BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2058

By: Gamez

International Relations & Economic Development

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In the last several years, the Rio Grande Valley has attracted many businesses. However, these companies have turned to outsourcing laborers due to the lack of trained individuals in the region. While Cameron County has grown and is continuing to grow, there is a skilled labor gap in the local job market that could be closed with more attention. There are calls to give the Cameron County Workforce Development Board authority to establish a skilled labor task force to address the gap. C.S.H.B. 2058 requires the board to establish a 17-member skilled labor task force with a goal of connecting local business leaders, local government officials, education providers, and members of the public to study and develop recommendations for the legislature and the board regarding strategies for improving the delivery of workforce education and workforce training and services in the board's local workforce development area.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2058 amends the Government Code to require a local workforce development board established in a county with a population of 400,000 or more that borders the Gulf of Mexico to establish a skilled labor task force consisting of 17 members from the board's local workforce development area. The bill sets out the composition of the task force appointed by the board as follows:

· three members who are local government officials;

· three members representing public postsecondary education and vocational education;

· one member representing a public school district;

· one member representing the district attorney's office;

· five members who are local business leaders with expertise regarding the local labor market;

· two members representing the public; and

· two ex officio nonvoting members who are members of the legislature, with one each appointed by the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives.

The bill requires the board to appoint a member of the task force to serve as the task force's presiding officer, prohibits a person from serving on the board and the task force concurrently, and establishes that a skilled labor task force member is not entitled to compensation or reimbursement for expenses.

C.S.H.B. 2058 requires the task force to study and develop recommendations for the legislature and board regarding strategies for:

· improving the delivery of workforce education and workforce training and services in the board's local workforce development area;

· addressing current and future skills gaps in the area;

· assisting at-risk teenagers and young adults in preparing for career employment; and

· ensuring the area has a sufficiently trained workforce to meet local industry needs.

The bill requires the board to provide administrative support to the task force as necessary to assist the task force in conducting meetings and preparing reports. The bill requires a task force to meet not later than the 30th day after the date the last initial appointment to the task force is made and to meet at least quarterly at the call of the presiding officer. The bill authorizes the task force to communicate regularly with the board to provide information and make recommendations outside the task force's required report. The bill requires the task force, not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, to submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the board a written report of the task force's findings and recommendations for legislative or board action.

C.S.H.B. 2058 establishes that the skilled labor task force is abolished and the bill’s provisions expire September 1, 2027.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2058 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute increases the number of members in the skilled labor task force from 15 members, as in the introduced, to 17 members by adding one member representing a public school district and one member representing the district attorney's office.

The substitute also includes strategies for assisting at-risk teenagers and young adults in preparing for career employment among the strategies the task force is required to study and develop recommendations for the legislature and the local workforce development board, whereas the introduced did not include those assistance strategies.