Substitute Senate Bill No. 261
AN ACT CONCERNING THE CONNECTICUT JOB CORPS TASK FORCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Employee organization" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 5-270 of the general statutes; and
(2) "Labor organization" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 31-77 of the general statutes.
(b) There is established a State Jobs Corps Task Force to study the means by which the state may, under federal and state law, implement a program similar to the Works Progress Administration, created pursuant to the federal Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, (49 Stat. 115) to use unemployed workers to construct public works projects in the state.
(c) The task force shall consist of the following members:
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be a mayor or first selectman of a Connecticut municipality with a population greater than or equal to seventy-five thousand residents and one of whom shall represent a labor organization;
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be a mayor or first selectman of a Connecticut municipality with a population greater than or equal to seventy-five thousand residents and one of whom shall represent a labor organization;
(3) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall represent an employee organization and one of whom shall represent a labor organization;
(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall represent an employee organization and one of whom shall be an economist with knowledge of labor and workforce development;
(5) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives who shall be a mayor or first selectman of a Connecticut municipality with a population less than or equal to seventy-five thousand residents but greater than twenty thousand residents;
(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall be a mayor or first selectman of a Connecticut municipality with a population greater than or equal to seventy-five thousand residents and one of whom shall be a mayor or first selectman of a Connecticut municipality with a population less than or equal to twenty thousand residents;
(7) Two appointed by the Governor, at least one of whom shall represent a state-wide business organization; and
(8) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the Labor Commissioner, or the commissioners' designees, who shall be ex-officio, nonvoting members.
(d) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority.
(e) The Governor shall select the chairperson of the task force from among the members of the task force. Such chairperson shall schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section.
(f) Said task force may seek the advice and participation of any person, organization or state or federal agency as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(g) Not later than January 1, 2011, the task force shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. Such report shall consist of (1) an evaluation of the program used by the federal Works Progress Administration and the feasibility of using aspects of such program to respond to current economic conditions in the state, (2) recommendations for any changes necessary in state law, regulation or policy that would be necessary to implement a program similar to the Works Progress Administration in the state, and (3) recommendations for using the expertise of state employees to assist in carrying out the recommendations pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection and to further provide assistance to individuals receiving benefits pursuant to chapter 567 of the general statutes to find employment positions.
Approved May 18, 2010