H.B. No. 3767
AN ACT
relating to measures to support the alignment of education and
workforce development in the state with state workforce needs,
including the establishment of the Tri-Agency Workforce
Initiative.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Texas Education
and Workforce Alignment Act.
SECTION 2. Subtitle G, Title 10, Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 2308A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 2308A. TRI-AGENCY WORKFORCE INITIATIVE
Sec. 2308A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Agency," unless the context requires otherwise,
means the Texas Education Agency.
(2) "Career education and training program" means:
(A) a career and technology education program
offered by a public school;
(B) a career technical or workforce education
program, as defined by the coordinating board, offered by an
institution of higher education;
(C) a program administered by the commission
relating to jobs training, skills development, or adult education
and literacy; and
(D) a work-based learning program, such as an
apprenticeship or internship program, that receives state funding
or is administered by the commission.
(3) "Commission" means the Texas Workforce
Commission.
(4) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(5) "Initiative" means the Tri-Agency Workforce
Initiative.
(6) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(7) "State workforce development goals" means the
state workforce development goals developed under Section
2308A.006.
Sec. 2308A.002. PURPOSE. The Tri-Agency Workforce
Initiative is established to coordinate and improve information and
other resources as necessary to:
(1) ensure that the use of state and federal education
and workforce funds is efficiently aligned to achieve state
workforce development goals;
(2) align career education and training programs to
workforce demands; and
(3) enable local and state policy makers to identify
the workforce outcomes of participants in career education and
training programs and progress toward the state workforce
development goals.
Sec. 2308A.003. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AND STAFFING. (a)
The agency, coordinating board, and commission shall enter into one
or more interagency agreements establishing policies and processes
for:
(1) sharing and matching relevant data and
cooperatively managing education and workforce information
collected by each respective agency; and
(2) coordinating the assignment of existing staff and
other resources as necessary to effectuate the state workforce
development goals and the strategies for achieving those goals
developed under Section 2308A.006.
(b) The time spent by an employee of the agency,
coordinating board, or commission in supporting the work of the
initiative is not included in calculating the number of full-time
equivalent employees allotted to the respective agency under other
law.
Sec. 2308A.004. QUARTERLY DISCUSSIONS. The commissioner of
education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the
commission shall discuss the work of the initiative at least once
per quarter.
Sec. 2308A.005. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR UNIFIED WORKFORCE DATA
REPOSITORY. (a) The coordinating board shall develop a strategic
plan for the operation of a unified repository for education and
workforce data. In developing the plan, the coordinating board
shall solicit input from the agency, the commission, and relevant
stakeholders.
(b) The plan developed under Subsection (a) must include
recommendations for:
(1) automatically matching records of the agency,
coordinating board, and commission at the student level on a timely
basis;
(2) creating publicly available tools and resources
regarding data on the outcomes of participants in career education
and training programs, including graduation rates, student debt,
employment status and industry of employment, and earnings over
time, disaggregated to the extent practicable by income, race,
ethnicity, and gender;
(3) making timely student data available to authorized
entities to support higher education and workforce application,
entry, and success; and
(4) creating and supporting a secure portal through
which authorized personnel of approved entities can view and
analyze comprehensive longitudinal and the most currently
available matched data related to the progress toward meeting state
workforce needs.
Sec. 2308A.006. STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND
STRATEGIES. (a) The commissioner of education, commissioner of
higher education, and chair of the commission jointly shall develop
and post in a prominent location on the initiative's and each
respective agency's Internet website state workforce development
goals and coordinated interagency strategies for achieving those
goals.
(b) The goals developed under Subsection (a) must:
(1) be developed in consultation with employers;
(2) include goals for the attainment of employment in
jobs that pay a self-sufficient wage for all career education and
training programs in the state;
(3) be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender
for each workforce development region; and
(4) provide for:
(A) locally determined priorities consistent
with state goals; and
(B) collaborative planning and coordination with
local employers, public schools, institutions of higher education,
and local workforce development boards.
