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CS/CS/CS/HB 1507 — Workforce Related Programs and Services
by Education and Employment Committee; Appropriations Committee; Post-Secondary Education and Lifelong Learning Subcommittee; and Reps. Yarborough, Melo, and others (CS/SB 98 by Appropriations Committee and Senator Albritton)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Commerce and Tourism Committee (CM)
The bill creates a system-wide approach to workforce development and education in Florida. Specifically, the bill:
- Authorizes the Governor to seek federal waivers to create greater flexibility and strategic investment in Florida’s implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
- Creates the Office of Reimagining Education and Career Help (Office) in the Executive Office of the Governor to provide coordination and alignment in Florida’s workforce development system.
- Requires the Office to create a “no-wrong-door” entry strategy whereby Floridians may access services from any workforce partner with a common intake form and case management system.
- Creates an online opportunity portal to provide Floridians with access to available state, federal, and local services and evaluative tools to determine short-term employability and long-term self-sufficiency. In addition, the portal will provide broader access to education and training options, real-time labor market information, career planning and career services tools, and other support available for workforce training and education linked to middle- and high-wage in-demand jobs.
- Requires the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and the Department of Children and Families to evaluate the impact of workforce services on participants receiving benefits and welfare transition programs, to include performance reports on participant earnings.
- Requires local workforce development boards to be assigned a letter grade, which must be made public, based on improvement of participant long-term self-sufficiency and return on investment.
- Charges the Labor Market Estimating Conference as the entity responsible for determining Florida’s real-time supply and demand in the labor market.
- Requires the Talent Development Council to coordinate Florida’s efforts to meet state healthcare workforce needs, by conducting a gap analysis and providing trend information on nursing programs.
- Requires the DEO to establish WIOA eligible training provider criteria focused on participant outcomes.
- Requires the CareerSource state board to appoint a Credentials Review Committee to identify degree and non-degree credentials of value, develop a Master Credentials List for performance funding, and establish policy direction for funding which prioritizes outcomes and leverages resources to support vulnerable populations.
- Creates the Open Door Workforce Grant Program to provide grants to school districts and Florida College System (FCS) institutions to cover up to two-thirds of the cost of short-term, high-demand programs.
- Creates the Money-Back Guarantee Program, requiring each school district and FCS institution to refund the cost of tuition to students who are not able to find a job within 6 months of completing select programs.
- Creates a new workforce performance funding model for school district and FCS institution workforce programs, requiring one-third of performance funding to be based on rewarding student job placement and the remaining two-thirds to be based on student earnings, with a focus on increasing the economic mobility of underserved populations.
- Requires that students entering a public postsecondary institution in 2022-2023, and thereafter, must be able to earn nationally recognized digital credentials for competencies within the general education core courses which demonstrate career readiness.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2021.
Vote: Senate 40-0; House 117-0