MINUTES
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS & COMMERCE
Subcommittee on Workforce Development
Thursday, June 6, 2002
10:00 a.m.
Capitol Extension, Room E1.016
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Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.18, a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Business &
Commerce, Subcommittee on Workforce Development, was held on
Thursday, June 6, 2002, in the Capitol Extension, Room E1.016,
at Austin, Texas.
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MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Troy Fraser, Chairman Senator Eliot Shapleigh
Senator John Carona Senator Leticia Van de
Putte
Senator Mike Jackson
Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr.
*****
Chairman Fraser called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. There
being a quorum present, the following business was transacted.
The Chairman thanked all present for attending the first hearing
of the Subcommittee on Interim Charge #3. He stated that the
Subcommittee was charged with assessing state workforce
development and job training programs in Texas, as well as
determining the need for a statewide strategic plan for
workforce programs and recommending measures necessary to
improve such programs. Chairman Fraser mentioned, as a
reminder, that one of the State's economic development tools,
the Smart Jobs program, was dissolved in Sunset legislation last
session. Through this Subcommittee, the Chairman would like to
assess the impact to the State of Texas of the loss of that
program and to assess the need for the creation of a new program
and/or an expansion of current programs.
At this hearing, the Subcommittee would hear invited testimony
from state agencies involved with job training and workforce
development, as well as from the premier economist in this
field, Dr. Ray Perryman. The point of this hearing would be to
gauge what incentive-based programs are available now, and what
holes, if any, exist in that economic development arsenal.
Public testimony will be taken at a later hearing. Chairman
Fraser then called Dr. Ray Perryman, President of The Perryman
Group, to discuss the economic effects of job training programs.
Following Dr. Perryman's testimony and response to members'
questions, the Chairman called Cheryl Fuller, Executive Director
of the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness
(TCWEC), to present an overview of the Smart Jobs Study
performed by TCWEC, and other states' initiatives regarding
incentive-based workforce training programs.
Upon completion of Ms. Fuller's testimony, Chairman Fraser
called Panel 1 to discuss the future of Texas Economic
Development (TXED), the close-out of the Smart Jobs program, and
the future of economic development in Texas. The panelists
were:
Massey Villarreal, Chairman, Governing Board, Texas
Economic Development,
Jeff Moseley, Executive Director, Texas Economic
Development, and
Daniel Martin, Director Business Incentives, Texas Economic
Development.
The Chairman then called Panel 2 to present an overview of the
Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, the Skills Development Fund,
and the Apprenticeship program. These panelists were:
Diane Rath, Chair Representing Public, Texas Workforce
Commission (TWC),
Ron Lehman, Commissioner Representing Employers, TWC, and
Terrence P. O'Mahoney, Commissioner Representing Labor,
TWC.
There being no further business, at 1:07 p.m. Chairman Fraser
moved that the Subcommittee stand recessed subject to the call
of the chairman. Without objection, it was so ordered.
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Senator Troy Fraser, Chairman
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Barbara Henderson, Clerk