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2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080 |
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4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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7 | 7 | | Manny Cruz and Rita A. Mendes |
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8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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12 | 12 | | An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL. |
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13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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15 | 15 | | 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 |
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16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080 |
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18 | 18 | | By Representatives Cruz of Salem and Mendes of Brockton, a petition (accompanied by bill, |
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19 | 19 | | House, No. 2080) of Manny Cruz, Rita A. Mendes and others relative to providing job training |
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20 | 20 | | for workers with limited-English proficiency. Labor and Workforce Development. |
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21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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26 | 26 | | An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL. |
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27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. To ensure the creation of opportunity by investing in the infrastructure |
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30 | 30 | | 2needed to provide job training, and workforce development for workers with limited-English |
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31 | 31 | | 3proficiency (LEP), an ESOL for economic mobility coordinator position shall be created within |
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32 | 32 | | 4the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development established under Chapter 23, |
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33 | 33 | | 5section 1 of the General Laws to develop a statewide, comprehensive, actionable strategy to |
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34 | 34 | | 6prepare newly-arrived and other LEP workers with the English language skills needed to fill in- |
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35 | 35 | | 7demand jobs across Massachusetts. In developing an ESOL for economic mobility strategy, the |
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36 | 36 | | 8coordinator must convene stakeholders, including but not limited to employers, job training |
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37 | 37 | | 9providers, worker advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, and constituents, to |
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38 | 38 | | 10incorporate their feedback and recommendations for strategies to achieve the objectives herein. |
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39 | 39 | | 11The coordinator shall manage all efforts through the Workforce Skills Cabinet established in |
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40 | 40 | | 12Massachusetts Executive Order No. 560 to ensure the following ESOL for economic mobility |
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41 | 41 | | 13objectives are met in concert with the Executive Office of Education and Department of 2 of 4 |
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42 | 42 | | 14Elementary and Secondary Education; accomplished in addition to and not the detriment of |
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43 | 43 | | 15ESOL efforts in those agencies; and achieved in collaboration with the Executive Office of |
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44 | 44 | | 16Economic Development in measuring the effectiveness of ESOL for economic mobility in |
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45 | 45 | | 17meeting employers needs. The coordinator shall be responsible for, but is not limited to, the |
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46 | 46 | | 18implementation of the following objectives: |
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47 | 47 | | 19 a.) Develop a statewide ESOL expansion strategy, in collaboration with the executive |
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48 | 48 | | 20office of education, with a focus on providing ESOL for economic mobility to new arrivals and |
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49 | 49 | | 21the LEP population. |
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50 | 50 | | 22 b.) Increase investment in ESOL to bring capacity into alignment with the state’s growing |
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51 | 51 | | 23LEP population. |
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52 | 52 | | 24 c.) As resource levels rise, shift state ESOL for workforce funding to vocational |
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53 | 53 | | 25programs. |
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54 | 54 | | 26 d.) Leverage community colleges to bring more federal resources into the ESOL delivery |
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55 | 55 | | 27system. |
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56 | 56 | | 28 e.) Support regional collaboration and remove barriers to coordination among local |
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57 | 57 | | 29service providers. |
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58 | 58 | | 30 f.) Build the ESOL educator workforce. |
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59 | 59 | | 31 g.) Improve data collection and support research and evaluation. |
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60 | 60 | | 32 SECTION 2. PILOT 3 of 4 |
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61 | 61 | | 33 Within 90 days of passage of this act, there shall be an ESOL for economic mobility pilot |
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62 | 62 | | 34program administered by ESOL for economic mobility coordinator in the Executive Office of |
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63 | 63 | | 35Labor and Workforce Development’s to expediently expand the availability of ESOL for |
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64 | 64 | | 36economic mobility to meet the immediate demands of employers and provide opportunities for |
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65 | 65 | | 37employment to newly-arrived, long-time unemployed, and underemployed workers with limited- |
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66 | 66 | | 38English proficiency |
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67 | 67 | | 39 SECTION 3. REPORTING |
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68 | 68 | | 40 Not later than one year after passage of this act, the office shall submit its comprehensive |
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69 | 69 | | 41strategic plan and report on measurable outcomes achieved to meet its statutory duties, along |
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70 | 70 | | 42with suggested specific objectives, key performance indicators and outcome measures proposed |
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71 | 71 | | 43for the following year. The report shall include data and statistics on the total number of students |
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72 | 72 | | 44served, percent increase in investment to ESOL programs, number of community college |
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73 | 73 | | 45programs and students served by them, number of vocational ESOL programs and students |
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74 | 74 | | 46served by them, and number of new ESOL educators deployed through these programs and |
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75 | 75 | | 47numbers of jobs gained by individuals who have successfully completed ESOL programs. |
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76 | 76 | | 48Thereafter, the office shall annually submit the report by August 30 to the governor, the secretary |
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77 | 77 | | 49of labor and workforce development, the chairs and ranking minority members of the joint |
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78 | 78 | | 50committee on labor and workforce development, and the joint committee on Education and the |
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79 | 79 | | 51clerks of the House and Senate. |
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80 | 80 | | 52 SECTION 4. FUNDING COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS |
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81 | 81 | | 53 The sums set forth in this act, for the purposes and subject to the conditions specified in |
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82 | 82 | | 54this act, are hereby made available, subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public 4 of 4 |
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83 | 83 | | 55funds, which sums shall be in addition to any other amounts previously appropriated for these |
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84 | 84 | | 56purposes…………$13,000,000 |
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