AB 628 — Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy (Date of Hearing: April 27, 2021)
Summary
Analysis of AB 628 (Eduardo Garcia) for the April 27, 2021 hearing of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy, Sabrina Cervantes, Chair. The subject is the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative (BBEI). It states that the bill modifies the BBEI to address issues identified during the initial funding rounds, expands its purpose from assisting individuals to gain employment to include the retention of employment, and requires the executive director of the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) to convene a seven-member advisory group of community organizations. Registered support lists many organizations, including Goodwill of Silicon Valley, the Little Hoover Commission and Worksafe; opposition is None on File.
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“AB 628 — Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy (Date of Hearing: April 27, 2021).”
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AB 628
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2021
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JOBS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND THE ECONOMY
Sabrina Cervantes, Chair
AB 628 (Eduardo Garcia) – As Amended March 24, 2021
SUBJECT: Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative
POLICY FRAME: Responding to the coronavirus pandemic has required the state to take extreme and
rapid steps to protect the health and safety of Californians. Within one week in March 2020, the state
went from open-for-business to the implementing a strict stay-at-home order for everyone not directly
engaged in what government considered an essential and critical business activity. Since March 12, 2020,
26.5 million (most recent data end on February 28, 2021) unemployment insurance claims have been filed
with the state’s Employment Development Department, claims for initial and extended benefits included.
Even before the coronavirus emergency, however, when California enjoyed 120 straight months of
economic growth, there were significant economic forces driving income inequality. Between 1979 and
2017, earnings for the top 0.1% of households increased by 343.2%, as compared to the earnings of the
bottom 90% of households, which experienced an increase of only 22.2%. Given these divergent income
outcomes, it is not a surprise that California ranks within the top tier of states relative to household
poverty.
In the coming weeks, the Legislature and Governor will finalize its discussion on how to construct a
balanced budget while also providing economic stimulus to hard hit industry sectors and reemployment to
over 1.6 million unemployed workers. Targeting training and re-employment strategies to the millions of
low-wage workers is essential to the state’s economic recovery.
The analysis includes information on the impact of COVID-19 on the California economy, growing
income, and background on the California Workforce Development Board. There is no known opposition
to this bill. Suggested amendments are included in Comment 6.
SUMMARY: AB 628 modifies the provisions of the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative (BBEI)
to address issues identified during the initial funding rounds and evolving needs during the COVID-19
pandemic. Specifically, this bill:
1) Removes a segment of the BBEI’s mission relating to the provision of “supplemental funding and
services to ensure the success of individuals either preparing to enter or already enrolled in workforce
and education programs” and, instead, specifies that the initiative should focus on innovative
approaches to addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the labor market.
2) Expands the purpose of the BBEI from assisting individuals to gain employment to also include the
retention of employment. Further, the bill states that the program “should strive to address racial and
ethnic exclusion and inequity in the labor force and enhance racial and economic justice. Projects
should create pipelines to quality jobs, upward mobility, and income security for workers historically
excluded from quality jobs and economic prosperity.”
3) Requires the executive director of the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) to convene
a seven-member advisory group of community organizations with a proven history of leadership and
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partnership serving targeted populations. Advisory group members are to be selected by and serve at
the pleasure of the CWDB executive director, as follows:
a) Two representatives from advocacy organizations.
b) Three representatives from community-based organizations.
c) Two workforce professionals.
4) Requires the CWDB to consider selecting advisory group members experience serving the targeted
populations, as defined, as well as individuals with local experience administering local workforce
programming.
5) Requires the advisory group to do all the following:
a) Establish BBIE grant application criteria and parameters for eligible organizations.
b) Review and make recommendations to the CWDB regarding BBIE grant proposals.
c) Support identification of prospective grantees.
d) Support technical assistance opportunities.
e) Make recommendations to the CWDB to strengthen implementation.
6) Requires the CWDB to consider the recommendations of the advisory group.
