EXECUTIVE ORDER
WHEREAS, Skill shortages are hampering our state's economic
growth. Each year there are 38,000 job openings for workers with
postsecondary vocational training, yet our two-year colleges,
private career schools, and apprenticeship programs produce only
about 19,000 such graduates per year. In addition, while the
software industry estimates that it will need 60,000 more workers
in the next three years, tens of thousands of jobs are already
going unfilled.
WHEREAS, Lack of skill or education significantly limits an
individual's earning capacity. The prosperity of families in
Washington is largely dependent upon their ability to retain
employment in our rapidly changing economy and to move quickly
and efficiently in a dynamic labor market.
WHEREAS, All of our workers have not shared equally in the
benefits of the recent economic boom, particularly in rural areas
of Washington. A skilled workforce is often the most important
asset that entrepreneurs seek when they make location decisions.
Retraining skilled workers in rural areas could help spread some
of the state's wealth which is now concentrated in central Puget
Sound.
WHEREAS, Many hardworking citizens who have lost their jobs in
traditional industries, such as timber, aerospace, and fishing,
have been unable to gain the skills needed to find work in the
rapidly growing sectors of our economy and, as a result, have
fallen behind economically.
WHEREAS, Unemployment has reached peacetime lows in Washington
State. Disadvantaged youth, persons with disabilities, new
immigrants, WorkFirst participants, and other citizens are
obtaining jobs. In order to enable these individuals to move out
of poverty, we must ensure their access to employment, training,
and education that allows them to move up the job ladder during
their lifetimes.
WHEREAS, Washington State's employers and workers should have
access to a customer-oriented network of workforce services based
upon the principles of individual choice, flexibility,
accountability, and universal access.
WHEREAS, Congress passed into law the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (Public Law No. 105-220) to prepare youth, dislocated
workers, and adults for entry into the labor force, and to
provide for the planning, implementation, and ongoing oversight
of a comprehensive state workforce development system designed to
improve workforce training, employment, literacy and vocational
rehabilitation;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gary Locke, Governor of the state of
Washington, by virtue of the authority vested in me, hereby
direct the following:
1. The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board
(Workforce Board) shall act as the Workforce Investment Board for
the purposes of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
2. The Workforce Board shall work in partnership with business,
labor, local workforce development councils, and state operating
agencies to develop goals, objectives, and strategies to address
the following challenges:
A) Close the gap between the need of employers for skilled
workers and the supply of Washington residents prepared to meet
that need.
B) Enable workers to make smooth transitions so they may fully
benefit from the new, changing economy. The board shall develop
a coherent dislocated worker strategy that includes incumbent
worker training.
C) Assist disadvantaged youth, persons with disabilities, new
labor market entrants, recent immigrants, and low-wage workers in
moving up the job ladder during their lifetimes by developing a
wage progression strategy for low-income workers. Specific
progress should be made in improving operating agencies and
reducing the earnings gap facing people of color, adults with
disabilities, and women.
3. In addition to the duties spelled out in RCW 28C.18, the
Workforce Board, in partnership with the operating agencies and
private career schools and colleges, shall:
A) Develop and maintain a state unified plan as described under
P.L. 105-220. The purpose of the unified plan is to promote
universal access to employment and training programs, and
simplify them so that state employment and training customers can
better obtain these services. The Workforce Board shall utilize
the unified planning process to better integrate federal and
state employment and training programs. The unified plan shall
encompass the strategic comprehensive plan described in RCW 28C.18, as well as the operating plans developed by the
administrating agencies that are consistent with the strategic
plan. The strategic plan shall include:
| • | assessments of our state's employment opportunities and skills needs, the present and future workforce, and the current workforce development system; |
| • | goals and strategies for improving the workforce development system; |
| • | a description of the performance management system for workforce development; and |
| • | goals, objectives and strategies to address the challenges articulated in section 2 of this order. |
C) Review and make recommendations to the Governor concerning the
operating plans of the agencies that administer the programs of
the state workforce development system to ensure consistency with
the state strategic comprehensive plan.
D) Design and implement a performance management system for
workforce development, including the evaluation and data
responsibilities described in RCW 28C.18 and the performance
accountability system described in P.L. 105-220, in partnership
with the operating agencies and local workforce development
councils. The system shall build upon the policies, processes,
and interagency agreements that embody the state's existing
Performance Management for Continuous Improvement system, which
clearly define the roles and responsibilities of our state's
policy board, governing agency, and local institution. The
system shall:
| • | include standards for measuring and reporting the performance of local training providers to enable consumers to make informed choices and gain access to services they need; |
| • | include criteria for eligible training providers under P.L. 105-220 and standards for measuring and reporting eligible provider performance and cost information; |
| • | serve as the basis for recommendations to the Governor regarding expected performance levels using the performance management system established under this section; |
| • | provide information to the Governor and Legislature on the outcomes of workforce development programs; |
| • | measure and report information to the Governor and Legislature concerning the extent of employer participation and satisfaction with employment and training services; and |
| • | measure and report to the Governor and Legislature the progress made in meeting the three goals defined in section 2. |
F) Establish an incentive fund for workforce development and
recommend to the Governor criteria for rewarding local workforce
development councils and programs that produce exemplary results.
G) Review the plans of local workforce development councils for
consistency with the state unified plan and recommend to the
Governor whether or not local plans should be approved. The
Workforce Board shall provide technical assistance to local
workforce development councils as necessary.
4. In order to meet the goals prescribed in this order, the
Director of the Department of Social and Health Services and a
representative of local elected officials shall participate in
the activities of the Workforce Board. The board shall work on a
consensus basis to give these individuals a voice in
decision-making and can bring additional parties to the table as
needed to ensure broad-based participation.
5. The following programs shall be added to the state's unified
planning effort and associated performance management system:
| • | programs funded under Title 1B of P.L. 105 (the successor of the Job Training Partnership Act); |
| • | activities funded under the federal Wagner-Peyser Act; |
| • | the job skills program, timber retraining benefits, or any successor program; |
| • | work-related components of the vocational rehabilitation program authorized under Title IV of P.L. 105-220; |
| • | programs offered by private and public nonprofit training and education organizations, including those that serve persons with disabilities, are representative of communities or significant segments of communities, and provide job training or work-related adult literacy services; and |
| • | the state's one-stop system for employment-related services, WorkSource. |
7. There shall be created in each workforce investment area, as
currently configured under the Job Training Partnership Act, a
local workforce development council to carry out functions
including, but not limited to, those specified for local
workforce investment boards under P.L. 105-220. Local workforce
development councils shall:
A) Provide input to the state Workforce Board in the development
of the state unified plan, which will thereby articulate their
local strategies and needs.
B) In partnership with local elected officials, develop and
maintain a local unified plan for the workforce development
system including, but not limited to, the local plan required by
P.L. 105-220, Title I. The unified plan shall include a
strategic plan that assesses local employment opportunities and
skill needs; the present and future workforce; the current
workforce development system; information on financial resources,
goals, objectives, and strategies for the local workforce
development system; and a system-wide financial strategy for
implementing the plan. The unified plan shall also include the
operating plan for PL. 105-220, Title 1B and, as they are
developed, other program operating plans that are consistent with
the local strategic plan. The local and state plans shall be
consistent. Local workforce development councils shall submit
their operating plans to the Employment Security Department for
review and shall submit unified plans to the Workforce Board for
review and to the Governor for approval.
C) Conduct oversight of the local one-stop system pursuant to
P.L. 105-220, including selection, certification, and
decertification of one-stop providers.
D) Promote the coordination of workforce development activities
at the local level and ensure a link with local economic
development strategies.
E) Develop portions of the local plan relating to eligible youth,
as well as implement and administer youth programs in accordance
with P.L. 105-220.
F) Provide for a coordinated and responsive system of outreach to
employers.
G) Identify eligible providers of training services funded under
Title I of the Workforce Investment Act, consistent with the
performance standards established by the Workforce Board.
H) Negotiate expected local levels of performance for programs
under P.L. 105-220, Title I with local elected officials and the
Workforce Board on behalf of the Governor as required under this
law.
I) Assess the planning process to identify quality improvements.
J) Execute a master partnership agreement with local elected
officials that establishes the working relationships and
specifies responsibilities of each body in the partnership.
K) Collaborate in the development of the WorkFirst service area
plans required under RCW 74.08A.280, and include the workforce
development components of the WorkFirst service area plan in the
local unified plan.
8) The Department of Employment Security, in collaboration with
the Executive Policy Council, is directed to assume the
administrative lead for Workforce Investment Act Title I-B and
employment statistics, and complete implementation of the
WorkSource service delivery system, including the technological
and self-service infrastructures.
9) The Workforce Board shall assume the responsibilities of the
state job training coordinating council authorized under the Job
Training Partnership Act.
10) The Workforce Board shall be designated as the state board of
vocational education as provided for in P.L. 105-332, as amended,
and shall perform such functions as is necessary to comply with
federal directives pertaining to the provisions of such law. For
the purposes of P.L. 105-332, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall have operating responsibility for secondary
education and the State Board for Community and Technical
Colleges shall have operating responsibility for postsecondary
vocational and technical education.
11) This Order shall take effect immediately.
| IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the state of Washington to be affixed at Olympia, on this 17th day of September, A.D., nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. | ||
| Gary Locke Governor of Washington |
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BY THE GOVERNOR:
Secretary of State |
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