H.B. No. 3767

AN ACT

relating to measures to support the alignment of education and workforce development in the state with state workforce needs, including the establishment of the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative.

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

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Texas Education and Workforce Alignment Act.

SECTION 2. Subtitle G, Title 10, Government Code, is amended by adding Chapter 2308A to read as follows:

CHAPTER 2308A. TRI-AGENCY WORKFORCE INITIATIVE

Sec. 2308A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Agency," unless the context requires otherwise, means the Texas Education Agency.

(2) "Career education and training program" means:

(A) a career and technology education program offered by a public school;

(B) a career technical or workforce education program, as defined by the coordinating board, offered by an institution of higher education;

(C) a program administered by the commission relating to jobs training, skills development, or adult education and literacy; and

(D) a work-based learning program, such as an apprenticeship or internship program, that receives state funding or is administered by the commission.

(3) "Commission" means the Texas Workforce Commission.

(4) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(5) "Initiative" means the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative.

(6) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.

(7) "State workforce development goals" means the state workforce development goals developed under Section 2308A.006.

Sec. 2308A.002. PURPOSE. The Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative is established to coordinate and improve information and other resources as necessary to:

(1) ensure that the use of state and federal education and workforce funds is efficiently aligned to achieve state workforce development goals;

(2) align career education and training programs to workforce demands; and

(3) enable local and state policy makers to identify the workforce outcomes of participants in career education and training programs and progress toward the state workforce development goals.

Sec. 2308A.003. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AND STAFFING. (a) The agency, coordinating board, and commission shall enter into one or more interagency agreements establishing policies and processes for:

(1) sharing and matching relevant data and cooperatively managing education and workforce information collected by each respective agency; and

(2) coordinating the assignment of existing staff and other resources as necessary to effectuate the state workforce development goals and the strategies for achieving those goals developed under Section 2308A.006.

(b) The time spent by an employee of the agency, coordinating board, or commission in supporting the work of the initiative is not included in calculating the number of full-time equivalent employees allotted to the respective agency under other law.

Sec. 2308A.004. QUARTERLY DISCUSSIONS. The commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission shall discuss the work of the initiative at least once per quarter.

Sec. 2308A.005. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR UNIFIED WORKFORCE DATA REPOSITORY. (a) The coordinating board shall develop a strategic plan for the operation of a unified repository for education and workforce data. In developing the plan, the coordinating board shall solicit input from the agency, the commission, and relevant stakeholders.

(b) The plan developed under Subsection (a) must include recommendations for:

(1) automatically matching records of the agency, coordinating board, and commission at the student level on a timely basis;

(2) creating publicly available tools and resources regarding data on the outcomes of participants in career education and training programs, including graduation rates, student debt, employment status and industry of employment, and earnings over time, disaggregated to the extent practicable by income, race, ethnicity, and gender;

(3) making timely student data available to authorized entities to support higher education and workforce application, entry, and success; and

(4) creating and supporting a secure portal through which authorized personnel of approved entities can view and analyze comprehensive longitudinal and the most currently available matched data related to the progress toward meeting state workforce needs.

Sec. 2308A.006. STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND STRATEGIES. (a) The commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission jointly shall develop and post in a prominent location on the initiative's and each respective agency's Internet website state workforce development goals and coordinated interagency strategies for achieving those goals.

(b) The goals developed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) be developed in consultation with employers;

(2) include goals for the attainment of employment in jobs that pay a self-sufficient wage for all career education and training programs in the state;

(3) be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender for each workforce development region; and

(4) provide for:

(A) locally determined priorities consistent with state goals; and

(B) collaborative planning and coordination with local employers, public schools, institutions of higher education, and local workforce development boards.

(c) The strategies developed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) include strategies for expanding work-based learning;

(2) articulate the ways in which the state can best leverage state and federal funding for career education and training programs; and

(3) be demonstrably guided by:

(A) education and workforce data;

(B) evidence of success and considerations of cost-effectiveness; and

(C) prioritized occupational classifications, including all target occupations and critical career pathways designated under Subsection (e).

(d) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission jointly shall update the state workforce development goals and strategies developed under Subsection (a) at least every four years, or more frequently if needed to reflect available data and circumstances.

(e) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission shall designate and update every two years a list of career pathways that includes the following two priority categories:

(1) target occupations, which include current needs that exist in one or more regions of the state as reflected in regional workforce assessments that:

(A) use the best available data and local employer requests; and

(B) satisfy minimum federal standards for designations, such as a foundation for qualified use of federal workforce funding; and

(2) critical career pathways that reflect the best statewide data and forecasts of skills and careers for which demand in the state is expected to grow that may:

(A) be associated with new emerging industries or new specialty occupations within an industry; or

(B) reflect pathways to better wages for workers with documented skills that provide promotional opportunities within or across occupations with targeted upskill training.

Sec. 2308A.007. CREDENTIAL LIBRARY. (a) The coordinating board and the commission jointly may establish a publicly accessible web-based library of credentials, such as diplomas, certificates, certifications, digital badges, apprenticeships, licenses, or degrees, that are:

(1) delivered, issued, funded, or governed by the state;

(2) aligned with recognized skills and industry standards;

(3) available to residents of the state; and

(4) used by employers in the state.

(b) The coordinating board and the commission jointly may designate a host agency or operating entity for a credential library established under this section.

(c) In establishing a credential library under this section, the coordinating board and the commission shall solicit input from the agency and relevant stakeholders.

