Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                       Committee Bill No. 3
      February Session, 2020                LCO No. 3000
     Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
     Introduced by:
       (CE)
 AN ACT CONCERNING 21ST CENTURY JOBS.
   Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
       Section 1. Section 4-124w of the general statutes is repealed and the
    following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
      (a) There shall be [within the Labor Department] an Office of
   Workforce Competitiveness, which shall be within the Department of
   Economic and Community Development for administrative purposes
   only. The Office of Workforce Competitiveness shall constitute a
   successor to the Labor Department for purposes of this section and
   sections 4-124z, as amended by this act, 4-124ff, 4-124gg, as amended by
   this act, 4-124hh, 4-124tt, as amended by this act, 4-124vv, as amended
   by this act, 10-95h, 10a-11b, 10a-19d, as amended by this act, 31-3h to 31-
   3q, inclusive, as amended by this act, and 31-3yy, as amended by this
   act, in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-38d and 4-38e.
      (b) The Office of Workforce Competitiveness shall be under the
   direction of an executive director, who shall be appointed by the
   Governor, in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-5 to 4-8,
   inclusive, as amended by this act. The [Labor Commissioner shall, with
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 the assistance] executive director of the Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness shall:
   (1) Be the Governor's principal workforce development policy
 advisor;
   (2) Formulate state workforce development strategy and establish
 data-driven goals;
   [(2)] (3) Be the liaison between the Governor, the Governor's
 Workforce Council and any local, state or federal organizations and
 entities with respect to workforce development matters, including
 implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of
 2014, P.L. 113-128, as amended from time to time; [amended;]
   [(3)] (4) Coordinate and align the workforce development activities
 of all state agencies, educators and trainers, regional workforce
 development boards, collective bargaining units and others;
    (5) Create and oversee data-driven performance management
 systems that allow for the measurement and evaluation of outcomes
 across education and workforce development programs;
   [(4)] (6) Coordinate the state's implementation of the federal
 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as
 amended from time to time, [amended,] and advise and assist the
 Governor with matters related to said act;
    [(5)] (7) Establish methods and procedures to ensure the maximum
 involvement of members of the public, the legislature and local officials
 in workforce development matters, including implementation of the
 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as
 amended from time to time; [amended;]
    [(6)] (8) Enter into such contractual agreements, in accordance with
 established procedures, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions
 of this section;
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   (9) Administer the coordination of all employment and training
 programs in the state and implement the plan of the Governor's
 Workforce Council, as approved by the Governor;
    (10) Develop and maintain a comprehensive inventory of all
 employment and training programs in the state, including a listing of all
 funding sources for each program, the characteristics of the persons
 served, a description of each program and its results and the
 identification of areas of program overlap and duplication;
    (11) Market and communicate the state's workforce development
 strategy to ensure maximum engagement with students, jobseekers and
 businesses while effectively elevating the state's workforce profile at the
 national level;
    (12) Coordinate state workforce development expenditures across
 agencies and regional workforce development boards consistent with
 established strategies;
    (13) Coordinate with the Department of Education, Department of
 Economic and Community Development, constituent units and Office
 of Higher Education, to align curricula, programs, degrees and
 credentials of elementary, secondary and post-secondary education
 with the needs of businesses and the state's economy;
    [(7)] (14) Take any other action necessary to carry out the provisions
 of this section; and
    [(8)] (15) Not later than October 1, [2012] 2020, and annually
 thereafter, submit a report, with the assistance of the Labor Department,
 to the Governor and the joint standing committees of the General
 Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education,
 [economic development] commerce, labor and higher education and
 employment advancement specifying a forecasted assessment by the
 Labor Department of workforce shortages in occupations in this state
 for the succeeding two and five-year periods. The report shall also
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 include recommendations concerning (A) methods to generate a
 sufficient number of workers to meet identified workforce needs,
 including, but not limited to, scholarship, school-to-career and
 internship programs, and (B) methods secondary and higher education
 and private industry can use to address identified workforce needs.
    (c) The [Labor Department] Office of Workforce Competitiveness
 shall be the lead state agency for the development of employment and
 training strategies and initiatives required to support the state's position
 in the knowledge economy. The [Labor Commissioner] executive
 director of the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, with the assistance
 of the [Office of Workforce Competitiveness] Labor Department, may
 call upon any office, department, board, commission or other agency of
 the state to supply such reports, information and assistance as may be
 necessary or appropriate in order to carry out its duties and
 requirements. Each officer or employee of such office, department,
 board, commission or other agency of the state is authorized and
 directed to cooperate with the [Labor Commissioner] executive director
 and to furnish such reports, information and assistance.
   (d) The executive director shall provide staff to the Governor's
 Workforce Council and such other resources as the executive director
 can make available.
    (e) Any order or regulation of the Labor Department affecting the
 powers or duties and obligations set forth in this section and sections 4-
 124z, as amended by this act, 4-124ff, 4-124gg, as amended by this act,
 4-124hh, 4-124tt, as amended by this act, 4-124vv, as amended by this
 act, and 31-3n, as amended by this act, which is in force on July 1, 2020,
 shall continue in force and effect as an order or regulation of the Office
 of Workforce Competitiveness until amended, repealed or superseded
 pursuant to law. Where any orders or regulations of said department
 and said office conflict, the executive director of the Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness may implement policies and procedures consistent
 with the provisions of this section and sections 4-124z, as amended by
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 this act, 4-124ff, 4-124gg, as amended by this act, 4-124hh, 4-124tt, as
 amended by this act, 4-124vv, as amended by this act, 10-95h, 10a-11b,
 10a-19d, as amended by this act, 31-3h, as amended by this act, and 31-
 3k, as amended by this act, while in the process of adopting the policy
 or procedure in regulation form, provided the notice of intention to
 adopt regulations is posted on the eRegulations system not later than
 twenty days after implementation. The policy or procedure shall be
 valid until the time final regulations are effective.
