House Bill 1015

AN ACT TO CREATE THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT TASK FORCE; TO SPECIFY THE DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TASK FORCE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of Labor, in 2016, the rate of unemployment in Mississippi for youth, ages 16 to 24, was 12.6%, which was the seventh highest rate in the nation; and

WHEREAS, youth who are neither working nor in school, including those without a high school diploma and youth who have low school attendance and jobless high school students are in need of opportunities to succeed as adults; and

WHEREAS, many of these youth who are neither working nor in school, including those without a high school diploma and those who are low-attending jobless high school students, come from families with low incomes; and

WHEREAS, many of these youth need opportunities to become successful adults and would benefit from education and employment opportunities if these opportunities are structured using evidence based/best program practices of smaller, more flexible and more structured comprehensive programming to address their education, work and social development needs; NOW, THEREFORE,

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Youth Unemployment Task Force to examine policies, programs and other issues related to developing a variety of successful approaches using best program practices for out-of-school and jobless youth students with the goal of improving their education, work-related, and social development skills so that they can successfully enter the workforce and become productive adults.

Duties of the task force shall include the following:

(a) Review data regarding the current number of unemployed youth, ages 16-24, in this state and the education level and dropout rate of those youth;

(b) Evaluate current methods that are used by the Department of Education to assist youth who are at risk of dropping out of school;

(c) Review data regarding early guidance and counseling that is given to youth in regard to obtaining future occupations; and

(d) Develop best practices for future job skills for youth.

The task force shall make a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature by December 1, 2020, including any recommended legislation.

(2) The task force shall be composed of nine (9) members, as follows:

(a) Three (3) members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(b) Three (3) members of the Senate to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(d) The Executive Director of the Department of Human Services or his or her designee; and

(e) The Executive Director of the Department of Employment Security or his or her designee.

(3) Legislative appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after the effective date of this act. Within fifteen (15) days thereafter on a day to be designated jointly by the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor, the task force shall meet and organize by selecting from its membership a chairman and a vice chairman. The vice chairman shall also serve as secretary and shall be responsible for keeping all records of the task force. A majority of the members of the task force 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 task force shall be required. All members shall be notified in writing of all meetings, and those notices shall be mailed at least fifteen (15) days before the date on which a meeting is to be held.

(4) The members of the task force who are not legislators shall be compensated at the per diem rate authorized by Section 25-3-69 and shall be reimbursed in accordance with Section 25-3-41 for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Legislative members of the task force shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same manner as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. However, no per diem or expenses for attending meetings of the task force will be paid to legislative members of the task force while the Legislature is in session. No task force member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless previously authorized by vote, at a meeting of the task force, which action shall be recorded in the official minutes of the meeting. The nonlegislative members shall be paid from any funds made available to the task force for that purpose.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.