7) Expands the requirement that services be delivered principally through a collaborative partnership
between mission-driven and community-based organizations with experience in providing services,
also requires that community-based organizations have relevant relationships to targeted populations.
8) Includes employment social enterprises and worker centers within the illustrative list of community-
based organizations that can successfully support the delivery of services under the BBIE initiative.
9) Requires the advisory board, rather than the CWDB, to develop criteria for the selection of BBIE
grant recipients, and modifies the statutory direction for the content of the criteria, as follows:
a) Expanding the selection criteria that requires outreach and technical assistance be especially
focused on organizations serving rural and small populated areas, to also include small
community-based organizations and organizations without a preexisting relationship to the local
workforce boards.
b) Eliminating the requirement that the criteria include provisions that ensure that a range of targeted
populations and geographic locations receive BBIE grants.
c) Expanding the selection criteria to require that BBIE grant recipients have demonstrated
experience working to ensure populations who have been historically disenfranchised from the
labor market have access to quality jobs in their regions.
10) Modifies the BBIE application requirements from requiring the designation of at least one lead
workforce development board and one community based organization to require the designation of at
least one workforce board or one community based organization.
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11) Expands application documentation to include an agreement by partnering organizations stating that
they have agreed to the BBIE grant activities in the application.
12) Expands the BBEI grant evaluation criteria to include the:
a) Ability for program participants to inform programming on an ongoing basis and evaluate
program performance and success.
b) Ability to acknowledge and address historic racial inequity and socioeconomic barriers to labor
force participation for targeted population groups.
13) Modifies the list of eligible populations who the BBIE grant can serve, as follows:
a) The disconnected youth category is expanded to include youth at-risk of becoming disconnected.
b) The low- and under-skilled low-wage worker category is modified to include all low-wage
workers.
c) Three new categories of eligible populations are added, including:
i) Persons who are at risk of committing violence or are survivors of domestic violence or
community violence.
ii) Population groups with disproportionate numbers of people living in ZIP Codes of
concentrated poverty.
iii) Population groups that are disproportionately impacted by occupational segregation.
14) Expands the list of eligible services to include:
a) Culturally and linguistically relevant academic enrichment and tutoring.
b) Income and language supports for trainees.
c) Entrepreneurial training and support for small business development.
d) Microloans and other related activities to support microlending for small businesses.
e) Wage subsidies or the application of hazard pay or a hero bonus for frontline workers.
f) Know-your-rights training.
g) Mental health services, trauma-informed care, and wraparound support services.
15) Requires the CWDB to receive, for state operations, $2 million or 5% of the total allocation in the
Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative Fund, whichever is greater. This funding is to be
available for the period during which money appropriated to carry out the initiative is available for
encumbrance or expenditure.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes the BBEI, as a grant program administered by the CWDB to provide individuals with
barriers to employment the services they need to enter, participate in, and complete boarder workforce
preparation, training, and education programs that align with regional labor market needs.
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2) Specifies that the BBEI will accomplish its goals by providing supplemental funding and services at
the local and regional level through a collaborative partnership between Community Based
Organizations and local workforce development boards (LWDBs) to support individuals about to
enter or already enrolled in workforce and education programs operating under the policies intended
to achieve the state’s workforce development objectives.
3) Specifies that the purpose of the initiative is to provide individuals with barriers to employment
services they need to enter, participate in, and complete broader workforce preparation, training and
education programs, and, ultimately, to obtain employment. Special emphasis is required to be given
to applications that integrate individuals from target populations into career pathway programs aligned
with regional labor market needs.
4) Specifies that all efforts funded under the initiative are intended to supplement and be aligned with the
broader workforce and education system in the State of California. The initiative is not intended to
duplicate or replicate existing programs or to create new workforce and education programs, but,
rather, to provide supplemental funding and services to ensure the success of individuals either
preparing to enter or already enrolled in workforce and education programs operating under the policy
vision of this division and the state plan under this division.
