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Labor commissioner outlines youth-employment, reentry and apprenticeship investments; trust fund strong
Summary
Commissioner Denise Thomas told the committee the Department of Labor seeks nonrecurring funds for an 8,000,000 expansion of Tennessee Youth Employment and requested $1.5 million for a reentry employment program; the unemployment trust fund balance was reported at $1.54 billion after a $100 million increase.
Commissioner Denise Thomas presented the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's FY27 proposals to the Commerce and Labor Committee, highlighting a Tennessee Works Hub to coordinate employers with services, a requested $8,000,000 nonrecurring expansion of the Tennessee Youth Employment program (which has served about 8,500 youth), and a $1,500,000 request for a reentry employment program aimed at people leaving incarceration.
Thomas said the department's rural health care apprenticeship work (funded in part with TennCare shared savings) has reached thousands: she said roughly 1,631 people are in that program, 1,000 of whom are in registered apprenticeships, across 86 counties and 56 apprenticeship offerings covering 52 occupations. CFO Andy Sommer reported the unemployment trust fund rose by about $100,000,000 to a $1.54 billion balance and earned roughly $49,000,000 of that increase in interest.
Members asked about completion rates and micro-credentialing metrics; Thomas said some micro-credential contracts were newly released and participation figures are forthcoming. The chair moved the department's $251,000,000 budget to the Finance Committee and the motion passed.
