Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency, administered by the Director of the California Conservation Corps. Existing law requires that participants in the corps generally be engaged in certain kinds of projects, including projects that accomplish useful and needed public works projects in urban and rural areas.

This bill would specify that those projects include the construction of housing. The bill would require the director to establish a Construction Corps Program to provide corpsmembers with job training in construction-related fields, as specified. The bill would require the director, in developing and administering the program, to partner with local builders, apprenticeship programs, preapprenticeship programs, and community colleges to provide relevant training and experience to corpsmembers. The bill would authorize the director to determine the appropriate location or locations for the program based on factors the director determines are appropriate, including, among other things, the local need for housing or construction workers.

Existing law authorizes the director to execute contracts with any person, natural or corporate, for the purpose of implementing the objectives of the corps, as specified.

This bill would authorize the director to also execute agreements for the same purposes.

Date of Hearing: April 23, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Al Muratsuchi, Acting Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2725 (

Author:Acosta) – As Introduced Ver:February 15, 2018

SUBJECT: California Conservation Corps: job training: construction and related fields

SUMMARY: Directs the California Conservation Corps (CCC) to create a Housing Corps program within the CCC.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the CCC in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the CCC to implement and administer the conservation corps program.
2. Directs CCC program activities, including the management of environmentally important lands and water, public works projects, facilitating public use of resources, assisting in emergency operations, assisting in fire prevention and suppression, energy conservation, and environmental restoration.
3. Requires the Governor to appoint a director of the CCC, who shall act as the administrative officer of the CCC.
4. Authorizes the CCC to distribute federal funds to other corps programs in the state.
5. Requires the CCC to annually certify all Local Conservation Corps (LCCs).
6. Authorizes the director to contract with public or private non-profit entities to provide services for the CCC.
7. Authorizes the director to establish training programs for members of LCCs and contract with the LCC requesting the training.

THIS BILL:

1. Adds “construction of housing” to the definition of public works projects that are part of the CCCs mission.
2. Directs the director to establish a Construction Corps Program to provide members with training in fields including, but not limited to, carpentry, equipment operation, insulation installation, masonry, drywall installation and finishing, painting, and roofing.
3. Authorizes the director to collaborate with local builders, apprenticeship programs, pre-apprenticeship programs, and community colleges to provide relevant training and experience to corps members.
4. Authorizes the director to determine sites based on factors the director deems appropriate, including the local need for housing or construction workers, the availability of existing training programs or builders, and other unique local circumstances that would facilitate the achievement of the program’s objectives.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s Statement:

California is currently suffering from an undisputed housing shortage. The state needs about 180,000 new homes per year to keep pace with demands, but produces only around 80,000. Over 216,000 more construction workers are needed by 2024 to meet industry demands. Builders say that the labor shortage is worsening at the same time demand for construction is increasing. Roughly 70% of construction firms are having a difficult time filling hourly craft positions, resulting in many firms struggling to prevent laborers from walking off the job site mid-project to work for another company.

The CCC helps 18-25 year olds, many of whom are at-risk minorities, gain valuable experience rebuilding trails, preventing and fighting wildfires and floods, and installing energy efficient technologies. Corpsmembers earn minimum wage for their work and also complete high school and community college coursework. Many corpsmembers credit the program with helping them get their lives back on track and entering the workforce.

AB 2725 will establish the Construction Corps within the CCC to provide at-risk youth the opportunity to learn carpentry, masonry, dry wall, roofing and other construction-related skills to meet the increasing demand for skilled construction workers.

The bill will expand the demonstrably successful CCC model and help the state train more minority and lower-income Californians for jobs in a career field that pay an average of $59,000 annually. There is a clear need for more housing and the labor to support its construction. Establishing a Construction Corps increases certainty in the construction industry by reducing turnover of skilled employees and increasing diversity among laborers. Establishing the Construction Corps within the CCC enables the program to reach all regions of the state. With over two dozen residential and nonresidential centers located throughout the state, the Construction Corps can partner with local training, pre-apprenticeship programs, community colleges, and builders to provide the relevant training and experience.

