HOUSE BILL NO. 100 "An Act relating to allocations of funding for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board; and providing for an effective date." 9:03:54 AM Co-Chair Bishop noted that the committee would hear HB 100 for the first time and intended to set the bill aside. 9:04:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE ADAM WOOL, SPONSOR, discussed HB 100, which proposed a three-year reauthorization of the Technical Vocational Education Program (TVEP). The program used .16 percent of unemployment insurance receipts and provided grants around the state to many technical vocational education programs. The total of the grant was approximately $12 million and impacted thousands of students. The largest recipient was the University of Alaska (UA), which received 45 percent of the receipts, which it distributed to various campuses around the state. Other colleges and programs that received the funding included the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) in Seward, Alaska Technical Center in Kotzebue, and Iligsavik College in Utqiagvik. He noted that the bill had been unchanged in the other body. The program recipients and funding amounts had remained unchanged since 2014. 9:06:23 AM ASHLEY CARRICK, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE WOOL, discussed the presentation "Technical Vocational Education Program (TVEP) Re-Authorization" (copy on file). Ms. Carrick looked at slide 2, "TVEP Program History": ? Established under AS 23.15.830 ? Created in 2000 to provide noncompetitive grant assistance to education entities in Alaska that delivered specific vocational/ technical training. ? In 2014, the Legislature increased the amount of funds diverted to TVEP from 0.15% of unemployment insurance to 0.16%. ? HB 100 seeks to re-authorize the program for another 3 years. Ms. Carrick spoke to slide 3, "Types of Training": TVEP Recipients Offer ? Aviation ? Fisheries ? Construction ? Renewable Energy ? Mining ? Information Technology ? Transportation ? Health Care ? Other Vocational Training Ms. Carrick referenced slide 4, "How TVEP Funding Gets Distributed," which showed a flow chart. She noted that the unemployment insurance receipts were drawn from the employee portion of checks and then diverted to the State Training and Employment Program (STEP) and TVEP. Ms. Carrick turned to slide 5, "TVEP Recipients Over Time": In 2000: University of Alaska: 52% Kotzebue Training Center: 16% Alaska Vocational Technical Center: 32% In 2001: University of Alaska: 63% Kotzebue Training Center: 11% Alaska Vocational Technical Center: 22% Galena Project Education Training Center: 4% In 2004: University of Alaska: 55% Kotzebue Training Center: 11% Alaska Vocational Technical Center: 22% Galena Project Education Training Center: 4% Southwest Alaska Vocational Education Center: 4% Yuut Elitnaurviat, Inc., People's Learning Center: 4% Ms. Carrick considered slide 6, "TVEP Recipients Over Time Cont.": In 2008: University of Alaska: 45% Kotzebue Training Center- Alaska Technical Center: 9% Alaska Vocational Technical Center: 17% Galena Project Education Training Center: 4% Southwest Alaska Vocational Education Center: 3% Yuut Elitnaurviat, Inc., People's Learning Center: 9% Delta Career Advancement Center, Partners for Progress Delta, Inc.: 3% Amundsen Educational Center: 2% Northwestern Alaska Career and Technical Center: 3% University of Alaska Southeast: 5% Ms. Carrick displayed slide 7, "Current TVEP Recipients": In 2014 and again in 2017: Statewide: University of Alaska: 45% Kotzebue: Alaska Technical Center: 9% Seward: Alaska Vocational Technical Center: 17% Galena: Galena Project Education Training Center: 4% Dillingham: Southwest Alaska Vocational Education Center: 3% Bethel: Yuut Elitnaurviat, Inc., People's Learning Center: 9% Delta: Partners for Progress Delta, Inc.: 3% Kenai: Amundsen Educational Center: 2% Nome: Northwestern Alaska Career and Technical Center: 3% Utqiagvik: Illisagvik College: 5% (Added in 2014) 9:10:08 AM Ms. Carrick highlighted slide 8, "TVEP Distributions," which showed a chart. She drew attention to the far-right column, which showed proposed distributions for FY 22. She explained that even with the fluctuations during COVID-19 the previous year and draws from unemployment, there had been a relatively stable source of funding for TVEP recipients. Ms. Carrick addressed Section 1 of the bill, which extended the program reauthorization date to 2024. Section 1 also included the list of ten recipients and the percentages of funding distribution. She continued that Section 2 of the bill contained a retroactivity clause and Section 3 included an effective date. Senator Hoffman recalled that there was a termination clause in the original program, and that the program had been reauthorized numerous times. He thought the success of the program was evident. He asked if the sponsor had considered extending or removing the sunset date to create a permanent program. Representative Wool relayed that Senator Hoffman's question had come up in the House Finance Committee as well. He thought the reauthorization period allowed for time to examine the list of funding recipients, which had not changed in six or seven years. He thought the question was whether the recipients should be locked in indefinitely and pondered whether the funding numbers should be permanent. Senator Wielechowski asked for an easily identifiable list of participants at each institution and the number of students that had successfully completed the program. Ms. Carrick thought that the information was in the TVEP annual report. 