BILL NUMBER: SB 45 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 9, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Mendoza
DECEMBER 12, 2014
An act to amend Sections 14000, 14005, and 14010 of, and to
add Article 4 (commencing with Section 14240) to Chapter 4 of
Division 7 of, the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to
economic workforce development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 45, as amended, Mendoza. Economic development.
Workforce development: federal Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act.
The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) authorizes
workforce investment activities, including activities in which states
may participate. The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (WIOA), beginning July 1, 2015, repeals and supersedes the WIA
and, among other things, requires a state, in order to receive
specified allotments of federal funds and before the second full
program year after July 22, 2014, to identify planning regions and
require local boards and chief elected officials to prepare regional
plans for those planning regions, as specified.
The California Workforce Investment Act requires the California
Workforce Investment Board to develop and update a state workforce
investment plan, as specified. Existing law requires each local board
to develop and submit to the Governor a comprehensive 5-year local
plan in partnership with the appropriate chief local elected
officials that is consistent with the state workforce investment
plan.
This bill would require the state, in conformity with WIOA and
after consultation with local boards and chief elected officials, to
identify planning regions. The bill would require local boards and
chief elected officials to prepare regional plans for those planning
regions, as specified. By imposing this requirement on local
government, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The
bill would also require the board to aid the Governor in
facilitating system alignment across the core programs of WIOA, as
defined, and make related and conforming changes.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing law provides for various economic development programs
throughout the state that foster community sustainability and
community and economic development. Existing law also authorizes
local agencies to finance the purchase, construction, expansion,
improvement, or rehabilitation of certain types of facilities.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would authorize local governmental entities to use
tax increment financing for the development of economic planning,
infrastructure, and educational facilities.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
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 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. strategies and
career pathways.
(B) Leveraging Building
partnerships, aligning strategies, and leveraging resources
across education education, social services,
and workforce training delivery systems to build a
career pathways pipeline 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 14005 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
14005. For purposes of this division:
(a) "Board" means 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.
(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
policymakers 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.
(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 a
wage that provides economic security.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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 jobs providing economic security
or to an entry-level job with a well-articulated career pathway into
a job providing 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.
(6) Typically are implemented at the regional level where sector
firms, those employers described in subdivisions (j) and (l), often
share a common labor market and supply chains. However, sector
strategies may also be implemented at the state or local level
depending on sector needs and labor market conditions.
(o) "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" means the federal act
enacted as Public Law 105-220.
(p) "Labor market area" means an economically integrated
geographic area within which individuals can reside and find
employment within a reasonable distance or can readily change
employment without changing their place of residence. Labor market
areas shall be identified in accordance with criteria used by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor or similar
criteria established by the Governor.
(q) "Recognized postsecondary credential" means a credential
consisting of an industry-recognized certificate or certification, a
certificate of completion of an apprenticeship, a license recognized
by a state involved or the federal government, or an associate or
baccalaureate degree.
(r) "Core program" means a program authorized under a core program
provision of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(Public Law 113-128).
(s) "Core program provision" means any of the following:
(1) Subparts 2 and 3 of Part B of Subchapter I of Chapter 32 of
Title 29 of the United States Code.
(2) Subchapter II of Chapter 32 of Title 29 of the United States
Code.
(3) Sections 1 to 13, inclusive, of the federal Wagner-Peyser Act
(29 U.S.C. Sec. 49 et seq.).
(4) Title I of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
Sec. 720 et seq.), excluding Section 112 (29 U.S.C. 732) and Part C
(29 U.S.C. Sec. 741).
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. The board sha ll
aid the Governor in facilitating system alignment across the core
programs of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(Public Law 113-128) as well as other educational, social service,
rehabilitation, and economic development agencies the Governor
chooses to bring together in partnership.
SEC. 4. Article 4 (commencing with Section 14240)
is added to Chapter 4 of Division 7 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code , to read:
Article 4. Regional Planning
14240. The state shall, in conformity with the federal Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (Public Law 113-128), after
consultation with local boards and chief elected officials, and
pursuant to a process consistent with the considerations described in
Section 3121(b)(1)(B) of Title 29 of the United States Code,
identify all of the following:
(a) The regions comprised of one local area aligned with the
region.
(b) The regions comprised of two or more local areas collectively
aligned with the region. These regions shall be referred to as
planning regions, consistent with Section 3102 of Title 29 of the
United States Code.
(c) The regions identified pursuant to subdivision (b) that are
interstate areas contained within two or more states and consist of
labor market areas, economic development areas, or other appropriate
contiguous subareas of those states.
14241. (a) The local boards and chief elected officials in each
planning region described in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 14240
shall engage in a regional planning process that results in all of
the following:
(1) The preparation of a regional plan, as described in
subdivision (b).
(2) The establishment of regional service strategies, including
the use of cooperative service delivery agreements.
(3) The development and implementation of sector initiatives for
in-demand industry sectors or occupations for the region.
(4) The collection and analysis of regional labor market data, in
conjunction with the state.
(5) The establishment of administrative cost arrangements,
including the pooling of funds for administrative costs, as
appropriate, for the region.
(6) The coordination of transportation and other supportive
services, as appropriate, for the region.
(7) The coordination of services with regional economic
development services and providers.
(8) The establishment of an agreement concerning how the planning
region will collectively negotiate and reach agreement with the
Governor on local levels of performance for, and report on, the
performance accountability measures described in Section 3141(c) of
Title 29 of the United States Code for local areas or the planning
region.
(b) The state, after consultation with local boards and chief
elected officials for the planning regions, shall require the local
boards and chief elected officials within a planning region to
prepare, submit, and obtain approval of a single regional plan that
includes a description of the activities described in subdivision (a)
and incorporates local plans for each of the local areas in the
planning region. The state shall provide technical assistance and
labor market data, as requested by local areas, to assist with the
regional planning and subsequent service delivery efforts.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because this act implements a federal law or regulation
and results only in costs mandated by the federal government, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would authorize local governmental
entities, including, but not limited to, cities, counties, and cities
and counties, to use tax increment financing for the development of
economic planning, infrastructure, and educational facilities.
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