5) States that implementation of the BBIE Initiative is contingent upon the CWDB notifying the
Department of Finance that sufficient moneys have been appropriated by the Legislature for this
purpose.
6) Requires the CWDB to develop criteria for the selection of BBIE grant recipients that include, but are
not limited to, all of the following:
a) Outreach and technical assistance shall be provided to prospective applicants, especially in rural
and small population areas.
b) BBIE Grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis.
c) The initiative shall include provisions to ensure that a range of targeted populations and
geographic locations receive BBIE grants.
d) Applications shall explain the community-based organization’s capacity to provide services to
relevant target populations and provide evidence of this capacity.
e) Each BBIE grant proposal shall be consistent with the purposes of the initiative.
7) Requires each application, at a minimum, include all of the following:
a) The designation of at least one lead workforce development board and one lead mission-driven,
community-based organization with experience in providing services consistent with the
objectives of this initiative and to the populations specified, which may include, but is not limited
to, faith-based, business-based, labor-based, cultural-based, and services-based organizations.
Documentation shall be included to demonstrate that each lead workforce development board and
lead community-based organization has agreed to be the lead designation in the BBIE grant
proposal.
b) The designation of one or more targeted populations that will be served by the BBIE grant.
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c) The designation of a service area, which may include one or more neighborhoods, local
jurisdictions, regions, or statewide.
d) An explanation of the specific purpose of the BBIE grant funds, the roles and responsibilities of
each of the lead workforce development boards and community-based organizations, and a
discussion of how funds will be used, the number of individuals who will be served, and the
services provided to these individuals.
e) A description of how the BBIE grant proposal is designed to complement the work of individuals,
and integrate these individuals being served with the broader workforce, education, and
employment system within the proposed service area; moreover, there must be evidence that the
proposal incorporates innovative strategies or proven practices for service delivery that will lead to
improved outcomes, sustainability, and systems improvement.
f) A BBIE grant application may be submitted jointly by a lead workforce development board and a
lead community-based organization or jointly by one or more lead workforce development boards
and one or more lead community-based organizations.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS & CONTEXT:
1) Economic Justice and Building an Equitable Economy: Those individuals and communities most
impacted by the coronavirus emergency are California’s most vulnerable and historically
underinvested neighborhoods and groups of individuals.
This is not a new trend. Research clearly shows that the inequality between the residents in low-
income communities and those that reside in California’s most affluent communities has dramatically
increased in the past several decades. For example, the pretax income among the highest 1% of
California taxpayers increased from 9.82% in 1980 to 25.1% of total income in 2013. During the last
seven years, the pace of these disparities has only increased. This rise in economic disparity has
significant social and economic ramifications for everyone in the state.
As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDPC) began reporting that “current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death
among racial and ethnic minority groups.” In identifying factors that may be related to these findings,
the CDCP noted that “[h]ealth differences between racial and ethnic groups are often due to economic
and social conditions that are more common among some racial and ethnic minorities than whites.”
PolicyLink, in its COVID-19 economic recovery strategy, called for “sustained and race-conscious
policies and investments to stabilize people during the crisis and bridge to a more equitable future.”
In taking actions to respond and economically recover from the pandemic, PolicyLink recommended
that policymakers be guided by three principles:
Ensure economic security during the crisis.
Use stimulus funds to build the next economy.
Forge a new social contract that enables shared prosperity.
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PolicyLink is not an outlier in calling for targeted investment is communities of color and focusing on
building a more equitable economy. Addressing the systemic and complex challenges faced by
California’s low-income neighborhoods of color will require deep economic, workforce, and
community development work over a sustained period of time.
Programs like the BBIE Initiative provide targeted training opportunities to those who are historically
overlooked and underserved. In building back better, the state must take a pro-active approach
through trusted partners.
