Bill Text: CA AB2602 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Employment Training Panel: duties: annual report:
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-10 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2602 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB2602-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2602 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 3553 10205
of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to unemployment
insurance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2602, as amended, Furutani. Unemployment insurance:
filing: extended duration benefits. Employment
Training Panel: duties: annual report: Governor: Internet Web site.
Existing law establishes the Employment Training Panel (ETP) in
the Employment Development Department, and prescribes the membership
and functions and duties of the ETP with regard to the development
and implementation of specified employment training programs.
Existing law requires the ETP to report annually to the Legislature
on projects during the previous fiscal year, and requires the annual
report to provide separate summaries of specified information on
projects.
This bill would additionally require the ETP to report that same
project information annually to the Governor and would require the
ETP to post the report on its Internet Web site for inspection by the
public.
Existing law provides that the filing of a valid primary claim by
an exhaustee constitutes an election to claim extended duration
benefits, excluding the exhaustee from filing a new claim for normal
benefits for any week of unemployment subsequent to the filing of the
primary claim for which extended duration benefits are payable to
the exhaustee.
This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 10205 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10205. The panel shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish a three-year plan that shall be updated annually,
based on the demand of employers for trained workers, changes in the
state's economy and labor markets, and continuous reviews of the
effectiveness of panel training contracts. The updated plan shall be
submitted to the Governor and the Legislature not later than January
1 of each year. In carrying out this section, the panel shall review
information in the following areas:
(1) Labor market information, including the state-local labor
market information program in the Employment Development Department
and other relevant regional or statewide initiatives and
collaboratives.
(2) Evaluations of the effectiveness of training as measured by
increased security of employment for workers and benefits to the
California economy.
(3) The demand for training by industry, type of training, and
size of employer.
(4) Changes in skills necessary to perform jobs, including changes
in basic literacy skills.
(5) Changes in the demographics of the labor force and the
population entering the labor market.
(6) Proposed expenditures by other agencies of federal Workforce
Investment Act funds and other state and federal training and
vocational education funds on eligible participants.
(b) Maintain a system to continuously monitor economic and other
data required under this plan. If this data changes significantly
during the life of the plan, the plan shall be amended by the panel.
Each plan shall include all of the following:
(1) The panel's objectives with respect to the criteria and
priorities specified in Section 10200 and the distribution of funds
between new-hire training and retraining.
(2) The identification of specific industries, production and
quality control techniques, and regions of the state where employment
training funds would most benefit the state's economy and plans to
encourage training in these areas, including specific standards and a
system for expedited review of proposals that meet the standards.
(3) A system for expedited review of proposals that are
substantially similar with respect to employer needs, training
curriculum, duration of training, and costs of training, in order to
encourage the development of proposals that meet the needs identified
in paragraph (2).
(4) The panel's goals, operational objectives, and strategies to
meet the needs of small businesses, including, but not limited to,
those small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. These strategies
proposed by the panel may include, but not be limited to, pilot
demonstration projects designed to identify potential barriers that
small businesses may experience in accessing panel programs and
workforce training resources, including barriers that may exist
within small businesses.
(5) The research objectives of the panel that contribute to the
effectiveness of this chapter in benefiting the economy of the state
as a whole.
(6) A priority list of skills or occupations that are in such
short supply that employers are choosing to not locate or expand
their businesses in the state or are importing labor in response to
these skills shortages.
(7) A review of the panel's efforts to coordinate with the
California Workforce Investment Board and local boards to achieve an
effective and coordinated approach in the delivery of the state's
workforce resources.
(A) The panel will consider specific strategies to achieve this
goal that include the development of initiatives to engage local
workforce investment boards in enhancing the utilization of panel
training resources by companies in priority sectors, special
populations, and in geographically underserved areas of the state.
(B) Various approaches to foster greater program integration
between workforce investment boards and the panel will also be
considered, which may include marketing agreements, expanded
technical assistance, modification of program regulations and policy,
and expanded use of multiple employer contracts.
(c) Solicit proposals and write contracts on the basis of
proposals made directly to it. Contracts for the purpose of providing
employment training may be written with any of the following:
(1) An employer or group of employers.
(2) A training agency.
(3) A local workforce investment board with the approval of the
appropriate local elected officials in the local workforce investment
area.
(4) A grant recipient or administrative entity selected pursuant
to the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, with the approval of
the local workforce investment board and the appropriate local
elected officials.
