BILL NUMBER: S563
SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the economic development law and the New York state
urban development corporation act, in relation to enacting the good jobs
guarantee act
 
PURPOSE:
To establish the Good Jobs Guarantee program to train low-income partic-
ipants and secure them higher paying jobs, all at no upfront cost to the
participants.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends the economic development law by adding a
new article 28, the Good Jobs Guarantee Act.
§ 500 provides the short title of the act
§ 501 provides the legislative findings
§ 502 establishes the Good Jobs Guarantee program
§ 503 defines the following terms:
'Approved provider" as an entity approved by the Commissioner of Empire
State Development (ESD) to provide workforce training to eligible
participants under the good jobs guarantee program to ensure partic-
ipants secure post-training employment with annual salaries exceeding
$50,000
*"Eligible participant" as an individual who applies for workforce
training offered by approved providers. Participants are eligible if
they earn less than $45,000 and either receive government benefits or
possess no college degree.
"Program administrator" as an individual or entity that is selected by
ESD through a competitive process and is tasked with overseeing the
program and guarantor fund.
§ 504 relates to the program's administration. It authorizes the program
Administrator to invest funds in approved providers through the deploy-
ment of capital raisedln -priVite markets, subject to ESD rulemaking and
oversight. With respect to the approved provider, this section states
that the approved provider shall secure post-training employment for
participants who complete the workforce training program. This section
also requires contracts between approved providers and eligible partic-
ipants stipulating that participants shall not be required to pay
tuition or other upfront payments in exchange for training. Instead,
participants shall only incur payment obligations after completing their
training program and obtaining post-training employment with an annual
income in excess of $50,000.
Section two of the bill amends the urban development corporation act by
adding a new § 60. This section would create a state guarantor fund
totaling $100 million, which would act as a credit enhancement to
attract private investment for social impact funds managed by the
program administrator. The administrator would be tasked with raising
such investments and deploying them to approved providers to support
workforce training under the good jobs guarantee program while also
managing investment returns. The guarantor fund would also provide a
minimum loss reserve to assist approved providers facing hardship. Any
disbursements from the guarantor fund are made by the program adminis-
trator, but only with the approval of the Empire State Development
corporation.
Section three of the bill relates to the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
For many New Yorkers, there are few pathways to good jobs, and economic
mobility is no longer attainable. Traditional paths are failing, and the
system is broken. Over 76% of Americans, which equates to over 218
million adults, do not have college degrees even though most high-paying
jobs require one. At the same time, the United States is burdened by a
$1.7 trillion student loan crisis because college financing has decou-
pled from outcomes. The system is especially stacked against low-income
individuals and people of color. In New York State, this problem
persists: 60% of adults lack a 4-year degree and degree holders owe $90
billion in loans. College is not the only path to a good job - alterna-
tives for workforce training exist. While these models have high poten-
tial, limited funding and frameworks prevent them from confronting this
challenge and new models are needed to address the scale.
Accordingly, the Good Jobs Guarantee Act would establish a program with-
in the Empire State Development Corporation to facilitate the implemen-
tation of workforce training for low-income New Yorkers through a publ-
ic-private partnership capped equity financing framework. Core to the
Good Jobs Guarantee program is ensuring that low-income New Yorkers
seeking economic opportunity are significantly better off upon complet-
ing workforce training than they were before.
Individuals who participate in training programs under the Good Jobs
Guarantee will not be charged any tuition or upfront costs; they will
only incur payment obligations if the program actually succeeds in
securing them employment at high, family-sustaining wages. The bill also
contains several protections to ensure that participants can receive
workforce training for good paying jobs without being saddled by unduly
burdensome debt. If at any time after their training a participant is
unable to maintain a good job for any reason, the participant's payment
obligations will cease. This program shifts the burden away from the job
seeker and onto approved workforce training providers to achieve
success. By bringing this outcome-based financing model to scale, this
bill aims to revolutionize workforce training in New York and guarantee
good jobs to low-income New Yorkers.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S9376 (Gianaris) died in Commerce / A10225 (Rozic) died in econom-
ic development
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.