Workforce development: the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura: 2025 wildfires.

Solache’s measure directs the California Workforce Development Board to channel funds appropriated for workforce development to the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity for targeted rebuilding and recovery efforts in the wildfire-impacted areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including a further reallocation of six hundred thousand dollars to the Economic Development Collaborative for the same purposes. The arrangement sits within the state’s broader workforce investment framework and is initiated as an immediate, emergency action to support urgent local needs.

The bill specifies that the funds may be used for a range of workforce activities tied to rebuilding and economic resilience, such as education and training programs, high-road training partnerships, preapprenticeships, transitional jobs, and supportive services including stipends for underemployed or unemployed individuals. It also covers rapid response and layoff aversion services, recruitment and financial incentives, and customized training for businesses and workers involved in the rebuild. The initiative contemplates the creation or expansion of job and business centers near the fire zones to improve access, and it envisions a direct pipeline into the workforce through expedited licensing and certification “if feasible.” The California Workforce Development Board may allocate up to a five percent portion of the total funds for state administration and may permit LACDOE to subcontract with other entities, subject to quality standards and practices.

Oversight and governance are structured with the CWDB as the primary administering body and the LACDOE as the local administrator, with the Economic Development Collaborative serving as a subrecipient. The program references quality standards established in the state’s workforce development framework and requires adherence to those standards, linking program delivery to existing administrative and contractual oversight. While the text does not specify penalties or enforcement tools beyond standard budgetary and contract governance, it anticipates subcontracting arrangements and a degree of administrative flexibility within the stated five percent cap.

The measure is crafted as an urgency statute to take effect immediately, reflecting findings that the 2025 wildfires create unique circumstances in the targeted counties and that coordinated, fast-acting workforce development is necessary for rebuilding, recovery, and regional economic development. The geographic focus is expressly limited to Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with no statewide expansion or sunset date noted in the text. The proposal ties into the Budget Act 2025 appropriation framework and AB 102 amendments, positioning the effort within the existing state-wide workforce development architecture while instituting a dedicated, wildfire-specific deployment pathway through local partners.