HBA-AMW, SEP C.S.H.B. 1243 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1243 By: Villarreal, Mike Economic Development 4/20/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Workforce Commission currently tracks the short-term employment history of a former recipient of assistance under its employment programs for a maximum of 12 months after the recipient leaves the program. The ability of former recipients to earn a living wage is essential to the success of welfare-towork programs, but there may be little increase in a recipient's wages over time. Low wage growth may arise either from low returns to increased work experience or from low levels of experience. Determining which factor is the cause of low wage growth could be significant in designing effective welfare policy. C.S.H.B. 1243 requires the employment history tracking of former program recipients for a minimum of three years, and provides measures for assessing recipients' abilities to achieve and maintain long-term selfsufficiency. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1243 amends the Labor Code to require the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) division of workforce development, in cooperation with the Texas Department of Human Services, to develop and implement a system to monitor the long-term employment history of persons who are former recipients of assistance under certain employment programs operated by the division. The bill sets forth provisions regarding the system's design, including the provision that the system must track recipients' wage and employment outcomes for three years after leaving the employment program. The bill requires TWC to report to the legislature information obtained from the system, separately or as a part of any other required report, not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1243 modifies the original by providing that the system developed by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) division of workforce development to monitor the long-term employment history of persons who are former recipients of division assistance must track the wage and employment outcomes of the recipient for at least three years, rather than at least 12 months but no more than five years, and provide information regarding the recipient's household composition. The substitute removes the provision in the original requiring the system to compare the recipient's household earnings to a self-sufficiency standard. The substitute changes the date by which TWC is required to report to the legislature from March 1 to January 1 of each odd-numbered year.