BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1402
AUTHOR: Lieu
INTRODUCED: February 24, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 18, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Community Colleges: Economic and Workforce
Development
Program.
SUMMARY
This bill recasts and revises provisions of the Education
Code governing the California Community Colleges Economic and
Workforce Development Program and extends the program's
sunset date from January 1, 2013, to January 1, 2018.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the California Community Colleges
Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) Program as a primary
mission of the California Community Colleges (CCC). Current
law specifies the mission and goals of the program,
establishes an administrative structure for the program that
includes:
a) The California Community Colleges Business Resource
Assistance
and Innovation Network Trust Fund.
b) Centers and Regional Collaboratives.
c) The Job Development Incentive Training
Program.
This program is administered through the Chancellor's office
of the California Community Colleges. Current law requires
the Chancellor to implement accountability measures for the
program and annually report specified information to the
Governor and the Legislature. (Education Code � 88500 et.
seq)
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Current law requires the Board of Governors of the CCC to
assist economic and workforce regional development centers
and consortia to improve linkages and career technical
education (CTE) pathways between high schools and community
colleges in a manner that improves the quality of career
exploration. (EC � 88532)
Current federal law, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA),
provides funding for workforce investment activities,
including training, access to career information, counseling,
and other support services.
ANALYSIS
This bill recasts and revises the provisions governing the
California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce
Development (EWD) Program. Specifically, this bill:
1) Establishes the program under a new Part of the
Education Code, moving the EWD program from � 88500 et
seq. to � 88600 et seq.
2) Extends the sunset on the EWD program from January 1,
2013, to January 1, 2018.
3) Adds six principles to the mission of the EWD Program.
Specifically, the bill requires the EWD program to:
a) Be responsive to the needs of employers,
workers, and students.
b) Collaborate with other public institutions,
aligning resources to foster cooperation across
workforce education and service delivery systems,
and building well-articulated career pathways.
c) Make data driven and evidence based decisions,
investing resources and adopting practices on the
basis of what works.
d) Develop strong partnerships with the private
sector, ensuring industry involvement in needs
assessment, planning, and program evaluation.
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e) Be outcome oriented and accountable, measuring
results for program participants, including
students, employers, and workers.
f) Be accessible to employers, workers, and
students who may benefit from its operation.
4) Updates the mission of the EWD program to reflect the
need to implement sector strategies that align with
labor markets.
5) Updates the General Provisions to strengthen decision
criteria for allocating funds to ensure that education
and services are responsive to changing local markets
and to improve accountability of regional programs.
Requires funding to be based on each of the following:
a) An evaluation of the relevance of the grant to
the labor market needs of the state and relevant
region's competitive and emerging industry sectors
and industry cluster, or to the state's need to
plug skills gaps and skills shortages in the
economy, including skills gaps and shortages at the
state and regional level.
b) An assessment of the past performance of the
grant recipient.
c) For grants providing direct services to
employers and industry, an assessment of the
purported beneficial impacts of the grant on the
relevant businesses, which may include a review of
the grant's purported impacts as specified.
d) For grants involving direct education and
training services provided to workers and students,
an assessment of the educational and training goals
of the grant, the projected numbers of the students
and workers served and projected rates of course
and program completion or transfer-readiness, the
projected rate of skills attainment for
certificates and degrees, and the projected wages
and rate of employment placement for those entering
the labor market.
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e) For technical assistance and logistical
support projects, a concrete enumeration of the
ways the project will collaborate with the
Chancellor's office to advance sector strategies,
regional development, accountability based on
performance data, and the adoption of effective
workforce and economic development practices.
f) Authorizes the Chancellor's office to
terminate programs for nonperformance.
6) Updates definitions to reflect current practices:
a) Defines career pathways and career ladders or
career lattices to mean an identified series of
positions, work experiences, or educational
benchmarks or credentials that offer occupational
and financial advancement within a specific career
field or related field over time.
b) Defines high-priority occupation to mean an
occupation that has a significant presence in a
targeted industry or sector or industry cluster, as
specified.
c) Defines industry cluster as a group of
employers closely linked by a common product or
services, workforce needs, similar technologies,
and supply chains in a given regional economy or
labor market.
d) Defines industry sector to mean those firms
that produce similar products or provide similar
services using a somewhat similar business process.
e) Defines sector strategies to mean prioritizing
investments in competitive and emerging industry
sectors and industry clusters as specified.
f) Defines stackable credentials to mean a
sequence of modularized training or credentials
where each stack has employment or industry value.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1) Need for the bill : The EWD program has provided
services and training to meet the needs of regional
economies for more than 20 years and is scheduled to
sunset on January 1, 2013. SB 1402 extends the sunset
date of the program to January 1, 2018 and recasts and
revises the provisions governing the program to ensure
the program continues to advance the state's economy.
