Lampitt, Schaer, Wimberly & Danielsen Bill to Improve State Job Training Program Advanced by Assembly Panel

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly Democrats Pamela Lampitt, Gary Schaer, Benjie Wimberly and Joe Danielsen sponsored to improve a state job training program was advanced Monday by the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

The bill (A-1831) amends the reporting requirements for the New Jersey Basic Skills Training Program for Economic Growth to include further analysis of the training.

Specifically, the bill requires the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development to include in the annual report an analysis of the effect of the training on workers’ wages and employment and to determine the long term effectiveness of the training.

Current law requires the consortium to produce an annual report that contains: the total number of workers trained; the total funds expended on training; the number of workers trained in each area of training; the number of businesses with employees trained; the number of classes held in each area of training; the number of classes held at each community college; the wage range of the workers trained; the job titles of the workers trained; and the results of the pre-training and post-training assessments.

The report is also mandated to include an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the training program and how it can be improved in the following year.

“All of this information is necessary and useful to policy makers and the business community, but does not provide sufficient information for an effective analysis of the impact of the training on the worker’s wages and employment status,” said Lampitt (D-Camden/Burlington).

“This bill facilitates the analysis of the training impact by requiring the collection, and reporting by the consortium, of information regarding worker employment status and wage rates prior to the training compared to the status and rates during the first, second and third fiscal year after the training ends,” said Schaer (D-Passaic/Bergen).

“The analysis will assist the business community and policy makers in determining the long term effectiveness of training,” said Wimberly (D-Passaic/Bergen).

“Rebuilding our middle-class is paramount, but to do so, we need to know if our programs our working successfully,” said Danielson (D-Somerset/Middlesex).