Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2080 Compare Versions

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22 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
33 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080
44 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
55 _________________
66 PRESENTED BY:
77 Manny Cruz and Rita A. Mendes
88 _________________
99 To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
1010 Court assembled:
1111 The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
1212 An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.
1313 _______________
1414 PETITION OF:
1515 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
1616 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4137 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
1717 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2080
1818 By Representatives Cruz of Salem and Mendes of Brockton, a petition (accompanied by bill,
1919 House, No. 2080) of Manny Cruz, Rita A. Mendes and others relative to providing job training
2020 for workers with limited-English proficiency. Labor and Workforce Development.
2121 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2222 _______________
2323 In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
2424 (2025-2026)
2525 _______________
2626 An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.
2727 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
2828 of the same, as follows:
2929 1 SECTION 1. To ensure the creation of opportunity by investing in the infrastructure
3030 2needed to provide job training, and workforce development for workers with limited-English
3131 3proficiency (LEP), an ESOL for economic mobility coordinator position shall be created within
3232 4the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development established under Chapter 23,
3333 5section 1 of the General Laws to develop a statewide, comprehensive, actionable strategy to
3434 6prepare newly-arrived and other LEP workers with the English language skills needed to fill in-
3535 7demand jobs across Massachusetts. In developing an ESOL for economic mobility strategy, the
3636 8coordinator must convene stakeholders, including but not limited to employers, job training
3737 9providers, worker advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, and constituents, to
3838 10incorporate their feedback and recommendations for strategies to achieve the objectives herein.
3939 11The coordinator shall manage all efforts through the Workforce Skills Cabinet established in
4040 12Massachusetts Executive Order No. 560 to ensure the following ESOL for economic mobility
4141 13objectives are met in concert with the Executive Office of Education and Department of 2 of 4
4242 14Elementary and Secondary Education; accomplished in addition to and not the detriment of
4343 15ESOL efforts in those agencies; and achieved in collaboration with the Executive Office of
4444 16Economic Development in measuring the effectiveness of ESOL for economic mobility in
4545 17meeting employers needs. The coordinator shall be responsible for, but is not limited to, the
4646 18implementation of the following objectives:
4747 19 a.) Develop a statewide ESOL expansion strategy, in collaboration with the executive
4848 20office of education, with a focus on providing ESOL for economic mobility to new arrivals and
4949 21the LEP population.
5050 22 b.) Increase investment in ESOL to bring capacity into alignment with the state’s growing
5151 23LEP population.
5252 24 c.) As resource levels rise, shift state ESOL for workforce funding to vocational
5353 25programs.
5454 26 d.) Leverage community colleges to bring more federal resources into the ESOL delivery
5555 27system.
5656 28 e.) Support regional collaboration and remove barriers to coordination among local
5757 29service providers.
5858 30 f.) Build the ESOL educator workforce.
5959 31 g.) Improve data collection and support research and evaluation.
6060 32 SECTION 2. PILOT 3 of 4
6161 33 Within 90 days of passage of this act, there shall be an ESOL for economic mobility pilot
6262 34program administered by ESOL for economic mobility coordinator in the Executive Office of
6363 35Labor and Workforce Development’s to expediently expand the availability of ESOL for
6464 36economic mobility to meet the immediate demands of employers and provide opportunities for
6565 37employment to newly-arrived, long-time unemployed, and underemployed workers with limited-
6666 38English proficiency
6767 39 SECTION 3. REPORTING
6868 40 Not later than one year after passage of this act, the office shall submit its comprehensive
6969 41strategic plan and report on measurable outcomes achieved to meet its statutory duties, along
7070 42with suggested specific objectives, key performance indicators and outcome measures proposed
7171 43for the following year. The report shall include data and statistics on the total number of students
7272 44served, percent increase in investment to ESOL programs, number of community college
7373 45programs and students served by them, number of vocational ESOL programs and students
7474 46served by them, and number of new ESOL educators deployed through these programs and
7575 47numbers of jobs gained by individuals who have successfully completed ESOL programs.
7676 48Thereafter, the office shall annually submit the report by August 30 to the governor, the secretary
7777 49of labor and workforce development, the chairs and ranking minority members of the joint
7878 50committee on labor and workforce development, and the joint committee on Education and the
7979 51clerks of the House and Senate.
8080 52 SECTION 4. FUNDING COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS
8181 53 The sums set forth in this act, for the purposes and subject to the conditions specified in
8282 54this act, are hereby made available, subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public 4 of 4
8383 55funds, which sums shall be in addition to any other amounts previously appropriated for these
8484 56purposes…………$13,000,000