1. Current scope of Conservation Corps activities. The CCC, established by Governor Brown during his first term in 1976, is the oldest and largest state conservation corps program in the country. It is modeled after the federal Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930’s. Although the CCC was originally conceived as a labor source for trail maintenance and restoration, it has since evolved into a workforce development program. Corps members now learn a variety of skills, such as forestry management, energy auditing and installation, emergency services management, and firefighting. Many corps members also receive their high school diplomas and industry certifications at the conclusion of their service. More than 120,000 young men and women have participated in the CCC, with approximately 3,000 hired each year across the state.

LCCs are non-profit organizations with similar missions to the CCC that operate at the local level. LCCs are required to obtain certification from the CCC to operate. There are currently 13 LCCs operating across the state involved with similar activities to the CCC. In addition to LCCs, there are also numerous federal Americorps programs operating across the state, many of which are involved with similar activities to the CCC and LCCs.

While similar efforts, like the Energy Corps, already exist in the CCC, the addition of a Construction Corps program may be a significant step away from the central mission of the corps. Currently, there is a high statewide need for forestry management, energy auditing and installation, environmental restoration, emergency services management, firefighting, and other skills that corps members are trained in. There is currently more need for these services than current staffing levels are able to provide. To ensure that efforts to incorporate construction training into the corps do not alter the fundamental mission of the CCC, this bill would benefit from removing language that adds the construction of housing into the CCC mission and adding language that specifies that programs involving construction in the CCC will not divert resources from the mission of the corps as currently defined.

1. Need for housing and construction workers in California. California is in need of more housing for its growing population. A study published by the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation in January, 2018, identified the lack of qualified skilled workers as one of the factors contributing to the housing shortage, with delays in identifying skilled workers leading to delays in construction timelines. A recent report by Valley Vision and the Centers of Excellence at Los Rios Community College District indicates that the Sacramento region alone needs to add more than 7,000 workers annually in construction and related fields in the next four years to meet regional construction goals. The shortage of labor has driven up wages for skilled trades, which make this a potentially attractive career direction for the demographics served by the CCC.
2. Existing programs in construction training. Throughout the state, a number of programs related to construction job training are already established and operational. Thirty-one YouthBuild partnerships operate across the state, from Redding to Chula Vista. YouthBuild partners with charter schools and LCCs to implement these programs, serving participants with similar demographic backgrounds to CCC participants. The state also operates seven Multi-Craft Core Curriculum Programs, which are pre-apprenticeship programs in partnership with the California Labor Federation (CLF) that allow low-income high school students to finish their high school diplomas and receive job training. The California Apprenticeship Program provides the opportunity for participants to receive training under a formal apprenticeship with union craftspeople across the building trades. According to the CLF, there are 53,000 people participating in trade apprenticeships across the state, which far outweighs the roughly 3,000 corps members hired each year. A program focused on construction in the CCC has the potential to help connect corps members to employment in the construction field, but given the shift in scope from the mission of the CCC that the creation of a new program would entail and the substantial existing opportunities that exist for training in the construction trades, this bill would benefit from shifting its focus to instead create a pilot program to explore partnerships and other opportunities for construction training in the CCC before creating a new program within the CCC.
3. Suggested amendments. The author and the committee may wish to consider amendments to: 1) remove language that changes the corps mission; 2) change the scope of the construction program to create pilot program; and, 3) include a statement that funds for construction training activities may not be diverted from CCC activities related to the central mission of the CCC.
4. Related Legislation:

AB 2126 (Eggman, 2018): Establishes forestry corps. Passed Assembly Natural Resources Committee on April 9, 2018 by a vote of 10-0.

AB 1111 (E. Garcia, Chapter 824, Statutes of 2017): Creates a grant program to provide individuals with barriers to employment the services they need to enter, participate in, and complete broader workforce preparation, training, and education programs aligned with regional labor market needs.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Associated Builders and Contractors of Central California

Associated Builders and Contractors of Northern California

Associated Builders and Contractors of San Diego

Associated Builders and Contractors of Southern California

California Building Industry Association

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Dylan Chapple / NAT. RES. /