Relates to the establishment of a wage data clearinghouse to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of workforce development and education programs in the state.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3451A
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the establishment of a
wage data clearinghouse
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Require the State Department of Labor (DOL) to issue an RFP to form a
partnership with an academic institution with proven experience in
analyzing labor market data to establish a research center to serve as
the State's clearinghouse for wage data. The clearinghouse would be
required to issue reports evaluating workforce preparation, worker
training and selected education programs, and to provide data on work-
force trends. This would allow the state to benefit from the expertise
of academics in conducting important research while keeping the data
protected.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Labor Law - § 44 wage data clearinghouse.
Section 1. The labor commissioner shall establish a wage data clearing-
house in consultation with the commissioner of education and the state
workforce investment board.
Section 2. The wage data clearinghouse shall be administered by an
academic institution in New York state with proven experience in analyz-
ing labor data.
Section 3. The department shall provide the wage data clearinghouse with
all state and federal wage and employment related data it has available.
Section 4. A nine member advisory board is established
Section S. The wage data clearinghouse shall provide analyses on the
effectiveness of workforce preparation programs and other related
research.
Section 6. The advisory board will consult with DOL, the commissioner of
education and the state workforce investment board.
Section 7. The clearinghouse shall release reports and aggregated data
to the department, which shall be made available online.
Section 8. DOL shall issue an evaluation of this data clearinghouse
within one year, and every four years thereafter.
EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER:
Create new section 44 of Labor Law.
JUSTIFICATION:
The state spends billions of state and federal dollars each year on
educating and training future workers through the PK-12 system, public
colleges and universities, workforce development and preparation
programs, and adult literacy classes. Yet policymakers and the public
have little idea which programs are effective and actually help partic-
ipants get on career paths that lead to living wage employment. Since
enactment of a state law in 2013, colleges and public workforce programs
have had access to the earnings and employment information of people who
completed their programs. While most large institutions do have the
capacity to meet the state's exacting standards for using the informa-
tion safely and effectively, smaller workforce preparation programs
which might benefit from information do not have the technological
capacity and analytical expertise to use the data.
Most other states are using wage data, often in combination with educa-
tion data to assess education and workforce programs. Examples of Data
Aggregation:
* Colleges and universities can now look at earnings of graduates, see
not only whether students got a job after graduation but whether they
stayed in a job and were able to move into higher paying positions.
* Individuals and policymakers can identify which educational and work-
force development programs are producing the best outcomes for partic-
ipants.
* This data will help the state and localities identify how many people
are trained in specific skills, where they are, whether they are out of
work or are looking for similarly skilled jobs, how many went through
such skill programs, are grads of programs and are successful in train-
ing more.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A359 of 2023-24: referred to Labor
A2542 of 2021-22: referred to ways and means;
A1056 of 2019-20: referred to ways and means;
A9933 of 2015-16: passed the Assembly;
A2164 of 2017-18: passed the Assembly
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Subject to available appropriations.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3451--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, COLTON, ZINERMAN -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Labor -- recommitted to the Committee on
Labor in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- reported and
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the establishment of a
wage data clearinghouse
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 45 to read
2 as follows:
3 § 45. Wage data clearinghouse. 1. The commissioner, subject to avail-
4 able appropriations and in consultation with the commissioner of educa-
5 tion and the state workforce investment board, shall establish a wage
6 data clearinghouse. The purpose of the wage data clearinghouse shall be
7 to use existing unemployment insurance data as described in section five
8 hundred thirty-seven of this chapter and other available labor, educa-
9 tion and workforce development data to evaluate the long-term effective-
10 ness of workforce development and education programs and to identify
11 gaps in the availability of existing and proposed workforce development
12 training to meet employment needs. In addition, the clearinghouse shall
13 conduct any other research it identifies as contributing to increasing
14 the attainment of long-term employment of residents of this state, espe-
15 cially those who are unemployed or underemployed.