    Sec. 2. Section 4-124z of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    (a) The executive director of the Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness, working with the Labor Commissioner, the
 [Commissioner] Commissioners of Economic and Community
 Development, [working with the Office of Workforce Competitiveness,
 the Commissioners of] Education and Social Services, the Secretary of
 the Office of Policy and Management and the president of the
 Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, in consultation with the
 superintendent of the Technical Education and Career System and one
 member of industry representing each of the economic clusters
 identified by the Commissioner of Economic and Community
 Development pursuant to section 32-1m, shall (1) review, evaluate and,
 as necessary, recommend improvements for certification and degree
 programs offered by the Technical Education and Career System and
 the community-technical college system to ensure that such programs
 meet the employment needs of business and industry, and (2) develop
 strategies to strengthen the linkage between skill standards for
 education and training and the employment needs of business and
 industry.
   (b) Not later than January 1, 2002, and annually thereafter, the
 Commissioner of Education shall report, in accordance with the
 provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the
 General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education,
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 commerce, labor and higher education and employment advancement
 on (1) the implementation of any recommended programs or strategies
 within the Technical Education and Career System or the community-
 technical college system to strengthen the linkage between technical
 education and career school and community-technical college
 certification and degree programs and the employment needs of
 business and industry, and (2) any certification or degree programs
 offered by technical education and career schools or community-
 technical colleges that do not meet current industry standards.
    Sec. 3. Section 4-124gg of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    [Not later than October 1, 2012, the Labor Commissioner] The
 executive director of the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, with the
 assistance of the [Office of Workforce Competitiveness] Labor
 Commissioner and in consultation with the superintendent of the
 Technical Education and Career System, shall create an integrated
 system of state-wide industry advisory committees for each career
 cluster offered as part of the Technical Education and Career System and
 regional community-technical college system. Said committees shall
 include industry representatives of the specific career cluster. Each
 committee for a career cluster shall, with support from the Labor
 Department, Technical Education and Career System, regional
 community-technical college system and the Department of Education,
 establish specific skills standards, corresponding curriculum and a
 career ladder for the cluster which shall be implemented as part of the
 schools' core curriculum.
    Sec. 4. Section 4-124tt of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    Within available appropriations, the Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness [, within the Labor Department,] may establish a pilot
 program to provide any eligible individual with a minor dependent
 access to training in order to obtain skills and credentials necessary to
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 obtain and maintain employment. Such skills and credentials may
 include, but need not be limited to (1) a high school diploma or its
 equivalent; (2) an alternative degree; (3) English as a second language
 training; and (4) vocational training. For purposes of this section, an
 eligible individual is an individual who would qualify for benefits
 under the temporary assistance for needy families program pursuant to
 Title IV-A of the Social Security Act.
    Sec. 5. Section 4-124vv of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
   The Labor Department, working with [its] the Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness, shall, within available appropriations, fund
 Connecticut Career Choices.
    Sec. 6. Section 10a-19d of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    (a) The president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities
 shall, within available appropriations, expand the capacity of programs
 for training early childhood education teachers through the
 development of accelerated, alternate route programs to initial teacher
 certification with an endorsement in early childhood education.
    (b) The president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities,
 in consultation with the [Labor Department's] Office of Workforce
 Competitiveness, the Department of Education, the Department of
 Social Services, Charter Oak State College, early childhood education
 faculty at two and four-year public and independent institutions of
 higher education, early childhood education professional associations,
 early childhood education advocates and practitioners, and persons
 knowledgeable in the area of career development and programs in early
 childhood care and education, shall define the preservice and minimum
 training requirements and competencies for persons involved in early
 childhood education, from birth to five years of age, including
 requirements for individual levels of early childhood credentialing and
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 licensing.
    Sec. 7. Section 31-2 of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    (a) The Labor Commissioner shall collect information upon the
 subject of labor, its relation to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of
 laboring men and women and the means of promoting their material,
 social, intellectual and moral prosperity, and [shall have power to] may
 summon and examine under oath such witnesses, and may direct the
 production of, and examine or cause to be produced and examined, such
 books, records, vouchers, memoranda, documents, letters, contracts or
 other papers in relation thereto as he deems necessary, and shall have
 the same powers in relation thereto as are vested in magistrates in taking
 depositions, but for this purpose persons shall not be required to leave
 the vicinity of their residences or places of business. Said commissioner
 shall collect and collate population and employment data to project who
 is working, who is not working and who will be entering the job market
 and shall provide an analysis of data concerning present job
 requirements and potential needs of new industry. The commissioner
 shall include in his annual report to the Governor, as provided in section
 4-60, all the aforesaid statistical details.
    [(b) The commissioner shall administer the coordination of all
 employment and training programs in the state and shall implement the
 plan of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission as
 approved by the Governor. The commissioner shall develop and
 maintain a comprehensive inventory of all employment and training
 programs in the state, including a listing of all funding sources for each
 program, the characteristics of the persons served, a description of each
 program and its results and the identification of areas of program
 overlap and duplication.]
   [(c) The commissioner shall provide staff to the Connecticut
 Employment and Training Commission and such other resources as the
 commissioner can make available.]
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    [(d)] (b) The commissioner may request the Attorney General to bring
 an action in Superior Court for injunctive relief requiring compliance
 with any statute, regulation, order or permit administered, adopted or
 issued by the commissioner.
    [(e)] (c) The commissioner shall assist state agencies, boards and
 commissions that issue occupational certificates or licenses in (1)
 determining w