Amendment_Report_for

SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee. The purpose of the study committee is to review the curriculum in K-12 schools that is designed to promote workforce development and preparation and to develop and design a curriculum to recommend to the Legislature that meets the workforce development needs of the State of Mississippi.

(2) The Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee shall be composed of the following fifteen (15) members:

(a) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(b) One (1) person from the Mississippi Community College Board;

(d) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, or his or her designee;

(e) One (1) person from the State Workforce Investment Board;

(f) One (1) person appointed by the Chair of the Mississippi Economic Council, who shall be a school superintendent;

(g) One (1) person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, who shall be a school superintendent;

(h) One (1) person appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be a school superintendent;

(i) One (1) person appointed by the Governor, who shall be a school superintendent;

(j) The Chair of the House of Representatives Workforce Development Committee;

(k) The Chair of the Senate Labor Committee;

(l) The Chair of the House Education Committee;

(m) The Chair of the Senate Education Committee;

(n) The Commissioner of Higher Education of the State Institutions of Higher Learning, or his or her designee; and

(o) A career and technical education teacher to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(3) Appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after the sine die adjournment of the 2020 Regular Session. The chair of the study committee shall be the Chair of the House of Representatives Workforce Development Committee. The study committee shall meet and organize fifteen (15) days after all appointments have been made and select a vice chair from its membership. The vice chair shall also serve as secretary and shall be responsible for keeping all records of the study committee. A majority of the members of the study committee shall constitute a quorum. In the selection of its officers and the adoption of rules, resolutions and reports, an affirmative vote of a majority of the study committee shall be required. All members shall be notified in writing of all meetings, such notices to be mailed at least fifteen (15) days before the date on which a meeting is to be held. Members of the study committee shall not be compensated or reimbursed for travel expenses.

(4) The Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee shall have the following duties:

(a) Review the curriculum currently in place to promote workforce development preparation in K-12 schools;

(b) Determine if the curriculum currently in place to promote workforce development preparation in K-12 schools meets the workforce development needs of the State of Mississippi;

(d) To require testimony from school officials, community college and university officials, business people and others involved with workforce development within the state as it deems appropriate;

(e) To appoint any subcommittees as it finds proper;

(f) To make recommendations based on its findings on how to develop and design a state workforce development curriculum that meets the workforce development needs of the State of Mississippi;

(g) To study financial literacy classes including, but not limited to, opening a bank account and assessing the quality of a bank's services, balancing a checkbook, managing debt, including retail and credit card debt, completing a loan application, the implications of an inheritance, the basics of personal insurance policies, consumer rights and responsibilities, dealing with salesmen and merchants and computing state and federal income taxes;

(h) To study home economics classes including, but not limited to, teaching of those skills essential to family and consumer science, cooking, including food safety, preparation and preservation and the nutritional benefits of a balanced meal, child development that provides instruction as to how to correctly respond to children at each stage, education and community awareness, home management and design, sewing and textiles, budgeting and economics and health and hygiene; and

(i) To submit the report from its findings in paragraph (f) of this subsection (4) to the Legislature and the Governor no later than November 30, 2020.

(5) In making such recommendations, the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee may seek input from all school districts within the state, the Mississippi Community College Board, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and businesses throughout this state as is necessary for proper review. After submitting the report required in this subsection (5), the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee shall be dissolved.

(6) Notwithstanding any provisions of the laws of the State of Mississippi to the contrary, school districts within the state, the Mississippi Community College Board, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and businesses throughout this state shall be required to cooperate with the Mississippi Workforce Development Study Committee.

SECTION 2. Section 37-153-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-153-7. (1) There is created the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board. The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall be composed of forty-one (41) voting members, of which a majority shall be representatives of business and industry in accordance with the federal Workforce Investment Act.

(a) The Governor shall appoint the following members of the board to serve a term of four (4) years:

(i) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, or his/her designee;

(ii) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Municipal League;

(iii) One (1) elected mayor;

(iv) One (1) representative of an apprenticeship program in the state;

(v) One (1) representative of labor organizations, who has been nominated by state labor federations;

(vi) One (1) representative of individuals and organizations that has experience with respect to youth activities;

(vii) One (1) representative of the Mississippi Association of Planning and Development Districts;

(viii) One (1) representative from each of the four (4) workforce areas in the state, who has been nominated by the community colleges in each respective area, with the consent of the elected county supervisors within the respective workforce area;

(ix) The chair of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges; and

(x) Twenty-one (21) representatives of business owners nominated by business and industry organizations, which may include representatives of the various planning and development districts in Mississippi.

(b) The following state officials shall be members of the board:

(i) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security;

(ii) The Executive Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Services;

(iii) The State Superintendent of Public Education;

(iv) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority;

(v) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services;

(vi) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board; and

(vii) The Commissioner of the Institutions of Higher Learning.

(d) Four (4) legislators, who shall serve in a nonvoting capacity, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from the membership of the Mississippi Senate, and two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House from the membership of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

(e) The membership of the board shall reflect the diversity of the State of Mississippi.

(f) The Governor shall designate the Chairman of the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board from among the voting members of the board, and a quorum of the board shall consist of a majority of the voting members of the board.

(g) The voting members of the board who are not state employees shall be entitled to reimbursement of their reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out their duties under this chapter, from any funds available for that purpose.

(2) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall establish limits on administrative costs for each portion of Mississippi's workforce development system consistent with the federal Workforce Investment Act or any future federal workforce legislation.