Sec. 2308A.008. INTERNET-BASED RESOURCES. (a) Using federal funding or gifts, grants, or donations available for the purpose, the coordinating board may establish Internet-based resources for the initiative. The resources may include:

(1) a central Internet website for the initiative that contains information on the state workforce development goals and the strategies for achieving those goals developed under Section 2308A.006;

(2) a unified dashboard, updated on an annual or more frequent basis, that reports progress toward accomplishment of the state workforce development goals, both statewide and disaggregated by public school and public school campus, institution of higher education campus, workforce region, and county;

(3) data on the outcomes of students who participate in career education and training programs, disaggregated to the extent practicable by income, race, ethnicity, and gender, including data regarding degree and credential completion, employment status and industry of employment, and earnings over time;

(4) guidance supporting the use of data on the dashboard described by Subdivision (2) for greater accessibility for a wide range of public, practitioner, and legislative users;

(5) tools enabling residents of the state to:

(A) explore careers that match the resident's education and skills and lead to a self-sufficient wage;

(B) identify and evaluate education and training opportunities related to the resident's career interests; and

(C) connect to available jobs through existing job matching websites; and

(6) tools to support joint program planning, budgeting, and performance evaluation among:

(A) the agency, coordinating board, and commission; and

(B) public schools, institutions of higher education, local workforce development boards, and partnering entities.

(b) In establishing Internet-based resources for the initiative under Subsection (a), the coordinating board shall solicit input from the agency and the commission.

Sec. 2308A.009. STUDENT SUCCESS REPORTING. (a) Using federal workforce funds to the extent available for the purpose, the agency and the coordinating board shall make available to each public school and institution of higher education information possessed by the agency, coordinating board, or commission regarding the success of students previously enrolled in a career education and training program offered by the school or institution with respect to critical student outcomes, including degree and credential completion, employment status and industry of employment, and earnings over time.

(b) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher education shall ensure that the information made available under Subsection (a) is made available in a manner that complies with applicable state or federal law regarding the privacy and confidentiality of student information.

Sec. 2308A.010. OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT. At least 30 days before finalizing state workforce development goals or strategies for achieving those goals developed under Section 2308A.006, the agency, coordinating board, and commission jointly shall post on the initiative's and each respective agency's Internet website the proposed goals or strategies and instructions for submitting comment on those items to the agencies.

Sec. 2308A.011. TARGETED FUNDING TO ADDRESS STATE GOALS. (a) A state agency that receives funding through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. Section 2301 et seq.) or the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Pub. L. No. 113-128) or any other federal funding for career education and training may, to the extent permissible under federal law, combine with, transfer to, or delegate to another state agency that receives such funding the agency's management of workforce-related funding as necessary to implement the state workforce development goals.

(b) A state agency that receives federal or state funding for career education and training programs shall include in the agency's legislative appropriations request a description of how the agency's career education and training programs and expenditures align with the state workforce development goals.

Sec. 2308A.012. SELF-SUFFICIENT WAGE. The agency, coordinating board, and commission jointly shall determine for each county the wage that constitutes a self-sufficient wage for purposes of this chapter. The determination must be based on a common standard that reflects the regionally adjusted minimum employment earnings necessary to meet a family's basic needs while also maintaining self-sufficiency.

Sec. 2308A.013. GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS. (a) The agency, coordinating board, and commission may accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private source for purposes of the initiative.

(b) The agency, coordinating board, and commission shall investigate potential sources of funding from federal grants or programs that may be used for purposes of the initiative.

SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 204, Labor Code, is amended by adding Section 204.0025 to read as follows:

Sec. 204.0025. ADDITIONAL WORKFORCE DATA REPORTING. It is the intent of the legislature that the commission, subject to the availability of federal funding or other resources for the purpose, work with employers to enhance the reporting of employment and earnings data by employers to the commission as part of an employer's routine wage filings under this subtitle or commission rule and consistent with federal law and regulations. The enhanced wage filings must include information related to occupation and other important employment information that would improve the state's labor market information.

SECTION 4. Not later than October 1, 2021, the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas Workforce Commission shall hold the initial discussion required under Section 2308A.004, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 5. (a) Not later than January 31, 2022, the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas Workforce Commission shall develop the initial state workforce development goals required under Section 2308A.006, Government Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Not later than April 30, 2022, the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas Workforce Commission shall develop the initial strategies required under Section 2308A.006, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 6. Not later than August 1, 2022, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop the strategic plan for the operation of a unified repository for education and workforce data required under Section 2308A.005, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 7. (a) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as applicable, are required to implement Sections 2308A.005 and 2308A.009, Government Code, as added by this Act, only if:

(1) the legislature appropriates funds for that purpose; or

(2) the agencies receive gifts, grants, or donations for that purpose under Section 2308A.013, Government Code, as added by this Act.

(b) If funding described by Subsection (a) of this section is not appropriated or otherwise made available for the purpose described by that subsection, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as applicable, may, but are not required to, implement Sections 2308A.005 and 2308A.009, Government Code, as added by this Act, using other money available to the agencies for that purpose.

SECTION 8. The Texas Workforce Commission is required to implement Section 204.0025, Labor Code, as added by this Act, only if the legislature appropriates money specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the commission may, but is not required to, implement that section using other appropriations available for that purpose.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3767 was passed by the House on May 14, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 115, Nays 26, 2 present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No. 3767 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 98, Nays 49, 1 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3767 was passed by the Senate, with amendments, on May 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________

Date

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Governor