According to the author's office, the revised program
would improve the functions of the EWD program in three
primary ways:
a) Making the program more nimble and better able
to respond to changing economic conditions.
b) Making the program more accountable for
investments and performance by strengthening the
evaluation framework for EWD grants and programs.
c) Encouraging better integration and
communication of EWD programs with CTE programs.
2) The EWD Program : The purpose of the EWD program is to
advance California's economic growth and global
competitiveness through education and services that
contribute to continuous workforce improvement,
technology deployment, and business development and are
consistent with the current needs of the state's
regional economies. Local colleges and business
partners form consortia to identify regional workforce
needs and priorities, provide assistance to small
businesses in the region through local Economic and
Workforce Development Centers and train workers. The
partnerships enable colleges to develop curricula that
address the training needs of local industry.
Codified in 1991, the EWD program formalized earlier efforts
to coordinate statewide technical training and programs
for small businesses and economic development. In 1996,
SB 1809 (Polanco, Chapter 1057) further clarified the
legislative intent of the Program, defined regional
planning, priority setting and coordination and added
accountability and audit requirements. The 1996
legislation also made economic development and
continuous workforce improvement a primary mission of
the CCC.
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The 2010-11 EWD Annual Report shows that community colleges
play an integral role in helping California build its
workforce despite budget cuts and stagnant economic
growth. The report noted that during the reporting
period, 929 people received a job through an EWD
program, while an additional 9,475 people were able to
retain their job through EWD services. A one-time
return-on-investment report conducted by Time
Structures, Inc. found that from 2002-2009, the EWD
Program assisted an average of 41,000 businesses,
107,000 students and trainees, and placed 4,300
individuals in jobs. The report revealed that it cost
the state of California an average of $589 to train each
worker in a highly concentrated one-time course. Each
newly trained worker earned a higher wage, subsequently
paying an additional $450 in state and local taxes over
the next three years. The report indicated that the
workers' higher tax payments returned almost 80% of the
state's costs for the training.
3) Fiscal impact . By reauthorizing the EWD Program, this
bill allows existing programs and services, which are
already funded through the Budget Act, to continue.
This bill maintains language in current law that
specifies the Act will only be implemented during those
fiscal years for which funds are appropriated for that
purpose in the annual Budget Act.
4) Related and prior legislation . A companion bill, SB
1070 (Steinberg), also scheduled to be heard by this
Committee on April 18, 2012, extends the sunset date for
the Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative
component of the current EWD Program. Where SB 1402
moves the EWD program to a new code section, SB 1070
leaves the Career Technical Education Pathways
Initiative in Section 88532; the effect of which will
remove the CTE Pathways from the existing EWD act.
SB 1401 (Lieu) requires the state's Workforce Investment
Board to assist the Governor in the alignment of the
education and workforce investment systems; and creates
a California Industry Sector Initiative that will
accomplish specified tasks, including aligning and
leveraging state and local Workforce Investment Act
funding streams.
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SUPPORT
Barstow Community College
Biotechnology Initiative of the California Community Colleges
Boston Scientific Neuromodulation
California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
California Chamber of Commerce
California Chapters of the National Electrical Contractors
Association
California Community College Association for Occupational
Education
California Community Colleges Board of Governors
California Hospital Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California Workforce Association
Center of Excellence at Mt. San Antonio College
Cerritos College
Coast Community College District
College of the Canyons
Community College League of California
Cuesta College Business & Entrepreneurship Center
Desert Community College District
Economic and Workforce Development Training and Development
Director
Envision Education
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Long Beach City College
Los Angeles/Orange county Biotechnology Center
Los Rios Community College District
Mendocino College Nursing Program Director
Merced College
Northern Rural Training & Employment Consortium
Sacramento City College
Saddleback College
San Bernardino Community College District
San Diego Miramar College
San Diego North Chamber of Commerce
Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation
President
Shasta-Tehema-Trinity Joint Community College District
South Orange County Community College District
Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
The California Community Colleges Board of Governors
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Yosemite Community College District
Individual letters
OPPOSITION
None received.