Enacts the Louisiana Workforce Development Equity and Opportunity Act

HB 470 enacts Chapter 11-B of Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, creating the Louisiana Workforce Development Equity and Opportunity Act. The legislation establishes a new workforce development program administered by Louisiana Works in coordination with Louisiana Economic Development and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The program operates through four core mechanisms: awarding competitive grants to training providers for curriculum development, equipment, instructor salaries, and wraparound services; providing direct financial support to eligible participants for training costs, living expenses, and certification fees; establishing employer partnerships with guaranteed interview and prevailing wage requirements; and creating Industry Advisory Councils for each designated high-growth sector. The law designates five priority industries as high-growth sectors: clean and renewable energy, information technology and cybersecurity, healthcare and healthcare technology, advanced manufacturing, and logistics and supply chain technology. Grant amounts are capped at five hundred thousand dollars per program per fiscal year, and the statute requires that a minimum of sixty percent of participants in funded programs be targeted participants while mandating that at least thirty percent of total program grants go to Historically Black College and University affiliated programs.

The legislation directly impacts training providers, low-income workers, and minority communities in Louisiana. Training providers including community colleges, technical colleges, HBCUs, registered apprenticeship programs, and industry-certified programs become eligible for competitive grants to develop and expand training capacity, with priority given to institutions located in parishes with high concentrations of low-income or minority residents. Targeted participants, defined as Louisiana residents with household income at or below one hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty level who are underrepresented in the applicable high-growth sector, become eligible for stipends covering training costs up to five thousand dollars, monthly living expenses up to one thousand dollars for twelve months, and full coverage of certification examination fees. These participant support grants are exempted from state income tax. Employers in high-growth sectors must commit to employer partnerships that guarantee interviews to all program graduates, offer prevailing wage employment, and provide mentorship and on-the-job training during the first year. Louisiana Works bears the administrative responsibility for awarding grants, establishing performance benchmarks, monitoring compliance, and pursuing supplemental federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding.

This legislation operates within the existing framework of Louisiana's workforce development infrastructure governed by Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. The statute references and coordinates with the Incumbent Worker Training Program, from which initial funding is appropriated, and leverages existing federal workforce development authorities under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The law allocates appropriated funds with sixty percent directed to training provider grants, thirty percent to participant support, and ten percent to administration and evaluation. Performance accountability measures require training programs to achieve specific benchmarks including eighty percent completion rates, eighty-five percent credential attainment, seventy-five percent job placement within ninety days, and seventy percent employer retention at twelve months, with funding reduction or termination as consequences for failing to meet benchmarks for two consecutive years absent extraordinary circumstances. The statute establishes an annual legislative reporting requirement effective January first each year regarding program performance, participant demographics, employer partnerships, and recommendations for improvement. The legislation addresses disparities in access to high-wage employment by creating statutory priority and preference mechanisms favoring HBCUs and community colleges in economically disadvantaged parishes, implementing a targeted approach to workforce equity within Louisiana's existing economic development framework.