2) The Challenge of Income Inequality during COVID-19: While California’s dominance in
innovation-based industries is unquestionable, the divide between the middle- and lower-income
households and the top income earners is accelerating. Even when California’s unemployment rate
was at historic lows pre-pandemic, unemployment within certain geographic regions and population
groups remained significantly higher, as did the number of people in the state who were not
participating within the core economy. In March 2020, California reported an unemployment rate of
5.1% as compared to the US rate of 4.5%. From the employment side, this represents 18.1 million
people in California, with (according to 12-month moving average) 82.5% being employed in full
time work.
The State of California Economic Development Department, in March 2020 (not seasonally adjusted),
reported three of California’s 58 counties had unemployment below 3.0%, with San Mateo County
reporting the lowest at 2.5%. The highest unemployment was reported in Colusa (21.4%). Year-over
(March 2019- March 2020), three counties experienced an unemployment rate decline, three counties
experienced no change in unemployment rate and 52 experienced unemployment rate increases from
the prior year.
Chart 1 – Selected Data on Unemployment shows unemployment-related information by selected
counties and population groups for a time period that includes COVID-19, March 2020 to March
2021.
Chart 1 - Selected Data on Unemployment (2020-2021)
Unemployment Unemployment Unemployment Unemployment
Rate Rate Rate Rate
March March March March
2020 2021 2020 2021
(Not Seasonally (Not Seasonally (12-month (12-month
Adjusted) Adjusted) moving moving
average) average)
California 5.1% 8.2% California 4.1% 11.1%
Colusa County 21.4% 15.4% Blacks 5.2% 13.9%
Imperial County 20.4% 15.7% Hispanics 4.7% 12.5%
Los Angeles County 5.6% 10.9% Whites 4.0% 10.8%
16 to 19
Riverside County 4.7% 7.7% 15.1% 24.5%
years old
20 to 24
Sacramento County 4.3% 7.4% 7.6% 17.5%
years old
25 to 34
San Bernardino County 4.4% 7.8% 4.1% 11.7%
years old
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San Luis Obispo County 3.5% 5.8% *The Employment Development Department
reports a March 2021 (12-month moving average)
San Mateo County 2.5% 5.0% Labor Participation Rate (LPR) of 60.2% with
12.4 million people in California representing
those who were not participating in the workforce
Tulare County 13.2% 11.6% (the remaining 38.8%). The
LPR for veterans is 42.4% vs nonveterans LPR of
63.3%.
Source: www.edd.ca.gov
In March 2021, California was reported to have a not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.2%
(not seasonally adjusted) as compared to the US rate of 6.2%. From the employment side, this represents
17.3 million people, with (according to 12-month moving average) 83.0% being employed in full time work.
During this same period of time, only three of California’s 58 counties had unemployment below
5.5%, with Marin County reporting the lowest at 4.8%. The highest unemployment was reported in
Imperial (15.7%). Year-over (2020-2021), 46 counties experienced unemployment rate rises, and 11
experienced unemployment rate decreases; moreover, one county had its unemployment rate stay the
same (Lassen County).
Looking more specifically at different population groups, the data ( 12-month moving average) also show
great disparities between the statewide rate of 11.2% and the rates of key subgroups, including
unemployment among Blacks and Hispanics being 13.9% and 12.5% respectively. For the youngest
members of the workforce, obtaining quality jobs remains a significant issue, with unemployment
among 16- to 19-year-olds and 20- to 24-year-olds being well above the state average, ranging from
24.5% to 17.5% respectively. According to the March 2021 figures, 12.4 million people in California
are not participating in the labor force, an increase of 596,000 individuals during a 12-month period.
The disparities shown in these charts are driven by and also influence a range of economic and
societal issues, including, but not limited to, low educational attainment, economic insecurity, poor
health outcomes, lack of a safety net for the elderly and individuals with special needs, negative
engagements with law enforcement, and homelessness.