(c) The strategies developed under Subsection (a) must:
(1) include strategies for expanding work-based
learning;
(2) articulate the ways in which the state can best
leverage state and federal funding for career education and
training programs; and
(3) be demonstrably guided by:
(A) education and workforce data;
(B) evidence of success and considerations of
cost-effectiveness; and
(C) prioritized occupational classifications,
including all target occupations and critical career pathways
designated under Subsection (e).
(d) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of
education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the
commission jointly shall update the state workforce development
goals and strategies developed under Subsection (a) at least every
four years, or more frequently if needed to reflect available data
and circumstances.
(e) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of
education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the
commission shall designate and update every two years a list of
career pathways that includes the following two priority
categories:
(1) target occupations, which include current needs
that exist in one or more regions of the state as reflected in
regional workforce assessments that:
(A) use the best available data and local
employer requests; and
(B) satisfy minimum federal standards for
designations, such as a foundation for qualified use of federal
workforce funding; and
(2) critical career pathways that reflect the best
statewide data and forecasts of skills and careers for which demand
in the state is expected to grow that may:
(A) be associated with new emerging industries or
new specialty occupations within an industry; or
(B) reflect pathways to better wages for workers
with documented skills that provide promotional opportunities
within or across occupations with targeted upskill training.
Sec. 2308A.007. CREDENTIAL LIBRARY. (a) The coordinating
board and the commission jointly may establish a publicly
accessible web-based library of credentials, such as diplomas,
certificates, certifications, digital badges, apprenticeships,
licenses, or degrees, that are:
(1) delivered, issued, funded, or governed by the
state;
(2) aligned with recognized skills and industry
standards;
(3) available to residents of the state; and
(4) used by employers in the state.
(b) The coordinating board and the commission jointly may
designate a host agency or operating entity for a credential
library established under this section.
(c) In establishing a credential library under this
section, the coordinating board and the commission shall solicit
input from the agency and relevant stakeholders.
Sec. 2308A.008. INTERNET-BASED RESOURCES. (a) Using
federal funding or gifts, grants, or donations available for the
purpose, the coordinating board may establish Internet-based
resources for the initiative. The resources may include:
(1) a central Internet website for the initiative that
contains information on the state workforce development goals and
the strategies for achieving those goals developed under Section
2308A.006;
(2) a unified dashboard, updated on an annual or more
frequent basis, that reports progress toward accomplishment of the
state workforce development goals, both statewide and
disaggregated by public school and public school campus,
institution of higher education campus, workforce region, and
county;
(3) data on the outcomes of students who participate
in career education and training programs, disaggregated to the
extent practicable by income, race, ethnicity, and gender,
including data regarding degree and credential completion,
employment status and industry of employment, and earnings over
time;
(4) guidance supporting the use of data on the
dashboard described by Subdivision (2) for greater accessibility
for a wide range of public, practitioner, and legislative users;
(5) tools enabling residents of the state to:
(A) explore careers that match the resident's
education and skills and lead to a self-sufficient wage;
(B) identify and evaluate education and training
opportunities related to the resident's career interests; and
(C) connect to available jobs through existing
job matching websites; and
(6) tools to support joint program planning,
budgeting, and performance evaluation among:
(A) the agency, coordinating board, and
commission; and
(B) public schools, institutions of higher
education, local workforce development boards, and partnering
entities.
(b) In establishing Internet-based resources for the
initiative under Subsection (a), the coordinating board shall
solicit input from the agency and the commission.
Sec. 2308A.009. STUDENT SUCCESS REPORTING. (a) Using
federal workforce funds to the extent available for the purpose,
the agency and the coordinating board shall make available to each
public school and institution of higher education information
possessed by the agency, coordinating board, or commission
regarding the success of students previously enrolled in a career
education and training program offered by the school or institution
with respect to critical student outcomes, including degree and
credential completion, employment status and industry of
employment, and earnings over time.
