AB 1270: California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 provides for workforce investment activities, including activities in which states may participate. These provisions were previously contained in the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The California Workforce Investment Act contains various programs for job training and employment investment, including work incentive programs, as specified.

This bill would update statutory references to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to instead refer to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and make related conforming changes.

Existing law provides that the California Workforce Investment Board is responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of Californias workforce investment system. Existing law further provides that the board must assist the Governor in targeting resources to specified high-wage industry sectors and providing guidance to ensure that services reflect the needs of those sectors.

This bill would revise legislative findings with regard to the act, revise the definitions of terms used within the act, and rename the California Workforce Investment Board the California Workforce Development Board. With regard to the board, the bill would require the board to assist the Governor in the development of a State Plan and would provide that the State Plan serve as a comprehensive framework and coordinated plan for the aligned investment of all federal and state workforce training and employment service funding streams and programs. The bill would revise the membership of the board and task the board with, among other things, developing and continuously improving the statewide workforce investment system.

The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 requires the local chief elected officials in a local workforce development area to form, pursuant to specified guidelines, a local workforce investment board to, among other things, plan and oversee the workforce investment system and develop a comprehensive 5-year local plan. Existing law requires the Governor to establish, through the California Workforce Investment Board, standards for certification of high-performance local workforce investment boards, in accordance with specified criteria. Existing law requires a youth council be established within each local board and specified the duties of the council. Existing law also requires local workforce investment boards to spend a certain percentage of available federal funds for in a manner consistent with federal law, as prescribed.

This bill would rename the local boards as local workforce development boards, would revise the timeline for certifications of high-performance local workforce development boards, revise the guidelines used to appoint members of the local boards, and revise the duties of the local board consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. The bill would, with regard to the provision of services to youth, instead authorize a local board to establish a standing committee on the provision of youth services, as provided. This bill would require the local boards to develop a comprehensive 4-year local plan, revise the content of the local plan, and revise the manner by which the board shares that plan with the public. This bill would impose new requirements on local boards in conformance with federal law, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.