These contracts shall be in the form of fixed-fee performance
contracts. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
contracts entered into pursuant to this chapter shall not be subject
to competitive bidding procedures. Contracts for training may be
written for a period not to exceed 24 months for the purpose of
administration by the panel and the contracting employer or any group
of employers acting jointly or any training agency for the purpose
of providing employment training.
(d) Fund training projects that best meet the priorities
identified annually. In doing so, the panel shall seek to facilitate
the employment of the maximum number of eligible participants.
(e) Establish minimum standards for the consideration of
proposals, which shall include, but not be limited to, evidence of
labor market demand, the number of jobs available, the skill
requirements for the identified jobs, the projected cost per person
trained, hired, and retained in employment, the wages paid successful
trainees upon placement, and the curriculum for the training. No
proposal shall be considered or approved that proposes training for
employment covered by a collective bargaining agreement unless the
signatory labor organization agrees in writing.
(f) Ensure the provision of adequate fiscal and accounting
controls for, monitoring and auditing of, and other appropriate
technical and administrative assistance to, projects funded by this
chapter.
(g) Provide for evaluation of projects funded by this chapter. The
evaluations shall assess the effectiveness of training previously
funded by the panel to improve job security and stability for
workers, and benefit participating employers and the state's economy,
and shall compare the wages of trainees in the 12-month period prior
to training as well as the 12-month period subsequent to completion
of training, as reflected in the department's unemployment insurance
tax records. Individual project evaluations shall contain a summary
description of the project, the number of persons entering training,
the number of persons completing training, the number of persons
employed at the end of the project, the number of persons still
employed three months after the end of the project, the wages paid,
the total costs of the project, and the total reimbursement received
from the Employment Training Fund.
(h) (1) Report annually to the Governor
and the Legislature, by November 30, on projects operating
during the previous state fiscal year. These annual reports shall
provide separate summaries of all of the following:
(1)
(A) Projects completed during the year, including their
individual and aggregate performance and cost.
(2)
(B) Projects not completed during the year, briefly
describing each project and identifying approved contract amounts by
contract and for this category as a whole, and identifying any
projects in which funds are expected to be disencumbered.
(3)
(C) Projects terminated prior to completion and the
reasons for the termination.
(4)
(D) A description of the amount, type, and
effectiveness of literacy training funded by the panel.
(5)
(E) Results of complete project evaluations.
(6)
(F) A description of pilot projects, and the strategies
that were identified through these projects, to increase access by
small businesses to panel training contracts.
(7)
(G) A listing of training projects that were funded in
high unemployment areas and a detailed description of the policies
and procedures that were used to designate geographic regions and
municipalities as high unemployment areas.
(2) The panel shall post the annual report on its Internet Web
site for inspection by the public.
In addition, based upon its experience in administering job
training projects, the panel shall include in these reports policy
recommendations concerning the impact of job training and the panel's
program on economic development, labor-management relations,
employment security, and other related issues.
(i) Conduct ongoing reviews of panel policies with the goal of
developing an improved process for developing, funding, and
implementing panel contracts as described in this chapter.
(j) Expedite the processing of contracts for firms considering
locating or expanding businesses in the state, in accordance with the
priorities for employment training programs set forth in subdivision
(b) of Section 10200.
(k) Coordinate and consult regularly with business groups and
labor organizations, the California Workforce Investment Board, the
State Department of Education, the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, and the Employment Development
Department.
(l) Adopt by regulation procedures for the conduct of panel
business, including the scheduling and conduct of meetings, the
review of proposals, the disclosure of contacts between panel members
and parties at interest concerning particular proposals, contracts
or cases before the panel or its staff, the awarding of contracts,
the administration of contracts, and the payment of amounts due to
contractors. All decisions by the panel shall be made by resolution
of the panel and any adverse decision shall include a statement of
the reason for the decision.
(m) Adopt regulations and procedures providing reasonable
confidentiality for the proprietary information of employers seeking
training funds from the panel if the public disclosure of that
information would result in an unfair competitive disadvantage to the
employer supplying the information. The panel may not withhold
information from the public regarding its operations, procedures, and
decisions that would otherwise be subject to disclosure under the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(n) Review and comment on the budget and performance of any
program, project, or activity funded by the panel utilizing funds
collected pursuant to Section 976.6.
SECTION 1. Section 3553 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
3553. The filing of a valid primary claim by an exhaustee shall
constitute an election by him or her to claim extended duration
benefits to the exclusion of filing a new claim for normal benefits
for any week of unemployment subsequent to the filing of that primary
claim for which extended duration benefits are payable to him or
her.
