Workforce Development Legislation and Practice Literature Review, Maryland, 2007-2017

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than the national average, and promotes the economic contributions of these higher educated immigrants while also arguing that, for the state to maximize the potential of this demographic, it must expand its work around increasing middle-skill education to its non-native workforce. 48 In 2017, the state appeared to take steps forward defining the institutions which will take the lead for its future when it comes to workforce development. The state passed two more bills relating to apprenticeships. The first, HB0810, was a technical bill designed to designate the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning is the designated State Apprenticeship Agency under federal law. The second, HB0467, was a more substantive bill designed to create a more robust infrastructure in the state of internships. The bill dubbed the Providing Our Workers Education and Readiness (POWER) - Apprenticeship Act, created a requirement that construction projects receiving state dollars either use apprentices who have come through the DLLR registered apprenticeship program or in lieu of this pay money the state apprenticeship fund or some other registered apprenticeship program. The bill stands out in the literature for being one of the few workforces relate bill which places a mandate on employers and, perhaps related to this fact, which passed not with unanimous or near unanimous support, as many of the bill analyzed in the literature, but on a party-line vote in the house and senate. HB1275 focused on creating better information flow to veterans about services, including those related to integrating them into the civilian workforce. HB1595 sought to begin to the process of revamping Baltimore City Community College, requiring the chairmen of the board to be appointed by the state legislative chairs and authorizing a study of the challenges and assets related to the institution. Finally, the state passed SB317, Requiring the Governor to appropriate at least $1,000,000 each fiscal year for the Partnership for Workforce Quality Program and establishing the More Jobs for Marylanders Program in the Department of Commerce to provide manufacturing business entities tax credits. Insights After evaluating the literature around workforce development in Baltimore, some preliminary conclusions can be made. First, while state legislation was the initial frame of the research, it is clear that the legal infrastructure of the state’s workforce development efforts is deeply embedded into the executive branch, local workforce development boards, and even the federal government, with the WIOA being a critical funding source for the states workforce development programming. While the state appears to be developing its apprenticeship infrastructure, and has even received independent recognition for their work here compared to other entities in the region, the fact that it took multiple years of continuous legislative efforts on this issue of apprenticeships shows just how difficult it is to steer the ship of workforce development from the state legislature. However, there appear to be potential strategic points of influence within the state workforce bureaucracy which could be open to influence, including local workforce development boards (which may be more open to some forms of community participation under WIOA) and even entities like the justice reinvestment coordinating council. In many ways, the state government appears sandwiched between the federal government and the “on the ground” local workforce 48 “Middle-Skill Credentials and Immigrant Workers: Maryland’s Untapped Assets.” State Policy - In the States -Maryland - Publications, National Skills Coalition, 18 Dec. 2017, nationalskillscoalition.org/resources/publications/file/Middle-Skill- Credentials-and-Immigrant-Workers-Marylands-Untapped-Assets-1.pdf. 4151 Park Heights Avenue, Suite 207, Baltimore, MD 21215 • www.lbsbaltimore.com • (410) 374-7683
development boards, with the GWDB being one of the few entities able to span across all these levels. The literature reveals the importance of adopting a holistic view of the states workforce efforts in order to properly understand how workforce development functions. The literature also reveals some of the limitations of the state’s current efforts around workforce development. While the efforts appear to be in a period of flux given the continued implementation of the new federal law, the literature reveals that certain aspects of how workforce developments appear to happen in practice are difficult to discern from the literature. In the only directly comparative document in the literature, the joint report done comparing regional WIOA implementation plans, a constant refrain noted throughout the report was that, while Maryland’s plan was generally given credit for being solid, is was also noted for being relatively vague, lacking specific are critical areas in implementation. Indeed, some of the essential information about how workforce development boards operate in practice, information for example related to the curriculum used in workforce development programming, and participant evaluations of their experience in workforce development programs, was beyond the scope of this literature review and largely unavailable in this time period. Correcting this lack of information becomes especially critical when the literature around Maryland workforce development is analyzed from a racial equity standpoint. While there is a consistent discussion of including marginalized populations and those excluded from traditional pipelines to employment, the vast majority of the literature fails to address the root causes behind the exclusion of vulnerable populations from the workforce. With notable exceptions, the literature fails to ask fundamental questions about racial equity. This is perhaps most clearly exemplified by the GWIB’s list of questions discussion around WIOA implementation. While the institution presented over 50 very specific questions about the transition in federal law with 10 distinct subgroups, questions specific to the law's impact from an equity perspective are notable in their absence. When the literature is examined from an equity perspective, efforts which appear to be perfectly rational and perhaps even progressive are questionable in terms of their equity impact. For example, when the state legislature expands licensure requirements to barber services, this appears to be another opportunity for workforce development, with services being deployed to get individuals certified in their fields. Yet growing bodies of equity-based literature around licensure regimes show that in many cases these licensure regimes create a bottleneck where individuals are forced to go through lengthy and potentially expensive training programs for employment opportunities where the very need for licensure is questionable, a burden found to disproportionately impact people of color. 49 As such, the Skills2Compete initiatives focus on middle-skill jobs where professional licensure rather than a four-year degree may need to analyzed more deeply to ensure that the licensure regimes themselves are not barriers to employment. Additionally, one of the recommendations of MCCEI report, around the development of a new construction management program at a Maryland university, risks duplicating existing programs at one of the state’s historically Black colleges, a practice which is against state law 49 Rodriguez, Michelle Natividad, and Beth Avery. “Unlicensed & Untapped: Removing Barriers to State Occupational Licenses for People with Records.” Report, National Employment Law Project, 26 Apr. 2016, www.nelp.org/publication/unlicenseduntapped-removing-barriers-state-occupational-licenses/. 4151 Park Heights Avenue, Suite 207, Baltimore, MD 21215 • www.lbsbaltimore.com • (410) 374-7683
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