BILL NUMBER: SJR 10CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 121 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chvez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernndez, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Prez, V. Manuel Prez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and Yamada) APRIL 22, 2013 Relative to the Workforce Investment Act. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 10, Lieu. Workforce Investment Act of 1998: reauthorization by the United States Congress. This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to reauthorize the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and to include specified policies and strategies in support of the act. WHEREAS, Over 8 million people were served nationally by the public workforce system funded by the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2801 et seq.), a 234 percent increase in participation rates in just two years; and WHEREAS, Over 4.3 million WIA participants found jobs through the public workforce system; and WHEREAS, The policy of investing in a highly productive workforce through programs that foster skills, attainment, and human capital development is important to ensure that California and the United States can compete in the global economy; and WHEREAS, The policy of investing in programs that foster skills attainment and human capital development is important for achieving employment, economic security, and opportunities for career advancement and upward mobility for WIA service recipients; and WHEREAS, While the national economy is beginning to expand, there continue to be areas of high unemployment throughout California that are lagging behind the nation's recovery from the recession; and WHEREAS, The federal budget for Fiscal Year 2010 and going forward has reduced available funding for an array of national workforce programs targeting dislocated workers, low-income adults, veterans, disconnected young adults, and other highly vulnerable groups in the labor market; and WHEREAS, The Department of Labor has been extremely supportive of operating and evaluating the Adult and Dislocated Workers Program and Youth Employment and Youth Build programs; and WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure program responsiveness to the needs of employers, workers, and students who benefit from investment in the workforce; and WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to encourage collaboration between state and local workforce investment boards and the stakeholders whom they serve, including businesses, unions, nonprofit organizations, K-12 programs, career technical education programs, basic skills programs, and systems of higher education including community colleges; and WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to link program service delivery strategies to data analysis, ensuring that program practices are evidence based; and WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure that programs and services are outcome oriented and accountable, measuring results for program participants, including outcomes related to program completion, skills attainment, employment, and earnings; and WHEREAS, Policies need to be established to ensure that programs are accessible to employers, workers, and students, including disadvantaged populations and individuals with employment barriers; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to ensure that state and local workforce investment boards are representative of relevant stakeholders, including business and labor leaders from statewide, regional, and locally competitive or emergent industry sectors; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to utilize demand-driven strategies, including sector-based strategies, that are connected to regional economies and labor markets, particularly those strategies that link investment in skills attainment with the skills needs of competitive or emergent industry sectors; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to expand opportunities for skills attainment, lifelong learning, and enrollment in learn and earn programs which prepare workers for jobs with a future; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to ensure adequate funding for programs that have demonstrated success in engaging at risk populations, including high risk youth, and are instrumental in developing a competitive workforce. These include career pathways programs, summer youth employment programs, contextualized adult basic skills education and G.E.D. literacy programs, vocational training, and incumbent worker programs; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to prioritize service strategies that target disadvantaged populations, including strategies that expand outreach to immigrant communities; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to utilize service delivery models that are efficient and effective by encouraging and strengthening collaborative partnerships that leverage the infrastructures, expertise, and resources of service providers, educational institutions, businesses and unions, and other stakeholders. These may include, when appropriate, One-Stop Career Centers or other service delivery models facilitating individuals' access to employment programs, services and training opportunities; and WHEREAS, Congress should include measures in the WIA to provide incentives for public-private partnerships; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the California State Legislature urges the Congress of the United States to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act this year and include in it the policies and strategies referenced above; and be it further Resolved, That the California State Legislature calls on business leaders to collaborate with the State Workforce Investment Board and local workforce investment boards in California to coinvest in workforce education and career exploration counseling for high school students and workers of all ages and to work with education and local leaders to develop appropriate curriculum that is responsive to workforce trends and results in industry-recognized credentials that have currency in the job market.