HJ54: Workforce development; Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 54

Offered January 12, 2022
Prefiled January 11, 2022
Directing the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study workforce development in the Commonwealth. Report.
Patron-- O'Quinn

Committee Referral Pending

WHEREAS, the 1998 federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) required states to establish a service delivery system that consolidates access to 17 federally funded programs through one-stop centers; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, the General Assembly established the Virginia Workforce Council and created the Workforce Development Program as required by the WIA; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth has implemented the WIA by establishing a framework for one-stop service delivery of workforce services; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) directed its staff to review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Commonwealth's workforce training efforts; and

WHEREAS, Item 130 E.2 of the 2002-2004 Appropriation Act directed JLARC to review the administration of the WIA; and

WHEREAS, in 2003, JLARC issued a comprehensive review of workforce training in Virginia, in which it assessed Virginia's implementation of the WIA and found that Virginia lacked a coherent, coordinated system of workforce training and that no formal coordination among the workforce training programs existed; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, the General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution 713, which established a joint subcommittee to study the need for greater consolidation or coordination of the workforce development and training resources available in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, in 2013 and 2014, the General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution 688 and § 1-11(H) of the 2014 Appropriation Act, respectively, both of which directed JLARC to update its 2003 report on the Commonwealth's Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act and to further study the effectiveness of Virginia's workforce development programs at ensuring that Virginians possess the skills and credentials desired by the state's employers and to present recommendations to ensure entities with oversight responsibilities are provided access to information regarding the programs' expenditures and outcomes; and

WHEREAS, in 2014, JLARC issued a comprehensive review of workforce training in Virginia, in which it assessed the Commonwealth's workforce training programs and found that such programs were poorly organized and out of touch with employers and the state's labor market; and

WHEREAS, in subsequent years a number of changes have been made to the Commonwealth's workforce development system, including reform of the Virginia Workforce Council into the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and the creation of a Chief Workforce Development Advisor; and

WHEREAS, the passage of over seven years since JLARC's completion of its most recent assessment of the Commonwealth's workforce development programs has necessitated an update and reexamination of that assessment; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study workforce development in the Commonwealth.

In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall examine (i) which entities in the Commonwealth are conducting workforce development activities, (ii) how much money is being spent on such activities, (iii) the sources of such money, (iv) which metrics can be used to determine the effects of spending on workforce development activities, and (v) based on those metrics, which entities in the Commonwealth are producing the best results.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2022, and for the second year by November 30, 2023, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.