The California Latino Economic Institute released a new policy brief in December 2020, which
provides further data on the disparate and growing negative impact of COVID-19 on Latinos in
California. Among other findings, the briefing noted the following:
Latinos are overrepresented among California’s COVID-19 cases and deaths—59% of cases and
49% of the state’s deaths.
Latino overrepresentation in California’s cases has increased since April 2020.
Nearly 12% of California Latinos are currently uninsured—double the rate of other groups.
Latino unemployment rates are double those from the same time last year.
Nearly two-thirds of California Latinos report experiencing a loss of employment income since
March 2020.
Over 40% of Latinos currently report that it is somewhat or very difficult to pay their usual
household expenses in the last seven days.
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Over three-quarters of California small business owners report that COVID-19 has had a moderate
to large effect on their businesses.
There are a number of reasons that contribute to the disparate health impacts of COVID-19, including
economic differences. Latinos and Blacks are a significant component of the essential workforce.
While a majority of White workers have jobs that allow them to work from home and decrease
potential COVID-19 contacts, Latinos and Blacks, due to economic circumstances, have jobs in high-
risk environments.
Chart 2 provides information from the California Department of Public Health relating to COVID-19
cases in California by race and ethnicity. Data is current as of April 14, 2021.
Chart 2 - COVID-19 Case Loads and Outcomes by Race and Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity Percent Percent Percent CA
No. Deaths
Cases Deaths population
Latino 55.6% 27,452 46.8% 38.9%
White 20.3% 18,317 31.2% 36.6%
Asian 6.9% 7,092 12.1% 15.4%
African American 4.2% 3,702 6.3% 6.0%
Multi-Race 1.7% 763 1.3% 2.2%
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.3% 215 0.4% 0.5%
Native Hawaiian & other Pacific Islander 0.6% 315 0.5% 0.3%
Other 10.5% 801 1.4% ---
Total with data 100% 58,657 100% 100%
Source: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Race-Ethnicity.aspx accessed April 19, 2021
The chart above, All Cases and Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Race and Ethnicity, represents
data from 3,608,898 total cases with 21% of those cases missing race/ethnicity. There are a total of
59,508 deaths with approximately 1% of those deaths missing race/ethnicity. *2,240 cases with
missing age designations.
3) Creating On-Ramps to Success: The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014
represents the most significant shift in federal workforce policy in several decades. Among other
requirements, the act mandates that the state develop a plan for making workforce investments, set
goals, and report on their progress. Future federal funding will be dependent on the state meeting
established milestones leading to these goals.
California’s Unified Strategic Workforce Development Plan (State Plan) outlines a comprehensive
four-year strategy for investing federal workforce training and employment service dollars in a
manner that aligns and coordinates six core Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funded
programs. The state framework calls for operatizing a high road workforce development agenda that
fosters demand-driven skills attainment and enabling upward mobility for all Californians. The prior
state goal referred to a similar concepts for producing one million “middle-skill” industry valued and
recognized postsecondary credentials. In meeting the high road jobs framework, the State Plan
anticipates creating 500,000 people enrolled in apprenticeship programs by 2029.
While these are certainly laudable goals to guide the state’s workforce investment system, achieving
those goals will be challenging. Key among those challenges is the significant number of workers
who are not currently ready to take on high road and middle-skill training. In 2012, there were 1.9
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million unfilled middle skill jobs. This number is expected to grow as one-third of middle skill
workers retire over the next ten years.
AB 628 modifies an existing program that is designed and proven to address the unique challenges of
low wages workers who face systemic barriers to employment; and, employment is only part of the
initiative’s goals. Grant funding is prioritized to projects that create a career on-ramp for groups that
have been historically disconnected from traditional workforce development and training programs.
4) Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act and California Workforce Board: Enacted in 2014, the
Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA provides states with federal funding for job training
and employment investment activities and programs, including work incentive and employment
training outreach programs. Distribution of the funds is based on a set formula which includes
specified economic and demographic data and flows to the state through three primary programs:
Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker.
