CHAPTER 11-A. WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS

§1801. Workforce solutions; development; coordination with employers

            A. The Louisiana Workforce Commission shall coordinate and be responsible for the delivery of business workforce solutions to address the state of Louisiana's workforce and economic development needs through the various workforce and educational agencies of the state. The secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission shall have the authority to align or realign workforce systems as necessary to better deliver workforce solutions to meet the needs of the state economy and people of the state. The secretary shall convene the leaders of the agencies listed in Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section in order to guide their collaboration across these agencies and within their agencies to improve the delivery of workforce solutions to businesses and their workforce needs.

            B.(1) The Board of Regents, the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, Louisiana Economic Development, the Department of Education, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana State University system, and the Department of Children and Family Services shall identify, recognize, change, create, or recommend any initiatives, services, data collection, research, and programs that will promote workforce development in the state.

            (2) Recommendations for workforce development may include special initiatives, ad hoc reports, or involvement and recommendations from the following entities:

            (a) The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette or any other policy institute or center operated by or affiliated with a public university located in the state of Louisiana.

            (b) Local workforce development boards.

            (c) Regional economic development organizations.

            (d) State and local chambers of commerce.

            (e) Parish or city economic development organizations.

            (f) Other ad hoc reports developed and published pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 17:3138.12 at the request of the secretary of any state entity listed in that Section, or other state entities with prior approval of all parties to the data-sharing agreements associated with data used in developing the ad hoc report and with requisite funding.

            C. Recommendations and development of workforce solutions shall seek to accomplish the following goals:

            (1) Design and collaborate business solutions capabilities to enable employers in every region of the state to have a single point of contact for developing solutions to their immediate and long-term workforce needs.

            (2) Provide a path for college students in Louisiana's four-year universities and two-year colleges toward paid or unpaid internships in Louisiana while they are in their associate degree, noncredit, or technical credential program or bachelor's degree program, with the goal that their internships are embedded in their degree programs and are in their fields of study or professional fields of interest after graduation. The Board of Regents shall research and enact policies and procedures that incentivize Louisiana's public institutions to incorporate work-based learning into their degree program curricula and strengthen the impact of work-based learning on graduate outcomes.

            (3) Provide a path for high school participants to earn credit for a paid internship or apprenticeship through work-based learning by the time they graduate from high school. As necessary, the Department of Education shall recommend changes to the state accountability system to increase and reward work-based learning in high schools throughout Louisiana. These internships or apprenticeships should be available in a broad range of fields, including professional and technical, and coordinated regionally and locally with chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.

            (4) Design a process for accurate workforce shortage forecasting relevant to the current state needs and forecasted economic development sector goals reported to the state workforce investment council and Louisiana Economic Development, annually.

            (5) Organizations listed in Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section shall collaborate on development of an inventory of workforce programs in Louisiana and metrics on their performance and report by February first of each year to the governor and legislature on a strategy and progress to address and improve workforce needs. The organizations shall develop common communication and information for the public and business community to understand the state's workforce vision with messages that guide improvement of workforce development efforts in Louisiana.

            (6) Identify, recommend, and pilot solutions that use nonprofit or private partners for state workforce solutions where possible.

            D.(1) The Louisiana Workforce Commission shall determine entities responsible for convening the state's economic sectors with the greatest workforce demand shortages to address solutions to the top three sectors' shortages, annually. If the healthcare sector is determined to have workforce shortages, the recommendations shall be comprehensive to also include solutions for shortages of medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine, especially in rural Louisiana, as well as nursing and allied health professionals.

            (2) The agencies and institutions listed in Paragraphs (B)(1) and (2) of this Section shall provide educational attainment data from their constituents to ensure achievement for sixty percent of adults to possess a postsecondary degree or certificate in a trade by the year 2030, enabling more adults to possess postsecondary degrees, diplomas, certificates, and credentials of value.

            Acts 2024, No. 330, §2.