BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1402|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1402
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/18/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Huff, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Blakeslee, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
SUBJECT : Community colleges: Economic and Workforce
Development Program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill recasts and revises provisions of the
Education Code governing the California Community Colleges
(CCC) Economic and Workforce Development Program and
extends the program's sunset date from January 1, 2013, to
January 1, 2018.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the CCC Economic and
Workforce Development (EWD) Program as a primary mission of
the CCC. Existing law specifies the mission and goals of
the program, establishes an administrative structure for
the program that includes (1) the CCC Business Resource
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Assistance and Innovation Network Trust Fund, (2) Centers
and Regional Collaboratives, and (3) the Job Development
Incentive Training Program.
This program is administered through the CCC Chancellor's
Office. Existing law requires the Chancellor to implement
accountability measures for the program and annually report
specified information to the Governor and the Legislature.
Existing law requires the CCC Board of Governors 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.
Existing federal law, the Workforce Investment Act,
provides funding for workforce investment activities,
including training, access to career information,
counseling, and other support services.
This bill recasts and revises the provisions governing the
CCCs 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 Section
88500 et seq. to Section 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,
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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.
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
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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.
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
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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.
Comments
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.
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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Sunset extension: $22.9 million - $46.7 million,
annually; bill language specifies that funding is subject
to an appropriation in the Budget Act, as the program is
currently.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/12)
California Community College Association for Occupational
Education (co-source)
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office
(co-source)
Aerospace Dynamics International, Inc.
Barstow Community College
Bayless Engineering & Manufacturing
Biotechnology Initiative of the California Community
Colleges
Boston Scientific
Business & Entrepreneurship Center at Cuesta College
Butte-Glenn Community College District
California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
California Association for Local Economic Development
California Chamber of Commerce
California Hospital Association
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California Workforce Association
Cerritos Community College District
Coast Community College District
College of the Canyons
Community College League of California
Desert Community College District
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El Camino Community College District
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
Mt. San Antonio College Center for Excellence
National Electrical Contractors Association - California
Chapters
Palomar Health
Powder Coating Plus
Prosperity Research Institute
Saddleback College
San Bernardino Community College District
Santa Clarita Valley Aerospace Defense Coalition
Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation
Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District
Sierra College
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
South Orange County Community College District
Southern California Biotechnology Center at San Diego
Miramar College
Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium
Valley Industry Association of Santa Clarita
Ventura County Community College District
Wright Engineering, Inc.
Yosemite Community College District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters argue that 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. This bill 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: (1) making the program more nimble and
better able to respond to changing economic conditions, (2)
making the program more accountable for investments and
performance by strengthening the evaluation framework for
EWD grants and programs, and (3) encouraging better
integration and communication of EWD programs with CTE
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programs.
PQ:mw 5/24/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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