California’s workforce development funding from the U.S. Department of Labor has declined over the
years from a high of $630 million in 2000-01 to $411 million in 2012-13. Federal law dictates that
85% of Adult and Youth formula funds, and 60% of Dislocated Worker formula funds, are distributed
to local workforce development boards. Funding for the state’s discretionary activities is derived
from the 15% discretionary funds.
California received approximately $406.6 million for program year 2020-21, with $310 million being
allocated to local workforce development boards to provide services for adults, laid-off workers, and
youth, and $95.5 million remaining at the state-level for program oversight and discretionary
programs. In September 2020, the Employment development Department and CWDB were awarded
$14.5 million from the US Department of Education from CARES Act funds.
California’s WIOA dollars are overseen by the 45-member CWDB, of which 51% of the members
represent the private sector, as required by federal law. The CWDB has 36.5 authorized positions and
is currently led by Executive Director Tim Rainey. In 2008, a Green Collar Jobs Council was
established to address the workforce development needs of the emerging clean and green economy.
There are 45 local workforce development boards that plan for and oversee the workforce system at
the local and regional levels. Local workforce boards are comprised of a range of workforce
stakeholders, a majority of which are required to be representatives from business. Each local
workforce development board has one or more One-Stop Career Centers, called American Job Centers
under WIOA, which provide access to career information, counseling, and funding for education,
training, and supportive services.
5) On-Going and COVID-19 Programs of the CWDB: Among other duties, the CWDB provides
advice to the Governor and Legislature, oversees the state’s implementation of the WIOA, and
generally serves as the state's primary place where labor, business, industry, and education
stakeholders come together. The current Board works closely with Governor’s Office of Business and
Economic Development (GO-Biz) to address economic development challenges and to create career
pathways that provide businesses the skilled workforce they need, as well as putting unemployed and
underemployed Californians back to work. During COVID-19, the Board, which is comprised of 45+
labor and business representatives, is active on a number of initiatives, including:
Ongoing Initiatives:
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o AB 1111 (E. Garcia, Arambula, Baker, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Maienschein, Quirk-Silva,
Reyes, Santiago, and Steinorth with Principal Co-Author Waldron) Breaking Barriers to
Employment Initiative
o English Language Learner's Navigator Initiative
o High Road Construction Careers
o High Road Training Partnerships
o ForwardFocus: AB 2060 (M. Perez): Supervised Population Workforce Training
o Workforce Accelerator Fund
2020 Initiatives:
o Governor’s Executive Order N-79-20, which requires in-state sale of new automobiles be
zero– emission by 2035, and medium and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. The order also directs
the Labor Agency and Office of Planning and Research to develop a Just Transitions Road
Map. EO N-79-20, will build on the AB 398 (E. Garcia) report when developing a Just
Transition policy framework. AB 398 calls for linking major climate policies to support high-
quality jobs with accessible training pathways, especially for disadvantaged Californians
o AB 639 (Cervantes) Port Transition to a Lower Carbon Economy, which creates a stakeholder
process for unions, port authorities, legislators, and the public [in the LA/Long Beach port
complex – the busiest port in the western hemisphere] to develop findings on the effects of
automation and to mitigate the impact on workers. The intent is to find a way to get labor and
management to move together with workers on the issue of automation.
o Workforce Transition Taskforce, which was convened by Labor Secretary Su to provide
coordination and make recommendations- including finding opportunities to align responses to
the emergency with hiring opportunities for laid off workers. The California Workforce
Development Board is a key partner in this work, including on a Hospitality Training
Academy in Los Angeles that converted hotel kitchens and restaurants throughout the state
into community kitchens that could tap into federal dollars to feed people, retain workers, and
keep businesses going.
6) Proposed Amendments: Below is a list of amendments the committee members may wish to review
when considering the bill.
a) Modify the role of the advisory board from establishing the grant application criteria to making
recommendations to the California Workforce Development Board on grant application criteria
and parameters for eligible organizations.
b) Relocate several provisions to other areas of the statute without changing the policy.
c) Limit state administrative costs to 5%.
d) Make other technical and conforming changes.
