The California Labor Injustice Mitigation and Adjustment Act Initiative.

Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to, among other things, carry out analyses of the economic conditions in the local region. This bill would create the California Labor Injustice Mitigation and Adjustment (CLIMA) Act Initiative for the purpose of providing services to individuals who have historically faced barriers to employment and whose economic security will be challenged by the implementation of environmental mitigation measures, as specified. The bill would create the CLIMA Account within the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative Fund, the moneys in which account would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of the initiative, which would be implemented contingent upon the California Workforce Development Board notifying the Department of Finance that a sufficient appropriation has been made. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to develop criteria for the selection of grant recipients, including local workforce boards, and would specify the contents of grant applications, mandatory grant elements, and eligible grant activities. The bill would require grantees to provide all necessary information to facilitate grant performance evaluation. The bill would authorize the board to develop policies necessary to ensure that grants awarded from the fund are for activities that are consistent with the intent of the initiative. Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, requires each local workforce development board to develop and submit to the Governor a comprehensive 4-year local plan that contains various strategic planning elements, including, among other things, a description of the workforce development system in the local area that identifies the programs that are included in that system. This bill would require the local board, for the purpose of creating a local plan adopted on or after January 1, 2022, to consider the economic impact of the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and other governmental actions taken to restrict groundwater pumping and to limit surface water supplies, and to identify groups of individuals who have historically faced employment barriers and whose employment could be limited or eliminated due to restrictions on access to water supplies. Because the bill would require local agencies to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.