Bill Text: TX HB3856 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to building workforce skills to compete for trade-related jobs, business opportunities and investment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-21 - Referred to International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs [HB3856 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB3856-Introduced.html
 
 
  By: Anchia H.B. No. 3856
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to building workforce skills to compete for trade-related
  jobs, business opportunities and investment.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.022, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec.61.022(a).  The board shall consist of nine members
  appointed by the governor so as to provide representation from all
  areas of the state with the advice and consent of the senate, and as
  the constitution provides. Members of the board serve staggered
  six-year terms. The terms of one-third of the members expire August
  31 of each odd-numbered year.
         (b)  A board member may not be employed professionally for
  remuneration in the field of education during the member's term of
  office.
         (c)  One board member shall have over ten years of experience
  in a multinational corporation, export business, international
  investment business, or senior management position an
  international transportation, logistics, export or trade industry,
  or have occupied an executive role in a trade related government
  agency of the federal government or the state.
         SECTION 2.  Section 301.001, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 301.001.  PURPOSE; AGENCY GOALS; DEFINITIONS. (a)  The
  Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency established to operate
  an integrated workforce development system in this state, in
  particular through the consolidation of job training, employment,
  and employment-related educational programs available in this
  state, and to administer the unemployment compensation insurance
  program in this state.
         (b) The commission shall meet the needs of:
               (1)  the businesses of this state for the development
  of a highly skilled and productive workforce;
               (2)  the workers of this state for education, skills
  training, and labor market information to enhance their
  employability, earnings, and standard of living and for an
  efficient unemployment compensation system;
               (3)  the people of this state who are making a
  transition into the workforce, particularly persons receiving
  public assistance, displaced homemakers, and students making the
  transition from school to work;
               (4)  the communities of this state to provide economic
  incentive programs for job creation, attraction, and expansion; and
               (5)  the taxpayers of this state to ensure that tax
  revenues for workforce development are spent efficiently and
  effectively.
         (c)  Current funding allocations to commission programs
  shall be subject to annual review to ensure they are responsive to
  the workforce demands of the marketplace, including emerging
  markets for value-added services and products, particularly those
  trades and professions related to international exports, foreign
  direct investment, trade-related transportation and logistics, and
  allied professions.
         SECTION 3.  Section 301.002, Labor Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 301.002(a).  The commission is composed of three
  members:
               (1)  one member who is a representative of labor;
               (2)  one member who is a representative of employers;
  and
               (3)  one member who is a representative of the public.
         (b)  The governor shall appoint the members and make the
  appointments without regard to the race, color, disability, sex,
  religion, age, or national origin of the appointees.
         (c)  The member who is a representative of employers shall
  have over ten years of experience in a multinational corporation,
  export business, international investment business, or senior
  management position an international transportation, logistics,
  export or trade industry, or have occupied an executive role in a
  trade related government agency of the federal government or the
  state.
         SECTION 4._Section 301.041, Labor Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 301.041.   EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; AGENCY PERSONNEL. (a)
  The commission shall appoint an executive director to administer
  the daily operations of the commission in compliance with federal
  law.
         (b)  A reference in this code or another law to the "agency
  administrator" of the commission means the executive director.
         (c)  The executive director may:
               (1)  appoint and prescribe the powers and duties of all
  commission staff, including officers, accountants, attorneys,
  experts, and other persons as necessary in the performance of the
  commission's duties;
               (2)  delegate authority to a person appointed under
  this section as the executive director considers reasonable and
  proper for the effective administration of this title;
               (3)  employ and terminate the employment of commission
  staff members; and
               (4)  bond any person that handles money or signs checks
  under this title.
         (d)  The executive director or a person designated by the
  executive director shall develop a system of annual performance
  evaluations based on measurable job tasks. All merit pay for
  commission employees must be based on the system established under
  this subsection.
         (e)  The member who is a representative of employers shall
  have over ten years of experience in a multinational corporation,
  export business, international investment business, or senior
  management position an international transportation, logistics,
  export or trade industry, or have occupied an executive role in a
  trade related government agency of the federal government or the
  state.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding section 302.018 to read as follows:
         Section 302.018.  TEXAS GLOBAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TASK
  FORCE. (a) In this section, "task force" means the Texas Global
  Workforce Development Task Force.
         (b)  An interagency task force is created to:
               (1)  develop or update a process to allow agencies to
  work together to identify the key emerging global markets for Texas
  manufactured goods, intellectual property, artisanal and craft
  industries, and other Texas products, and for potential new foreign
  direct investment in Texas educational, research and development,
  high-technology, energy and environmental, biopharmaceutical,
  logistics and transportation, tourism and recreational, and Texas'
  other priority industry sectors; and formulate a strategy to be
  entitled the "Texas Global Workforce Strategy;"
               (2)  consult with local governments, educational
  institutions, economic development and metropolitan planning
  organizations, workforce development agencies, small business
  agencies, chambers of commerce, trade associations, and other
  stakeholders, to elicit recommendations on a statewide strategy for
  training a new generation of Texas workers and small business
  owners to compete for jobs in Texas' export-related industries; and
               (3)  develop regulatory and legislative
  recommendations to eliminate duplication and combine program
  services.
         (c)  The task force is composed of the heads of the following
  agencies or their designees, and other state and local entities to
  be designated as necessary or appropriate:
               (1)  the Texas Department of Rural Affairs;
               (2)  the Texas Department of Transportation;
               (3)  the Texas Workforce Commission;
               (4)  the General Land Office;
               (5)  the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office;
               (6)  the Office of State-Federal Relations;
               (7)  the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board;
               (8)  the secretary of state's office; and
               (9)  the Railroad Commission of Texas.
         (d)  The task force shall meet at least once quarterly in
  Austin to report on results of their studies, to invite successful
  international businesses to share insight into their workforce
  development needs, to conduct public consultations on key workforce
  development challenges and opportunities, and to showcase best
  practices and case studies from other states, provinces and
  nations.
         (e)  The task force will also invite experts from government
  and academia to report on illicit forms of trade-related
  employment, including human trafficking and narcotics trade.
         (f)  No later than December 31, 2014, the Task Force shall
  publish its findings and strategic recommendations, including
  selected case studies from other nations, and a strategic plan to
  boost jobs related to exports and foreign direct investment by 20%
  by the year 2025; and
         (g)  In fulfilling its duties, the task force shall consider
  opportunities to collaborate with the federal government,
  including trade promotion and finance programs of the U.S.
  Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other
  federal government departments, and the effect of federal policies,
  including trade agreements, upon Texas' business opportunities in
  the global marketplace.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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