7) Related Legislation: Below is a list of bills from the current and prior sessions.
a) AB 1058 (Atkins) Second Chance Program: This bill established the Second Chance Program
under the administrative direction of the Department of Corrections for the purpose of investing in
community-based programs, services, and initiatives for formerly incarcerated individuals in need
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of mental health and substance use treatment services. The grant program is funded through the
savings resulting from the implementation of Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Act of 2014, and other specified sources. The bill also extended the sunset on the Social
Innovation Financing Program until 2022. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 748, Statutes
of 2015.
b) AB 1093 (E. Garcia) Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant Program: This bill
expedited the allocation of funding under the existing Supervised Population Workforce Training
Grant Program, which is administered through the California Workforce Development Board.
Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 220, Statutes of 2015. In addition, $1.5 million was
authorized in the 2015-16 Budget for additional funding rounds.
c) AB 1111 (Garcia, Arambula, Eggman, Maienschein, Quirk-Silva, Santiago, and Steinorth)
Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative: This bill established the Breaking Barriers to
Employment Initiative for the purpose of assisting individuals who have multiple barriers to
employment to receive the remedial education and work readiness skills that will help them to
successfully participate in training, apprenticeship, or employment opportunities that will lead to
self-sufficiency and economic stability. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 825, Statutes of
2017.
d) AB 1270 (E. Garcia) California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: This bill aligned
California statute with the new requirements of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act of 2014. The bill sets the foundation for policy changes in 2016 through SB 45 (Mendoza).
Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 94, Statutes of 2015.
e) AB 2061 (Waldron) Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant Program: This bill made
program enhancements to the Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant Program,
including the addition of program priorities for applications that document employer participation,
as specified. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 100, Statutes of 2016.
f) AB 2642 (E. Garcia, Eggman, C. Garcia, Gomez, and Maienschein) Removing Barriers to
Employment Act: This bill would have established a competitive grant program to provide
training funds to assist individuals who face multiple barriers to employment prepare for middle-
skill training, apprenticeship, or employment opportunities that lead to self-sufficiency and
economic stability. Status: Held on the Suspense File of the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, 2016.
8) Double Referral: The Assembly Committee on Rules has referred this measure to the Assembly
Committee on Labor and Employment and the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic
Development, and the Economy. This measure passed the Assembly Committee on Labor and
Employment on a 7 to 0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
American Association of University Women - California
Bay Area Council
California Edge Coalition
California Immigrant Policy Center
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California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Workforce Association
Canal Alliance
Center for Employment Opportunities
Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
Consumer Attorneys of California
Council of California Goodwill Industries
Crop Organization
Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network (CRDVN)
Dowden and Associates; HR
Education and Leadership Foundation
Entrenous Youth Employment Services, INC.
Fresno Barrios Unidos
Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce
Goodwill of Silicon Valley
Immigrants Rising
Imperial County Wdb
Instituto De Educacion Popular Del Sur De California (IDEPSCA)
Little Hoover Commission
Monument Impact
North Bay Leadership Council
Opportunity Junction
Policylink
Pomona Economic Opportunity Center
Redf
Roadmap to Peace Initiative
Rubicon Programs
San Diego Workforce Partnership, INC.
Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos
Somali Family Service of San Diego
Sonoma County Black Coalition
Strengthunited
Tipping Point Community
Unite-la, INC.
Upwardly Global
Worksafe
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by: Toni Symonds / J., E.D., & E. / (916) 319-2090
File and source
- File
- 2021-04-27_ab-628-jede-analysis.pdf
- Size
- 329,491 bytes
- SHA-256
- 072ded5fe022d4f4320356dd2966232fd9c4d9813b9b8a433e94c993903d1aff
- Original
- No public link identified.