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The bill creates the West Virginia Workforce Investment Act. It provides a new statutory structure for workforce investment activities in the state.

Specific provisions of the bill include:

1. §5B-2B-3 creates the West Virginia Workforce Investment Council (Council) to serve as the state workforce investment board required by the federal Workforce Investment Act to make general recommendations regarding workforce investment in the state to the governor and the Legislature.

In addition to the requirements set by federal law, the council is further defined by this section. It is to consist of no more than 39 members. The governor is to appoint members for 3 year terms, with the advice and consent of the Senate, which satisfy the following criteria: (1) Representatives of business, including one representative from the tourism industry; (2) no more than 2 members who are members of the Council for Community and Technical College Education; (3) 2 members who are members of the West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development; (4) 2 members who are chief elected officials representing cities and counties; (5) 2 members who represent individuals and organizations having experience and expertise in the delivery of workforce investment programs, including 1 chief executive officer of a community and technical college and 1 chief executive officer of a community-based organization operating in the state; (6) 2 members who represent individuals and organizations having experience in youth activities, including at least 1 youth from a post-secondary education institution; and (7) 2 members who represent labor organizations in the state who have been nominated by state labor federations.

Ex officio members of the council are the Governor, the Superintendent of the Department of Education, the Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Senior Services, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Employment Programs, the Director of the Division of Veterans' Affairs, the Executive Director of the West Virginia Development Office, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, or their designees; and 2 members of the House of Delegates and 2 members of the Senate.

The chair and vice-chair of the council are to be appointed by the Governor and are to be representatives of business. Additionally, the majority of the members constituting a quorum must consist of those members representing business. The Council is to meet at least quarterly.

2. §5B-2B-4 sets out the duties of the Council which include: (1) The development and revision of a strategic 5-year state workforce investment plan; (2) the development and continuous improvement of a statewide system of workforce investment activities; (3) commenting on the measures taken by the state pursuant to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act; (4) designation and revision of local workforce investment areas; (5) development and revision of allocation formulas for the distribution of funds for adult employment and training activities and youth activities to local areas; (6) development and continuous improvement of comprehensive state performance measures to assess the effectiveness of the workforce investment activities in the state; (7) preparation of the annual report to the Secretary of Labor as required by federal law; (8) development and continued improvement of a statewide employment statistics system; and (9) development and revision of an application for workforce investment grants. The Council is also to make a report to the legislative oversight commission, created pursuant to §5B-2B-7 (below), by September 1, of each year detailing all the publicly funded workforce investment programs operating in the state, any recommendations it has concerning the use of funds for workforce investment programs, its analysis of the operations of local workforce investment programs and any other information the Commission may require.

3. §5B-2B-5 requires all state agencies that receive federal or state funds that may be used for workforce investment activities to report to the Council prior to August 1 each year on the purpose for which the funds were provided, the services provided in each regional workforce investment area, the measures used to evaluate program performance and any other information required by the Council.

4. §5B-2B-6 requires the West Virginia Development Office to serve as staff for the Council. The Development Office and the executive directors of the local workforce investment boards are to meet at least monthly to help to coordinate workforce investment activities. The Development Office is also to report by October 1 of each year to the legislative oversight commission, created pursuant to §5B-2B-7 (below), regarding the status of the one-stop system in the state. The local workforce investment boards are to report annually to the Development Office by September 1 of each year on the status of one-stop centers in their regions.

5. §5B-2B-7 creates the Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic Development (legislative oversight commission). The commission is made up of 4 members of the Senate and 4 members from the House of Delegates who also serve on the Joint Commission on Economic Development.

6. §5B-2B-8 establishes the powers and duties of the legislative oversight commission. The commission is to investigate, study and review the practices, policies and procedures of the workforce investment strategies and programs implemented in the state. In doing so, it may examine witnesses and subpoena persons, books, records, documents, papers or any other tangible thing it believes should be examined to conduct a complete investigation. It also has the authority to conduct or cause to be conducted performance audits upon local workforce investment boards.

7. §5B-2B-9 requires state agencies conducting workforce investment activities to enter into memoranda of understanding with the executive director of the Development Office and the local workforce investment board representing the area in which the agency is conducting the activity. The memoranda are to be effective for no more than one year without reaffirmation by the parties. The state agencies are to send copies of the memoranda to the Council and the legislative oversight commission.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 90 DAYS FROM PASSAGE

DATE OF PASSAGE: February 22, 2002