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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Manny Cruz and Rita A. Mendes
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Manny Cruz7th Essex1/17/2025Rita A. Mendes11th Plymouth1/17/2025Russell E. Holmes6th Suffolk2/18/2025Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk2/26/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080
By Representatives Cruz of Salem and Mendes of Brockton, a petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2080) of Manny Cruz, Rita A. Mendes and others relative to providing job training
for workers with limited-English proficiency. Labor and Workforce Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. To ensure the creation of opportunity by investing in the infrastructure
2needed to provide job training, and workforce development for workers with limited-English
3proficiency (LEP), an ESOL for economic mobility coordinator position shall be created within
4the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development established under Chapter 23,
5section 1 of the General Laws to develop a statewide, comprehensive, actionable strategy to
6prepare newly-arrived and other LEP workers with the English language skills needed to fill in-
7demand jobs across Massachusetts. In developing an ESOL for economic mobility strategy, the
8coordinator must convene stakeholders, including but not limited to employers, job training
9providers, worker advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, and constituents, to
10incorporate their feedback and recommendations for strategies to achieve the objectives herein.
11The coordinator shall manage all efforts through the Workforce Skills Cabinet established in
12Massachusetts Executive Order No. 560 to ensure the following ESOL for economic mobility
13objectives are met in concert with the Executive Office of Education and Department of 2 of 4
14Elementary and Secondary Education; accomplished in addition to and not the detriment of
15ESOL efforts in those agencies; and achieved in collaboration with the Executive Office of
16Economic Development in measuring the effectiveness of ESOL for economic mobility in
17meeting employers needs. The coordinator shall be responsible for, but is not limited to, the
18implementation of the following objectives:
19 a.) Develop a statewide ESOL expansion strategy, in collaboration with the executive
20office of education, with a focus on providing ESOL for economic mobility to new arrivals and
21the LEP population.
22 b.) Increase investment in ESOL to bring capacity into alignment with the state’s growing
23LEP population.
24 c.) As resource levels rise, shift state ESOL for workforce funding to vocational
25programs.
26 d.) Leverage community colleges to bring more federal resources into the ESOL delivery
27system.
28 e.) Support regional collaboration and remove barriers to coordination among local
29service providers.
30 f.) Build the ESOL educator workforce.
31 g.) Improve data collection and support research and evaluation.
32 SECTION 2. PILOT 3 of 4
33 Within 90 days of passage of this act, there shall be an ESOL for economic mobility pilot
34program administered by ESOL for economic mobility coordinator in the Executive Office of
35Labor and Workforce Development’s to expediently expand the availability of ESOL for
36economic mobility to meet the immediate demands of employers and provide opportunities for
37employment to newly-arrived, long-time unemployed, and underemployed workers with limited-
38English proficiency
39 SECTION 3. REPORTING
40 Not later than one year after passage of this act, the office shall submit its comprehensive
41strategic plan and report on measurable outcomes achieved to meet its statutory duties, along
42with suggested specific objectives, key performance indicators and outcome measures proposed
43for the following year. The report shall include data and statistics on the total number of students
44served, percent increase in investment to ESOL programs, number of community college
45programs and students served by them, number of vocational ESOL programs and students
46served by them, and number of new ESOL educators deployed through these programs and
47numbers of jobs gained by individuals who have successfully completed ESOL programs.
48Thereafter, the office shall annually submit the report by August 30 to the governor, the secretary
49of labor and workforce development, the chairs and ranking minority members of the joint
50committee on labor and workforce development, and the joint committee on Education and the
51clerks of the House and Senate.
52 SECTION 4. FUNDING COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS
53 The sums set forth in this act, for the purposes and subject to the conditions specified in
54this act, are hereby made available, subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public 4 of 4
55funds, which sums shall be in addition to any other amounts previously appropriated for these
56purposes…………$13,000,000