Community Economic Resilience Fund Program.

Existing law establishes the Employment Development Department (EDD) within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Existing law grants the Director of Employment Development duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction exercised by the Director of Benefit Payments relating to job creation activities, among other things. 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. The act also provides for training partnerships that are overseen by the board, including the High Road Training Partnerships initiative, a demonstration project to model partnership strategies for the state among various industry sectors, and that is industry based and worker focused in order to build skills for California employers that, among other things, generate family-supporting jobs. This bill would establish, within the Workforce Services Branch of the EDD, the Community Economic Resilience Fund Program (program) . The bill would require the branch to administer the program. The bill would require the Inter-Agency Leadership Team (team) , comprised of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, to administer the program. The bill would make the team jointly responsible for planning, oversight, and decision-making, as specified. The bill would set forth the specifics of the team's composition and duties. This bill would require the program to provide financial support to establish and support high road transition collaboratives, as specified, and would set forth requirements for the program and collaboratives. The bill would provide planning grants to establish and support at least one collaborative per region in areas that have had disproportionate impacts due to COVID-19 and would provide implementation grants on a rolling and competitive basis to fund economic recovery, as specified. The bill would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, working with the Office of Planning and Research, and the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to manage the design and operation of the program solicitation and award processes. The bill would also set forth outcome and reporting requirements for program grantees. The bill would make these provisions operative when an appropriation is made by the Legislature for the purposes of these provisions and would require the Workforce Services Branch to post notice of the appropriation on the home page of its internet website and send notice of the appropriation to the Legislative Counsel. This bill would appropriate the sum of $600,000,000 from the Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund of 2021 to the Workforce Services Branch to administer the program, as detailed in the bill. The bill would authorize up to 3% of the funds to be transferred to specified state agencies to support the program. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.