Existing law establishes in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a Women in Construction Priority Unit to, among other things, provide resources for employers and project owners, including public agencies, to improve construction worksite culture, address barriers to employment, and develop training and materials for workforce pipeline professionals specific to women and nonbinary individuals in construction.

This bill would establish the California Women’s Preapprenticeship and Stipend Program within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for purposes of awarding competitive grants to eligible entities, as defined, that provide preapprenticeship training programs designed to prepare women for entry into registered apprenticeship programs or other state-approved workforce pathways. The bill would require the grants to be used for specified purposes, including to provide direct participant stipends to offset lost wages and enable full participation in preapprenticeship training programs. The bill would require the agency to prioritize applications from eligible entities that have programs serving women who meet specified criteria. The bill would impose reporting requirements on grantees and would require the agency to provide a summary report of the data received to the Legislature. The bill would authorize the agency to issue rules, regulations, guidelines, policies, or procedures necessary to implement the bill’s provisions described above, including application criteria, grant requirements, and performance measures.

This bill would appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund to the agency for purposes of the California Women’s Preapprenticeship and Stipend Program. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys made available for purposes of the program. By continuously appropriating moneys made available for the program and by making a one-time appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation.