(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) Californiaâs economic competitiveness is fueled, in part, by the strength of its regional economies and its skilled workforce. (2) Upward social and economic mobility helps keep the stateâs economy diversified and vibrant. (3) The attainment of industry-valued âmiddle skill credentialsâ serves as a gateway for a large and diverse number of careers in the stateâs economy. (4) Californiaâs local educational agencies, community college districts, interested public four-year universities, local workforce development boards, economic development and industry leaders, and local civic representatives should collaboratively work together to inform the offerings of courses, programs, pathways, and workforce development opportunities that enable students to access the current and future job market and further social and economic mobility. (b) The Strong Workforce Program is hereby established as a Kâ14 state education, economic, and workforce development initiative for the purpose of expanding the availability of high-quality, industry-valued career technical education and workforce development courses, programs, pathways, credentials, certificates, and degrees. (c) To facilitate program coordination and alignment with other workforce training, education, and employment services in the state, the Strong Workforce Program shall operate in a manner that complies with the California Strategic Workforce Development Plan, required pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Public Law 113-128), and expand upon existing consortia infrastructure. (d) To avoid duplication of effort, activities funded under the Strong Workforce Program shall be informed by, aligned with, and expand upon the activities of existing workforce and education regional partnerships, including those partnership activities that pertain to regional planning efforts established pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Public Law 113-128), adult education block grant consortia, and other career technical education programs. (e) All of the following guiding principles apply to each consortium participating in the Strong Workforce Program: (1) Any community college district or local educational agency participating in the consortium shall ensure that its career technical education and workforce development courses, credentials, certificates, degrees, programs, and pathway offerings, as applicable, are responsive to the needs of employers, workers, civic leaders, and students. (2) The consortium shall collaborate with other public institutions, including, but not limited to, adult education consortia, local workforce development boards, and interested California State University and University of California institutions. (3) The consortium shall collaborate with civic representatives, representatives from the labor community, and economic development and industry sector leaders within the region. (4) The consortium shall include collaborating entities and persons identified in this subdivision in planning meetings, provide them with adequate notice of the consortiumâs proposed decisions, and solicit, consider, and respond to comments from them regarding the consortiumâs proposed decisions. (5) Collaborative efforts shall focus upon evidence-based decisionmaking and student success with workforce outcomes aligned with the performance accountability measures of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Public Law 113-128), and closing labor market and employment gaps. Each consortium shall strive to align programmatic offerings in the most effective and efficient manner to avoid duplication of effort and streamline access to services, and education and training opportunities. (6) Community college districts, local educational agencies, and other entities participating in a consortium are encouraged to develop long-term partnerships with pr
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