9:14:06 AM AT EASE 9:14:55 AM RECONVENED Senator Wielechowski pointed out that the information was contained in the TVEP annual Report (copy on file). There was information on page 2 and performance data on page 6. Co-Chair Bishop suggested that the next time the bill was heard the committee could invite the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOL) to address the topic. Senator Wilson recalled that a previous bill had included consideration of the constitutionality of TVEP funding and referenced a letter from the Legislative Legal Department. He wondered if the sponsor had received a memo regarding the constitutionality of some of the vocational rehabilitation programs that were privately funded. Representative Wool was not aware of the constitutionality of funding for private institutions versus public institutions. Ms. Carrick relayed that in having the bill drafted, the sponsor and staff had not received any advice regarding the constitutionality of the proposed funding. Senator Wilson wanted a clear definition regarding the constitutionality of the TVEP, the Alaska Scholars Program, and others. He was concerned about the challenges that could arise by funding the programs. Senator von Imhof observed that two percent of the allocation went to the Amundsen Education Center (AEC), which was a faith-based non-profit educational and vocational training school located in Soldotna. She thought the term "faith-based" indicated there was a religious component to the organization, which she thought could be unconstitutional. She was curious as to why the public funds were going to a faith-based organization. Representative Wool stated that the question had come up before regarding the efficacy of the program in Soldotna, but no one had raised strong objection to the school since. He thought there was public and private institutions on the list of grant recipients. He stated he could work with the Legislative Legal Department to gather more information on the topic. Senator Olson appreciated the intent of the bill. He wanted to address the AEC, which had done a great deal of outreach to people in his district. He was in support of the educational outreach and thought the program was successful. Co-Chair Bishop commented that TVEP was a good program. 9:19:47 AM TERI COTHREN, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA (via teleconference), spoke in favor of the bill, which would provide critical funding for short-term career and technical education programs across the state. She asserted that the program would support the state's economic recovery by re-scaling and up-scaling Alaskans for employment. Ms. Cothren spoke to highlights from the presentation "University of Alaska Technical Vocational Education Program, " (copy on file). As a TVEP recipient, UA used its funds as a single allocation within the system. The program was administered through a competitive request for fund proposal or grants process. The program provided industry- specific, on-the-job, and classroom training that addressed high demand and regional workforce needs. She thought the program increased collaboration and was responsive to industry. Ms. Cothren cited that UA utilized TVEP to train 4,320 Alaskans in FY 20 for jobs in mining, oil and gas, fisheries, seafood, maritime, construction, Internet Technology, health, aviation and more. She cited that in FY 20 the average cost per participant among all TVEP recipients was $1,349. The University had averaged a cost of $1,300 per participant, with nearly 78 percent being employed following training. Some programs had as much as 89 percent employment in the state after graduation with increased wage growth. She listed successes in the certified nurse's assistant program. 9:22:47 AM Senator Wielechowski considered the numbers cited and thought the average per participant at the AEC was $11,890. He wondered why the amount was so much higher than the other educational centers. Representative Wool thought the numbers were calculations of how much funding the institution received divided by the number of graduates, and the AEC had a low number of graduates. He pondered that the program reauthorization was an opportunity to examine the numbers and make changes if needed. He did not have historical data on the center and thought bigger institutions would have better average numbers. Senator von Imhof looked at page 6 of the TVEP annual report, which had performance measurements. She saw that various post-program employment rates ranged from 45 percent to 63 percent, rather than the 80 percent or 90 percent she had heard. Co-Chair Bishop affirmed that the AEC was showing an 86 percent employment rate after 12 months. Senator von Imhof commented that if the state was giving public money to a religious institution, it should be consistent across all sectors including K-12 education. 9:26:13 AM Senator Wielechowski looked at page 2 of the TVEP annual report, which indicated that the center was getting $249,700, which equated to $11,890 per participant compared to the average of near $1,300. He acknowledged that the success rate of the center was good but thought it was a good topic for evaluation. Co-Chair Bishop thought it would be helpful to include DOL in the future discussion, and the department could talk about the specific careers that participants were being trained for. Senator Olson thought the success rate was more important to consider than to ponder questions of constitutionality. He thought the matter had been addressed. He was concerned that there was not as much emphasis on the success rate of the Amundson Center as compared to some other institutions. Senator von Imhof asked if there was any funding going to the Kenai Peninsula College (KPC). She understood there was a technical center in Nome and asked how it was faring. Ms. Cothren detailed that there was funding that went to KPC as well as its Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer. Currently the funding went towards a technical program as well as some health programs. Co-Chair Bishop added that the KPC was also home to Mining Training and Petroleum Institute. He noted there were different segments in UA that performed better than others. The mining industry employed 88 percent of the graduates out of the mining training program. Senator von Imhof asked about the Northwest Alaska Career and Technical Center in Nome. She noted there were 31 students that attended in 2020. She asked how the students fared and if was a good place to stay versus in Soldotna. She wondered what was being offered in Soldotna that was not offered in Nome. Co-Chair Bishop thought there was invited testimony that could address Senator von Imhof's question. 