16 2. The wage data clearinghouse shall be administered by an academic
17 institution in the state of New York with proven expertise in analyzing
18 labor data and shall be selected by the commissioner, in consultation
19 with the commissioner of the education department and the state work-
20 force investment board, through a request for proposals process. Crite-
21 ria shall include, but not be limited to, the demonstrated ability of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05939-02-6
A. 3451--A 2
1 the chosen institution to analyze unemployment insurance and wage
2 reporting data and to leverage and attract federal funds and non-govern-
3 mental funds. The commissioner is authorized to provide funding to a
4 selected academic institution for operating a wage data clearinghouse of
5 up to six hundred thousand dollars, subject to appropriation. Any
6 unused allocation may be made available in the subsequent fiscal year.
7 3. The department shall provide the wage data clearinghouse with all
8 state and federal unemployment insurance and wage and employment related
9 data it has available, including but not limited to unemployment insur-
10 ance data as described in section five hundred thirty-seven of this
11 chapter. All disclosure requirements specified in section five hundred
12 thirty-seven of this chapter shall apply to all wage data clearinghouse
13 employees working with the data.
14 4. A statewide wage data clearinghouse advisory board is hereby estab-
15 lished for the purpose of determining statewide objectives and the wage
16 data clearinghouse's research and evaluation priorities after consulta-
17 tion with the director of the wage data clearinghouse. The advisory
18 board shall appoint a director with expertise in large data systems and
19 data security with preference given to a candidate who has experience
20 with workforce development. Such director shall receive an annual salary
21 within amounts appropriated. (a) The advisory board shall consist of
22 twelve members, including: the chancellor of the state university of New
23 York, or such chancellor's designee; the commissioner of the state
24 education department, or such commissioner's designee; the commissioner
25 of the state department of labor, or the commissioner's designee; a
26 representative of superintendents of schools, appointed by the governor;
27 a representative of a district superintendents of schools, appointed by
28 the governor; a representative of community colleges, appointed by the
29 governor; and, six members of the public, including two appointed by the
30 speaker of the assembly, one appointed by the minority leader of the
31 assembly, two appointed by the president pro tempore of the senate, and
32 one appointed by the minority leader of the senate. The public members
33 of the advisory board shall have expertise in large data systems and
34 data security, workforce development programs, economic development,
35 business management and/or organized labor. (b) The members of the advi-
36 sory board shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall
37 be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the perform-
38 ance of their duties pursuant to this section, subject to the approval
39 of the department. (c) Advisory board members who represent state agen-
40 cies shall be appointed for terms of three years, and members who repre-
41 sent local governments shall serve terms of two years and all other
42 members shall serve terms of four years. Vacancies shall be filled in
43 the same manner as original appointments for the remainder of the unex-
44 pired term. (d) Advisory board members shall each be granted voting
45 rights and will together elect a chair whose designation shall be made
46 biannually. (e) The advisory board shall meet at such times and places
47 as may be determined by its chair. The advisory board shall meet at a
48 minimum of six times in the first year and a minimum of three times per
49 year thereafter. All meetings shall be open to the public pursuant to
50 article seven of the public officers law. A majority of the members of
51 such council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
52 (f) After consultation with the director, the advisory board shall
53 discuss and vote on research priorities and topics for the clearinghouse
54 that do not duplicate any research or statistics the department under-
55 takes and that focus on the need of the users of the analysis, which are
A. 3451--A 3
1 state and local policy makers, educational entities, workforce develop-
2 ment providers, businesses, and economic development administrators.
3 5. The wage data clearinghouse shall use unemployment insurance data
4 as described in section five hundred thirty-seven of this chapter
5 provided by the department and any other data sets including data
6 provided by state, federal or local agencies it deems appropriate. The
7 clearinghouse shall keep private and safeguard any personally identifi-
8 able information it obtains and shall not release such information to
9 any other party, and shall use any data it obtains solely for the
10 purpose of furthering the effectiveness and efficiency of workforce
11 development efforts as provided in this section.
12 6. The wage data clearinghouse shall release reports and aggregated
13 data to the department, which shall be posted on the department's
14 website as well as on any website maintained by the clearinghouse.
15 7. One year after selection of the academic institution that will
16 serve as the clearinghouse, the department shall submit to the director
17 of the budget, the chair of the senate finance committee, the chair of
18 the assembly ways and means committee, the chairs of senate and assembly
19 labor committees, the speaker of the assembly, and the president pro
20 tempore of the senate, an evaluation of this program prepared by the
21 department. Such evaluation shall be submitted every four years there-
22 after.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