(b) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
higher education shall ensure that the information made available
under Subsection (a) is made available in a manner that complies
with applicable state or federal law regarding the privacy and
confidentiality of student information.
Sec. 2308A.010. OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT. At least 30 days
before finalizing state workforce development goals or strategies
for achieving those goals developed under Section 2308A.006, the
agency, coordinating board, and commission jointly shall post on
the initiative's and each respective agency's Internet website the
proposed goals or strategies and instructions for submitting
comment on those items to the agencies.
Sec. 2308A.011. TARGETED FUNDING TO ADDRESS STATE GOALS.
(a) A state agency that receives funding through the Carl D. Perkins
Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. Section 2301
et seq.) or the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Pub. L.
No. 113-128) or any other federal funding for career education and
training may, to the extent permissible under federal law, combine
with, transfer to, or delegate to another state agency that
receives such funding the agency's management of workforce-related
funding as necessary to implement the state workforce development
goals.
(b) A state agency that receives federal or state funding
for career education and training programs shall include in the
agency's legislative appropriations request a description of how
the agency's career education and training programs and
expenditures align with the state workforce development goals.
Sec. 2308A.012. SELF-SUFFICIENT WAGE. The agency,
coordinating board, and commission jointly shall determine for each
county the wage that constitutes a self-sufficient wage for
purposes of this chapter. The determination must be based on a
common standard that reflects the regionally adjusted minimum
employment earnings necessary to meet a family's basic needs while
also maintaining self-sufficiency.
Sec. 2308A.013. GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS. (a) The
agency, coordinating board, and commission may accept gifts,
grants, and donations from any public or private source for
purposes of the initiative.
(b) The agency, coordinating board, and commission shall
investigate potential sources of funding from federal grants or
programs that may be used for purposes of the initiative.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 204, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 204.0025 to read as follows:
Sec. 204.0025. ADDITIONAL WORKFORCE DATA REPORTING. It is
the intent of the legislature that the commission, subject to the
availability of federal funding or other resources for the purpose,
work with employers to enhance the reporting of employment and
earnings data by employers to the commission as part of an
employer's routine wage filings under this subtitle or commission
rule and consistent with federal law and regulations. The enhanced
wage filings must include information related to occupation and
other important employment information that would improve the
state's labor market information.
SECTION 4. Not later than October 1, 2021, the Texas
Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and
Texas Workforce Commission shall hold the initial discussion
required under Section 2308A.004, Government Code, as added by this
Act.
SECTION 5. (a) Not later than January 31, 2022, the Texas
Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and
Texas Workforce Commission shall develop the initial state
workforce development goals required under Section 2308A.006,
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than April 30, 2022, the Texas Education
Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas
Workforce Commission shall develop the initial strategies required
under Section 2308A.006, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. Not later than August 1, 2022, the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop the strategic plan for
the operation of a unified repository for education and workforce
data required under Section 2308A.005, Government Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 7. (a) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board, as applicable, are required to
implement Sections 2308A.005 and 2308A.009, Government Code, as
added by this Act, only if:
(1) the legislature appropriates funds for that
purpose; or
(2) the agencies receive gifts, grants, or donations
for that purpose under Section 2308A.013, Government Code, as added
by this Act.
(b) If funding described by Subsection (a) of this section
is not appropriated or otherwise made available for the purpose
described by that subsection, the Texas Education Agency and the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as applicable, may, but
are not required to, implement Sections 2308A.005 and 2308A.009,
Government Code, as added by this Act, using other money available
to the agencies for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The Texas Workforce Commission is required to
implement Section 204.0025, Labor Code, as added by this Act, only
if the legislature appropriates money specifically for that
purpose. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically
for that purpose, the commission may, but is not required to,
implement that section using other appropriations available for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3767 was passed by the House on May
14, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 115, Nays 26, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3767 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 98, Nays 49,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3767 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor