Louisiana HCR 12: COMMENDATIONS: Commends LSU on winning the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship

Bill Text

ENROLLED
2020 First Extraordinary Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12
BY REPRESENTATIVE GAROFALO
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council to study and report on
resources available and innovative ways to coordinate and rapidly deploy
opportunities for retraining and developing new skills for Louisiana workers who are
unemployed because of the COVID-19 crisis.
WHEREAS, the state's response to the contagion of COVID-19 required a large scale
disruption of the state's economy as many businesses were closed in order to protect the
public health and to prevent a spike in demand for healthcare services that would have
overwhelmed the capacity of the healthcare system to provide services; and
WHEREAS, the closing of so many businesses resulted in hundreds of thousands of
Louisianans losing their jobs; and
WHEREAS, as the threat of COVID-19 subsides, some of Louisiana's labor force
will return to the fields that they left, bringing their training and experience with them, but
many will not be so lucky; it is already clear that the pandemic experience is changing social
arrangements which will in turn result in fundamental changes to the Louisiana economy;
and
WHEREAS, Louisiana needs to respond to this situation quickly and on a large scale;
every possible avenue for retraining and developing new skills for workers who have been
dislocated by the economic disruption needs to be explored and harnessed in the immediate
future for the sake of the individual workers and the health of the state's overall economy.
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HCR NO. 12 ENROLLED
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council to study and report on
resources available and innovative ways to coordinate and rapidly deploy opportunities for
retraining and developing new skills for Louisiana workers who are unemployed because of
the COVID-19 crisis, all as further provided by this Resolution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study and report shall include the following:
(1) Identification and evaluation of all funds and programs that might be applied to
this challenge including: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds, TOPS-Tech
awards, needs-based financial assistance available to students, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program-Employment and Training funds, Strategies to Empower People funds
and programs, Rapid Response Workforce Training funds and programs, Louisiana
Economic Development Fast Start training programs, the Incumbent Worker Training
Program, and all relevant tax credits available to employers and workers; every effort shall
be made to present information on such programs in aggregate statewide data and data by
region with demographic indicators for the most recent year data is available, including but
not limited to the amount of public expenditures, the physical locations that serve the public,
the number of individuals served, the number of individuals who complete the programs, the
types of training and credentials received, and employment in the field after training.
(2) Ideas for better structural and programmatic coordination among state agencies
to facilitate connecting each dislocated worker with a package of training options that is
applicable to his or her situation and identification of policy and legal barriers to such
coordination.
(3) Strategies for quickly moving unemployed workers into training for available
jobs, including one-stop resources that unemployed workers could use to explore their
options and receive seamlessly integrated services, including both internet and regional
office-based resources.
(4) National best practices and new models for management, financing, and delivery
of workforce training programs.
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HCR NO. 12 ENROLLED
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council
shall solicit ideas, data, information, and suggestions from relevant state and local
government agencies, postsecondary education institutions that manage such programs, and
interested parties including employers, agency personnel, educators and trainers, economic
experts, economic development organizations, trade associations, labor organizations,
nonprofit organizations, and Louisiana workers who are looking for opportunities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall be submitted to the Legislature
of Louisiana in accordance with R.S. 24:772 by September 30, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, the chairman of the Louisiana Workforce
Investment Council, the commissioner of higher education, the chairman of the Board of
Regents, the secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, the secretary of
Louisiana Economic Development, and the secretary of the Louisiana Department of
Revenue.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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