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Workforce Solutions budget: apprenticeships, case management study and outreach funding highlighted
Summary
LFC and DFA analysts and Workforce Solutions officials described FY26 recommendations that include a $5 million apprenticeship distribution, studies on labor-force participation and investments in case management and outreach; one local journalism fellowship request was not funded.
Legislative Finance Committee and DFA analysts presented the Workforce Solutions Department’s FY26 budget overview and the department described key nonrecurring initiatives its LFC‑adopted recommendation includes.
LFC analyst Rachel Garcia said the HAFC adopted the LFC recommendation for an FY26 operating budget close to the executive’s recommendation. Both included a $250,000 general fund backfill for apprenticeship program transfers and a $5 million distribution from the Workforce Development and Apprenticeship Fund for FY26 apprenticeship programming.
Garcia highlighted nonrecurring items the department and LFC recommended: $750,000 for an employment case‑management system, $750,000 for a study of factors holding people out of the labor force, $500,000 for intensive outreach to out‑of‑school youth, and $600,000 to increase pre‑apprenticeship funding. The LFC recommendation also included a contingent $35 million in startup costs tied to passage of a paid family medical leave bill.
DFA analyst Mario Stemiglia noted the executive had proposed creating a separate P code for apprenticeship distributions, but the committee followed the LFC recommendation to keep amounts in existing accounts. Department Secretary Serena Nair described workforce indicators and said the department’s estimated employment gap — the difference between job openings and jobseekers — has narrowed from earlier pandemic peaks but remains a focus.
Nair said the agency seeks to expand proactive outreach, social‑media and employer‑engagement strategies, and to pilot an aligned case‑management system. She also noted that LFC did not include continued funding for a $500,000 local‑journalism fellowship the department had requested; supporters of that fellowship emphasized community reporting and training for rural newsrooms.
Committee members asked about outreach tactics, platforms (including TikTok and other social media), employer engagement and whether the planned studies will identify specific barriers and wage bands where hiring pressure is greatest. Nair said planned studies and expanded outreach would aim to collect that evidence and tailor interventions.
