BILL NUMBER: SCR 25INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal MARCH 17, 2009 Relative to Automotive Career Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 25, as introduced, Lowenthal. Automotive Career Month. This measure would designate the month of April 2009 as Automotive Career Month. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The automotive industry employs over 500,000 Californians in automotive-dependent careers; and WHEREAS, California ranks third among all states in the number of people employed by the automotive industry, is home to the national headquarters for several automotive manufacturers, and is the location of research and design facilities for many domestic and international automobile manufacturers; and WHEREAS, Career opportunities are expanding in the over 1,400 new car dealers located in California, where dynamic positions with high income potential can be found in fields such as sales, auto repair and service, finance, marketing, administration, design, technology and computers, and communications; and WHEREAS, Over the next 10 years, new car dealers in California will have to annually recruit 3,600 educated and well-trained automotive technician professionals to keep up with increasing demand; and WHEREAS, Well-paying job opportunities in the automotive industry will be abundant in coming years, and automotive technicians alone can earn forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) annually; and WHEREAS, The Legislature has recognized the importance of Career Technical Education (CTE) by approving the Strategic Growth Plan, approved by voters in November 2006, which authorized a general obligation bond to provide five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) for CTE, and dedicating additional resources to CTE whenever possible over the last several years; and WHEREAS, Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and its unique public-private partnership between auto manufacturers, new car dealers, and the State Department of Education, is the premier high school-to-work initiative preparing young people for entry level career positions or advanced studies in automotive technology; and WHEREAS, AYES has over 15 California schools on its roster that join more than 350 AYES school programs nationally; and WHEREAS, In addition to AYES-qualified high schools, nearly 500 other high schools, 55 regional occupational programs, and 70 community colleges offer automotive technology training programs in California; and WHEREAS, A model public-private partnership in automotive technology is the center on the Cerritos College campus that connects education and industry to address the employment needs of southern California auto dealers; and WHEREAS, With California as the largest market for hybrid vehicles in the country, the Southland Center for Transportation Technologies at Cerritos College will train the next generation of automotive technicians in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and alternative fuels technologies so that students are prepared to address alternatively powered vehicles in the 21st century; and WHEREAS, During Automotive Career Month, the California New Car Dealers Association and the state's new car dealers, automotive manufacturers, and other industry partners will reach out to students, teachers, and parents to educate them about the wide array of career opportunities available in the automotive industry; and WHEREAS, Through this national initiative and many partnerships with manufacturers and educational professionals, new car dealers are leading the way in providing young people with well-paying and rewarding career opportunities; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the month of April 2009, is hereby officially designated Automotive Career Month; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.