H. B. 4411
(By Delegates Mezzatesta, Cann, Frederick,
Stalnaker and Walters)
[Introduced
February 11, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small
Business then Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5B-2B-2 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, all relating to the West Virginia workforce
investment act; updating terms; outlining duties; and creating
the workforce investment interagency collaborative team.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5B-2B-2 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. WEST VIRGINIA WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT.
§5B-2B-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Commission" or "legislative oversight commission" means
the legislative oversight commission on workforce investment for
economic development created pursuant to section seven of this
article.
(2) "Council" means the West Virginia workforce investment council.
(3) "Team" means the workforce investment interagency
collaborative team.
§5B-2B-4. Duties of the workforce investment council.
(a) The council shall assist the governor in the:
(1) Development and revision of a strategic five-year state
workforce investment plan, including the establishment of an
overall workforce investment public agenda with goals and
benchmarks of success for the state, state agencies and for local
workforce investment boards;
(2) Development and continuous improvement of a statewide
system of workforce investment activities including:
(A) Development of linkages in order to assure coordination
and nonduplication of services and activities of workforce
investment programs conducted by various entities in the state; and
(B) The review of strategic plans created and submitted by
local workforce investment boards;
(3) Commenting at least annually on the measures taken by the
state pursuant to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §2323;
(4) Designation and revision of local workforce investment
areas;
(5) Development and revision of allocation formulas for the
distribution of funds for adult employment and training activities
and youth activities to local areas;
(6) Development and continuous improvement of comprehensive
state performance measures, including state adjusted levels of
performance, to assess the effectiveness of the workforce
investment activities in the state;
(7) Preparation of the annual report to the secretary of labor
as required by the Workforce Investment Act, 29 U.S.C. §2871;
(8) Development and continued improvement of a statewide
employment statistics system; and
(9) Development and revision of an application for workforce
investment incentive grants.
(b) The council shall make a report to the legislative
oversight commission on or before the first fifteenth day of
September January of each year detailing: (1) All the publicly
funded workforce investment programs operating in the state,
including the amount of federal and state funds expended by each
program, how the funds are spent and the resulting improvement to
the workforce; (2) it's the council's recommendations concerning
future use of funds for workforce investment programs; (3) it's the
council's
analysis of operations of local workforce investment
programs; and (4) the council's recommendations for the
establishment of an overall workforce investment public agenda with
goals and benchmarks of success
for the state, state agencies and
for local workforce investment boards
; and (5) any other
information the commission may require.
§5B-2B-5. State agencies.
On or before the first day of August November any state
agency that receives federal or state funding that may be has been
used for workforce investment activities for the past fiscal year
shall provide to the council a report, detailing the source and
amount of federal, state or other funds received; the purposes for
which the funds were provided; the services provided in each
regional workforce investment area; the measures used to evaluate
program performance, including current and baseline performance
data; and any other information requested by the council. All
reports submitted pursuant to this section are to be in a form
approved by the council.
§5B-2B-9. Coordination between agencies providing workforce
investment programs, local workforce investment boards and the
executive director of the West Virginia development office.
(a) To provide on-going attention to addressing issues that
will build and continually improve the overall workforce investment
system, the workforce investment interagency collaborative team is
hereby created. The team shall be the single state interagency
source for addressing issues or concerns related to building and
maintaining the most effective and efficient implementation of the
federal workforce investment act and the overall workforce
development system in West Virginia. The team shall focus on how
best to collaborate between and among the state agencies directly
involved in workforce investment activities and shall develop a
strategic plan to that end. The team shall serve as a forum for the council to seek information or recommendations in furtherance
of its responsibilities under this article. The West Virginia
development office is the entity which shall convene the team at
least monthly and shall provide administrative and other services
to the team as the team requires.
(b) The team shall consist of members from each agency subject
to the reporting provisions of section five of this article. Each
agency shall appoint two representatives to the team consisting of
the chief official of the department or division and the official
within that department or division who is directly responsible for
overseeing the workforce investment program or activities at the
state level. A designee may be selected to represent a member
appointed to the team: Provided, That the designee has policy-
making decision authority regarding workforce investment activities
including program and fiscal issues. The team members have
authority to make decisions on behalf of the agency at the level
required for the team to address issues and advance system
improvements.
(c) Beginning the first day of January, two thousand three, in
order to lawfully continue any workforce investment activities, any
agency subject to the reporting provisions of section five of this
article shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the
executive director of the West Virginia development office and any
local workforce investment board representing an area of this state
in which the agency is engaged in workforce investment activities. To the extent permitted by federal law, the agreements are to
maximize coordination of workforce investment activities and
eliminate duplication of services on both state and local levels.
(b) (d) No memorandum of understanding may be effective for
more than one year without annual reaffirmation by the parties.
(c) (e) Any state agency entering a memorandum of
understanding shall deliver a copy thereof to both the West
Virginia workforce investment council and the legislative oversight
commission.
The Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small
Business moves to amend the bill on page five, section nine, after line twenty-
two, by inserting a new subsection (c), as follows:
"(c) The team shall coordinate the development of a self-sufficiency
standard study for the State of West Virginia. The self-sufficiency standard is
to measure how much income is needed for a household of a given composition in
a given place to adequately meet its basic needs without public or private
assistance. Beginning on the first day of November, two thousand four, and every
two years thereafter, this study is to be reported to the speaker of the House
of Delegates, the president of the Senate, the workforce investment council and
the legislative oversight commission on workforce investment for economic
development" followed by a period.
And,
Relettering the remaining subsections.
And,
On page one by inserting a new enacting section to read as follows:
"That §5B-2B-2, §5B-2B-4, §5B-2B-5 and §5B-2B-9 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:"
And,
Amending the title of the bill to read as follows:
H. B. 4411 -- "A BILL to amend and reenact §5B-2B-2, §5B-2B-4, §5B-2B-5 and
§5B-2B-9 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the West
Virginia work force investment act; defining terms; requiring a public agenda in
the strategic five-year state workforce investment plan; changing dates for
certain required reporting; and creating the workforce investment interagency
collaborative team."