9:30:46 AM DOUG WALRATH, DIRECTOR, NORTHWESTERN ALASKA CAREER AND TECHNICAL CENTER, NOME (via teleconference), supported the reauthorization of the TVEP funding. He thought the program provided autonomy and flexibility to meet the unique needs of each regions priority industries. He mentioned in-region workforce development and sued healthcare training as an example of a top priority. The Norton Sound Health Corporation was the largest regional employer in the Nome census area. The corporation provided dual-credit high school training, and industry certification, which transitioned high school students into healthcare jobs. Mr. Walrath continued that Nome was poised for several large projects addressing national interests. He mentioned a $379 million appropriation for an Arctic deep draft port in Nome. In January, the federal government had designated a high priority infrastructure project 40 miles from Nome involving a graphite deposit. He mentioned driver education training and cuts that had eliminated the Nome Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office. The career and technical center in Nome provided the only adult and high school driver education training and was a DMV-approved road tester in the region. Mr. Walrath addressed Senator von Imhof's question regarding leaving the region for training. He discussed the importance of getting a driver's license. He thought it was critically important to make early outreach to develop a technically skilled workforce. Senator von Imhof appreciated the explanation from Mr. Walrath and understood there were specialty locations around the state. She mentioned ship piloting in Seward. She asked about the use of program funds in high schools and wondered if it was appropriate. She wondered if the program funding was comingling with Department of Education and Early Development funds. She understood vocational technical training started in the high school years and asked if TVEP had traditionally funded high school students as opposed to adults. 9:34:51 AM Senator Olson thought exposure to vocational education opportunities was important for high school students. He discussed continuing education after high school without a break and the importance of exposure to vocational education. He asked Mr. Walrath about the 35 percent employment achievement at the center in Nome as opposed to some other programs. Mr. Walrath noted that across all TVEP recipients, there was a population of both adults and high school students served. He acknowledged there was disparity and thought one could see the impact of local decision-making. He cited a research study from 2009 that indicated that prior to TVEP, the graduation rate in the Bering Straits region averaged about 38 percent. He asserted that TVEP had engaged students and kept them in school on a graduation pathway. He discussed engaging courses that led to health care jobs such as certified nurse's aide (CNA). He thought the percentage of employment was lower as the number of high school program participants was higher. He discussed the increase in graduation rate. He thought the impact was profound based on the small investment. Mr. Walrath added to Senator Olson's remarks about getting high school students through training and participants engaging in continuing education in the summer right after high school as opposed to waiting. 9:38:30 AM Senator Olson considered that the previous year had been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and asked what Mr. Walrath expected for participation the following year in the district. Mr. Walrath cited the TVEP report, and the impacts of the pandemic as shown in participation numbers for the year. He thought looking at data from the prior three years would be more accurate. He mentioned sending instructors to villages and hoped the numbers would climb the following year. Co-Chair Bishop commented that the state was on the precipice of benefitting from an eight-year federal infrastructure bill. He thought it was good timing for the committee to consider HB 100 because the infrastructure work would call for an increased workforce. He was thankful that there was a workforce delivery system in place to meet the demand. Senator Olson pointed out that Nome deep port projects seemed to be progressing. The majority of funding had been secured from federal sources. He anticipated a fair amount of construction in the Nome area in the following seven to eight years. Senator von Imhof thought TVEP was an excellent program that she fully supported and agreed with Co-Chair Bishop regarding training the next generation of the workforce. She wanted to ensure that the program was being used as intended. She had received emails that pondered whether the program funding was being used as intended and spent on workforce development. She thought an audit or deeper dive could provide information on details. She pondered competing programs. She offered to forward the comments on to Co-Chair Bishop. 9:42:56 AM Co-Chair Bishop OPENED and CLOSED public testimony. Co-Chair Bishop mentioned there was an amendment deadline for Wednesday, May 5 at 5:00 o'clock p.m. HB 100 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration. 9:43:18 AM AT EASE 9:46:30 AM RECONVENED