop delivery system and
via other programs and services supported by funding from the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, including:
(1) Developing linkages in order to assure coordination and
nonduplication among workforce programs and activities.
(2) Reviewing local workforce investment plans.
(3) Leveraging state and federal funds to ensure that resources
are invested in activities that meet the needs of the state's
competitive and emerging industry sectors and advance the education
and employment needs of students and workers so they can keep pace
with the education and skill needs of the state, its regional
economies, and leading industry sectors.
(e) Commenting, at least once annually, on the measures taken
pursuant to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology
Education Act Amendments of 1990 (Public Law 101-392; 20 U.S.C. Sec.
2301 et seq.).
(f) Designating local workforce investment areas within the state
based on information derived from all of the following:
(1) Consultations with the Governor.
(2) Consultations with the chief local elected officials.
(3) Consideration of comments received through the public comment
process, as described in Section 112(b)(9) of the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998.
(g) Developing and modifying allocation formulas, as necessary,
for the distribution of funds for adult employment and training
activities, for youth activities to local workforce investment areas,
and dislocated worker employment and training activities, as
permitted by federal law.
(h) Coordinating the development and continuous improvement of
comprehensive state performance measures, including state adjusted
levels of performance, to assess the effectiveness of the workforce
investment activities in the state.
(i) Preparing the annual report to the United States Secretary of
Labor.
(j) Recommending policy for the development of the statewide
employment statistics system, including workforce and economic data,
as described in Section 15 of Title 29 of the United States Code, and
using, to the fullest extent possible, the Employment Development
Department's existing labor market information systems.
(k) Recommending strategies to the Governor for strategic training
investments of the Governor's 15-percent discretionary funds.
(l) Developing and recommending waivers, in conjunction with local
workforce investment boards, to the Governor as provided for in the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(m) Recommending policy to the Governor for the use of the
25-percent rapid response funds, as authorized under the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
(n) Developing an application to the United States Department of
Labor for an incentive grant under Section 9273 of Title 20 of the
United States Code.
SEC. 5. Section 14020 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
14020. (a) The California Workforce Investment Board, in
collaboration with state and local partners, including the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges, the State Department of
Education, other appropriate state agencies, and local workforce
investment boards, shall develop a strategic workforce plan to serve
as a framework for the development of public policy, fiscal
investment, and operation of all state labor exchange, workforce
education, and training programs to address the state's economic,
demographic, and workforce needs. The strategic workforce plan shall
also serve as the framework for the single state plan required by the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The plan shall be updated
at least every five years.
(b) The state shall develop a California Industry Sector
Initiative that will serve as the cornerstone of the state plan and
provide a framework for state workforce investments and support for
sector strategies.
(c) The California Workforce Investment Board shall work
collaboratively with state and local partners to identify ways to
eliminate systemwide barriers and better align and leverage federal,
state,and state, and local Workforce
Investment Act funding streams and policies to develop, support, and
sustain regional alliances of employers and workforce and education
professionals who are working to improve the educational pipeline,
establish well-articulated career pathways, provide
industry-recognized credentials and certificates, and address the
career advancement needs of current and future workers in competitive
and emergent industry sectors and clusters. The California Workforce
Investment Board and its partners shall work collaboratively to
maximize state and local investments and pursue other resources to
address the skills-gap needs identified pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (d).
(d) In order to support the requirement of the plans in
subdivision (a), the California Workforce Investment Board shall do
the following:
(1) Annually identify industry sectors and industry clusters that
have a competitive economic advantage and demonstrated economic
importance to the state and its regional economies. In developing
this analysis, the California Workforce Investment Board shall
consider the expertise of local workforce investment boards in the
state's respective regional economies and shall encourage the local
workforce investment boards to identify industry sectors and industry
clusters that have a competitive economic advantage and demonstrated
economic importance in their respective local workforce investment
areas.
(2) Annually identify new dynamic emergent industry sectors and
industry clusters with substantial potential to generate new jobs and
income growth for the state and its regional economies. In
developing this analysis, the California Workforce Investment Board
shall consider the expertise of local workforce investment boards in
the state's respective regional economies and shall encourage the
local workforce investment boards to identify new dynamic emergent
industry sectors and industry clusters with substantial potential to
generate new jobs and income growth in their respective local
workforce investment areas.
(3) Provide an annual skills-gap analysis enumerating occupational
and skills shortages in the industry sectors and industry clusters
identified as having strategic importance to the state's economy and
its regional economies. In developing this analysis, the California
Workforce Investment Board shall consider the expertise of local
workforce investment boards in the state's respective regional
economies and shall encourage the local workforce investment boards
to conduct skills-gap analysis for their respective local workforce
investment areas. Skills-gap analysis for the state and its regional
economies shall use labor market data to specify a list of
high-priority, in-demand occupations for the state and its regional
economies. This list shall be used to inform investment decisions and
eligible training provider policies.
(4) Establish, with input from local workforce investment boards
and other stakeholders, initial and subsequent eligibility criteria
for the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998
eligible training provider list that effectively directs
training resources into training programs leading to employment in
high-demand, high-priority, and high-wage
occupations that provide economic security , particularly
those facing a shortage of skilled workers. The subsequent
eligibility criteria, to the extent feasible, shall use performance
and outcome measures to determine whether a provider is qualified to
remain on the list. At a minimum, initial and subsequent eligibility
criteria shall consider the following:
(A) The relevance of the training program to the workforce needs
of the state's strategic industry sectors and industry clusters.
(B) The need to plug skills gaps and skills shortages in the
economy, including skills gaps and skills shortages at the state and
regional level.
(C) The need to plug skills gaps and skills shortages in local
workforce investment areas.
(D) The likelihood that the training program will lead to job
placement in a high-wage job providing
economic security or job placement in an entry-level job that
has a well-articulated career pathway or career ladder to a
high-wage job providing economic security .
(E) The need for basic skills and bridge training programs that
provide access to occupational skills training for individuals with
barriers to employment and those who would otherwise be unable to
enter occupational skills training.
(F) To the extent feasible, utilize criteria that measure training
and education provider performance, including, but not limited to,
the following:
(i) Measures of skills or competency attainment.
(ii) Measures relevant to program completion, including measures
of course, certificate, degree, licensure, and program of study rate
of completion.
(iii) For those entering the labor market, measures of employment
placement and retention.
(iv) For those continuing in training or education, measures of
educational or training progression.
(v) For those who have entered the labor market, measures of
income, including wage measures.
(G) The division of labor for making initial and subsequent
eligibility determinations under this division shall be modeled on
the division of labor envisioned in the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998 in that the state board shall establish, with input from
local workforce investment boards and other stakeholders, the initial
and subsequent eligibility procedures and criteria utilized by local
workforce investment boards to assess training provider performance.
The local boards shall have the authority to place and retain
training providers on the list, and shall provide relevant
performance data pertaining to the training provider criteria
established pursuant to this division to a state agency designated by
the Governor. The relevant state agency shall also have the
authority to remove training providers for nonperformance, provided
they do not meet the performance criteria established pursuant to
this division.
(G)
(H) If the state receives a waiver from the federal
subsequent eligibility provisions specified in the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, the state workforce investment board shall
establish its own subsequent eligibility criteria that take into
account all of the criteria specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C),
(D), (E), and (F) , and (G) .