SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2275        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Paul R. Feeney

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2275        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act to promote economic mobility through ESOL.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. To ensure the creation of opportunity by investing in the infrastructure needed to provide job training, and workforce development for workers with limited-English proficiency (LEP), an ESOL for economic mobility coordinator position shall be created within the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development established under Chapter 23, section 1 of the General Laws to develop a statewide, comprehensive, actionable strategy to prepare newly-arrived and other LEP workers with the English language skills needed to fill in-demand jobs across  Massachusetts. In developing an ESOL for economic mobility strategy, the coordinator must convene stakeholders, including but not limited to employers, job training providers, worker advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, and constituents, to incorporate their feedback and recommendations for strategies to achieve the objectives herein. The coordinator shall manage all efforts through the Workforce Skills Cabinet established in Massachusetts Executive Order No. 560 to ensure the following ESOL for economic mobility  objectives are met in concert with the Executive Office of Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; accomplished in addition to and not the detriment of ESOL efforts in those agencies; and achieved in collaboration with the Executive Office of Economic Development in measuring the effectiveness of ESOL for economic mobility in meeting employers needs. The coordinator shall be responsible for, but is not limited to, the implementation of the following objectives:

a.) Develop a statewide ESOL expansion strategy, in collaboration with the executive office of education, with a focus on providing ESOL for economic mobility to new arrivals and the LEP population.

b.) Increase investment in ESOL to bring capacity into alignment with the state’s growing LEP population.

c.) As resource levels rise, shift state ESOL for workforce funding to vocational programs.

d.) Leverage community colleges to bring more federal resources into the ESOL delivery system.

e.) Support regional collaboration and remove barriers to coordination among local service providers.

f.) Build the ESOL educator workforce.

g.) Improve data collection and support research and evaluation.

SECTION 2. PILOT

Within 90 days of passage of this act, there shall be an ESOL for economic mobility pilot program administered by ESOL for economic mobility coordinator in the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s to expediently expand the availability of ESOL for economic mobility to meet the immediate demands of employers and provide opportunities for employment to newly-arrived, long-time unemployed, and underemployed workers with limited-English proficiency

SECTION 3. REPORTING

Not later than one year after passage of this act, the office shall submit its comprehensive strategic plan and report on measurable outcomes achieved to meet its statutory duties, along with suggested specific objectives, key performance indicators and outcome measures proposed for the following year. The report shall include data and statistics on the total number of students served, percent increase in investment to ESOL programs, number of community college programs and students served by them, number of vocational ESOL programs and students served by them, and number of new ESOL educators deployed through these programs and numbers of jobs gained by individuals who have successfully completed ESOL programs. Thereafter, the office shall annually submit the report by August 30 to the governor, the secretary of labor and workforce development, the chairs and ranking minority members of the joint committee on labor and workforce development, and the joint committee on Education and the clerks of the House and Senate.

SECTION 4. FUNDING COORDINATOR AND PROGRAMS

The sums set forth in this act, for the purposes and subject to the conditions specified in this act, are hereby made available, subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public funds, which sums shall be in addition to any other amounts previously appropriated for these purposes…………$13,000,000