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Assembly committee backs bill to coordinate career, education and workforce programs
Summary
SB 638 would create a coordinating entity to align education and workforce programs, fund career-education pathways in underserved regions and streamline interagency work; the committee passed the bill to Higher Education.
Senator Padilla presented SB 638, a bill the sponsor described as the Middle Class Pipeline Project. The measure would establish a statewide coordinating entity to unify education, workforce development and related programs, streamline funding and reduce duplication, and inject resources into low-income regions to expand career-technical education and pathways.
Supporters from California Competes and the EDGE Coalition told the committee that California lacks a single higher-education coordinating body and that dispersed programs and funding make access difficult for underinvested communities. They urged the committee to pass the bill to Higher Education; the committee approved the bill and later reported it out with a 7-0 tally.
Proponents said coordination and data alignment (including linkages to the state's build-to-career data system) would help target investments and better meet projected workforce needs. The bill was presented as a long-term structural change rather than an immediate large spending proposal; funding details are to be determined in budget discussions.
