California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1910

Introduced by Assembly Member Gray

February 19, 2014

An act to amend Sections 14000, 14013, and 14020 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to unemployment insurance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1910, as introduced, Gray. Unemployment insurance: education and workforce investment systems.

Existing law declares that a well-educated and highly skilled workforce is necessary for the state to remain competitive in the global economy and that workforce investment programs and services need to work collaboratively with state and local entities to accomplish this policy goal.

Existing law provides that the California Workforce Investment Board is responsible for assisting the Governor in, among other things, the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce investment system. 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. In that regard, the board aligns and leverages state and local Workforce Investment Act funding streams, identifies specified industry sectors and clusters, provides skills-gap analysis, and establishes specified eligibility criteria for the Workforce Investment Act eligible training provider list.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. 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 begin insert all of end insert 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 career technical education and basic skills programs,
community college career technical education and basic skills
programs, entrepreneurship training programs, where appropriate,
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.

(A) Workforce investment programs and services shall
encourage industry involvement by developing strong partnerships
with an industry’s employers and the unions that represent the
industry’s workers.

(B) Workforce investment programs and services may consider
the needs of employers and businesses of all sizes, including large,
medium, small, and microenterprises, when setting priorities,
investing resources, and adopting practices.

(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, the
self-employed, 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 14013 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

14013.  

The board shall assist the Governor in begin insert all of end insert 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 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 workforce
development needs and have documented career opportunities.

(5) To the extent permissible under state and federal laws,
recommending youth policies and strategies that support linkages
between kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and community
college educational systems and youth training opportunities in
order to help youth secure educational and career advancement.
These policies and strategies may be implemented using a sector
strategies framework and should ultimately lead to placement in
a job providing economic security or job placement in an
entry-level job that has a well-articulated career pathway or career
ladder to a job providing economic security.

(6) To the extent permissible under state and federal law,
recommending adult and dislocated worker training policies and
investments that offer a variety of career opportunities while
upgrading the skills of California’s workforce. These may include
training policies and investments pertaining to any of the following:

(A) Occupational skills training, including training for
nontraditional employment.

(B) On-the-job training.

(C) Programs that combine workplace training with related
instruction, which may include cooperative education programs.

(D) Training programs operated by the private sector.

(E) Skill upgrading and retraining.

(F) Entrepreneurial training.

(G) Job readiness training.

(H) Adult education and literacy activities provided in
combination with any of the services described in this paragraph.

(I) Customized training conducted with a commitment by an
employer or group of employers to employ an individual upon
successful completion of the training.

(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 ensure 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. 3.  

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 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 begin insert all of end insert 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 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 job providing economic security or job placement
in an entry-level job that has a well-articulated career pathway or
career ladder to a 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.

(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) to (G), inclusive.