(3) The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall have the following duties:

(a) Develop and submit to the Governor a strategic plan for an integrated state workforce development system that aligns resources and structures the system to more effectively and efficiently meet the demands of Mississippi's employers and job seekers. This plan will comply with the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended, the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and amendments and successor legislation to these acts;

(b) Assist the Governor in the development and continuous improvement of the statewide workforce investment system that shall include:

(i) Development of linkages in order to assure coordination and nonduplication among programs and activities; and

(ii) Review local workforce development plans that reflect the use of funds from the federal Workforce Investment Act, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act and the amendment or successor legislation to the acts, and the Mississippi Comprehensive Workforce Training and Education Consolidation Act;

(c) Recommend the designation of local workforce investment areas as required in Section 116 of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. There shall be four (4) workforce investment areas that are generally aligned with the planning and development district structure in Mississippi. Planning and development districts will serve as the fiscal agents to manage Workforce Investment Act funds, oversee and support the local workforce investment boards aligned with the area and the local programs and activities as delivered by the one-stop employment and training system. The planning and development districts will perform this function through the provisions of the county cooperative service districts created under Sections 19-3-101 through 19-3-115; however, planning and development districts currently performing this function under the Interlocal Cooperation Act of 1974, Sections 17-13-1 through 17-13-17, may continue to do so;

(d) Assist the Governor in the development of an allocation formula for the distribution of funds for adult employment and training activities and youth activities to local workforce investment areas;

(e) Recommend comprehensive, results-oriented measures that shall be applied to all of Mississippi's workforce development system programs;

(f) Assist the Governor in the establishment and management of a one-stop employment and training system conforming to the requirements of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, as amended, recommending policy for implementing the Governor's approved plan for employment and training activities and services within the state. In developing this one-stop career operating system, the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board, in conjunction with local workforce investment boards, shall:

(i) Design broad guidelines for the delivery of workforce development programs;

(ii) Identify all existing delivery agencies and other resources;

(iii) Define appropriate roles of the various agencies to include an analysis of service providers' strengths and weaknesses;

(iv) Determine the best way to utilize the various agencies to deliver services to recipients; and

(v) Develop a financial plan to support the delivery system that shall, at a minimum, include an accountability system;

(g) Assist the Governor in reducing duplication of services by urging the local workforce investment boards to designate the local community/junior college as the operator of the WIN Job Center. Incentive grants of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) from federal Workforce Investment Act funds may be awarded to the local workforce boards where the community/junior college district is designated as the WIN Job Center. These grants must be provided to the community and junior colleges for the extraordinary costs of coordinating with the Workforce Investment Act, advanced technology centers and advanced skills centers. In no case shall these funds be used to supplant state resources being used for operation of workforce development programs;

(h) To provide authority, in accordance with any executive order of the Governor, for developing the necessary collaboration among state agencies at the highest level for accomplishing the purposes of this chapter;

(i) To monitor the effectiveness of the workforce development centers and WIN job centers;

(j) To advise the Governor, public schools, community/junior colleges and institutions of higher learning on effective school-to-work transition policies and programs that link students moving from high school to higher education and students moving between community colleges and four-year institutions in pursuit of academic and technical skills training;

(k) To work with industry to identify barriers that inhibit the delivery of quality workforce education and the responsiveness of educational institutions to the needs of industry;

(l) To provide periodic assessments on effectiveness and results of the overall Mississippi comprehensive workforce development system and district councils; and

(m) To assist the Governor in carrying out any other responsibility required by the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, successor legislation and amendments.

(4) The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall coordinate all training programs and funds in the State of Mississippi.

Each state agency director responsible for workforce training activities shall advise the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board of appropriate federal and state requirements. Each state agency, department and institution shall report any monies received for workforce training activities or career and technical education and a detailed itemization of how those monies were spent to the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board. The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall compile the data and provide a report of the monies and expenditures to the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee, the Chair of the House Workforce Development Committee and the Chair of the Senate Labor Committee by October 1 of each year. Each such state agency director shall remain responsible for the actions of his agency; however, each state agency and director shall work cooperatively, and shall be individually and collectively responsible to the Governor for the successful implementation of the statewide workforce investment system. The Governor, as the Chief Executive Officer of the state, shall have complete authority to enforce cooperation among all entities within the state that utilize federal or state funding for the conduct of workforce development activities.

(5) The State Workforce Investment Board shall establish a Rules Committee. The Rules Committee, in consultation with the full board, shall be designated as the body with the sole authority to promulgate rules and regulations for distribution of Mississippi Works Funds created in Section 71-5-353. The State Workforce Investment Board Rules Committee shall develop and submit rules and regulations in accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act, within sixty (60) days of March 21, 2016. The State Workforce Investment Board Rules Committee shall consist of the following State Workforce Investment Board members:

(a) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority;

(b) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security;

(d) The Chair of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges;

(e) The Chair of the State Workforce Investment Board;

(f) A representative from the workforce areas selected by the Mississippi Association of Workforce Areas, Inc.;

(g) A business representative currently serving on the board, selected by the Chairman of the State Workforce Investment Board; and

(h) Two (2) legislators, who shall serve in a nonvoting capacity, one (1) of whom shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from the membership of the Mississippi Senate and one (1) of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the membership of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

(6) The Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board shall create and implement performance metrics for the Mississippi Works Fund to determine the added value to the local and state economy and the contribution to the future growth of the state economy. A report on the performance of the fund shall be made to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives annually, throughout the life of the fund.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.