By: Anchia H.B. No. 3856

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to building workforce skills to compete for trade-related jobs, business opportunities and investment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 61.022, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec.61.022(a). The board shall consist of nine members appointed by the governor so as to provide representation from all areas of the state with the advice and consent of the senate, and as the constitution provides. Members of the board serve staggered six-year terms. The terms of one-third of the members expire August 31 of each odd-numbered year.

(b) A board member may not be employed professionally for remuneration in the field of education during the member's term of office.

(c) One board member shall have over ten years of experience in a multinational corporation, export business, international investment business, or senior management position an international transportation, logistics, export or trade industry, or have occupied an executive role in a trade related government agency of the federal government or the state.

SECTION 2. Section 301.001, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 301.001. PURPOSE; AGENCY GOALS; DEFINITIONS. (a) The Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency established to operate an integrated workforce development system in this state, in particular through the consolidation of job training, employment, and employment-related educational programs available in this state, and to administer the unemployment compensation insurance program in this state.

(b) The commission shall meet the needs of:

(1) the businesses of this state for the development of a highly skilled and productive workforce;

(2) the workers of this state for education, skills training, and labor market information to enhance their employability, earnings, and standard of living and for an efficient unemployment compensation system;

(3) the people of this state who are making a transition into the workforce, particularly persons receiving public assistance, displaced homemakers, and students making the transition from school to work;

(4) the communities of this state to provide economic incentive programs for job creation, attraction, and expansion; and

(5) the taxpayers of this state to ensure that tax revenues for workforce development are spent efficiently and effectively.

(c) Current funding allocations to commission programs shall be subject to annual review to ensure they are responsive to the workforce demands of the marketplace, including emerging markets for value-added services and products, particularly those trades and professions related to international exports, foreign direct investment, trade-related transportation and logistics, and allied professions.

SECTION 3. Section 301.002, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 301.002(a). The commission is composed of three members:

(1) one member who is a representative of labor;

(2) one member who is a representative of employers; and

(3) one member who is a representative of the public.

(b) The governor shall appoint the members and make the appointments without regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or national origin of the appointees.

(c) The member who is a representative of employers shall have over ten years of experience in a multinational corporation, export business, international investment business, or senior management position an international transportation, logistics, export or trade industry, or have occupied an executive role in a trade related government agency of the federal government or the state.

SECTION 4._Section 301.041, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 301.041. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; AGENCY PERSONNEL. (a) The commission shall appoint an executive director to administer the daily operations of the commission in compliance with federal law.

(b) A reference in this code or another law to the "agency administrator" of the commission means the executive director.

(c) The executive director may:

(1) appoint and prescribe the powers and duties of all commission staff, including officers, accountants, attorneys, experts, and other persons as necessary in the performance of the commission's duties;

(2) delegate authority to a person appointed under this section as the executive director considers reasonable and proper for the effective administration of this title;

(3) employ and terminate the employment of commission staff members; and

(4) bond any person that handles money or signs checks under this title.

(d) The executive director or a person designated by the executive director shall develop a system of annual performance evaluations based on measurable job tasks. All merit pay for commission employees must be based on the system established under this subsection.

(e) The member who is a representative of employers shall have over ten years of experience in a multinational corporation, export business, international investment business, or senior management position an international transportation, logistics, export or trade industry, or have occupied an executive role in a trade related government agency of the federal government or the state.

SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is amended by adding section 302.018 to read as follows:

Section 302.018. TEXAS GLOBAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE. (a) In this section, "task force" means the Texas Global Workforce Development Task Force.

(b) An interagency task force is created to:

(1) develop or update a process to allow agencies to work together to identify the key emerging global markets for Texas manufactured goods, intellectual property, artisanal and craft industries, and other Texas products, and for potential new foreign direct investment in Texas educational, research and development, high-technology, energy and environmental, biopharmaceutical, logistics and transportation, tourism and recreational, and Texas' other priority industry sectors; and formulate a strategy to be entitled the "Texas Global Workforce Strategy;"

(2) consult with local governments, educational institutions, economic development and metropolitan planning organizations, workforce development agencies, small business agencies, chambers of commerce, trade associations, and other stakeholders, to elicit recommendations on a statewide strategy for training a new generation of Texas workers and small business owners to compete for jobs in Texas' export-related industries; and

(3) develop regulatory and legislative recommendations to eliminate duplication and combine program services.

(c) The task force is composed of the heads of the following agencies or their designees, and other state and local entities to be designated as necessary or appropriate:

(1) the Texas Department of Rural Affairs;

(2) the Texas Department of Transportation;

(3) the Texas Workforce Commission;

(4) the General Land Office;

(5) the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office;

(6) the Office of State-Federal Relations;

(7) the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board;

(8) the secretary of state's office; and

(9) the Railroad Commission of Texas.

(d) The task force shall meet at least once quarterly in Austin to report on results of their studies, to invite successful international businesses to share insight into their workforce development needs, to conduct public consultations on key workforce development challenges and opportunities, and to showcase best practices and case studies from other states, provinces and nations.

(e) The task force will also invite experts from government and academia to report on illicit forms of trade-related employment, including human trafficking and narcotics trade.

(f) No later than December 31, 2014, the Task Force shall publish its findings and strategic recommendations, including selected case studies from other nations, and a strategic plan to boost jobs related to exports and foreign direct investment by 20% by the year 2025; and

(g) In fulfilling its duties, the task force shall consider opportunities to collaborate with the federal government, including trade promotion and finance programs of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal government departments, and the effect of federal policies, including trade agreements, upon Texas' business opportunities in the global marketplace.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.