California Education Interagency Council: California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.

Removed official legislative document formatting including 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header, chapter number (Chapter 457), page numbers, and formal section numbering layout.

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The bill header changed from the enrolled format (showing Senate and Assembly passage dates and Governor receipt line) to the chaptered format with 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL,' chapter number 457, and the Governor's approval date of October 7, 2025.

All statutory text was reflowed to accommodate a different page width in the statutes format. The wording of every section is identical between the two versions; only line breaks and indentation changed.

The entire new Chapter 17 (Sections 53080-53083) establishing the Career Technical Education and Career Pathways Grant Program, including its dedicated State Treasury fund, definitions, grant requirements, and community college partnership mandate, is removed from the bill.

A new California Education Interagency Council is established in the Government Operations Agency to perform advisory duties on career technical education, college and career pathways, and workforce development. An Office of the California Education Interagency Council would support it, including by maintaining a public website with agendas, reports, and work products.

A new conditional operative provision states that certain sections of the bill would become operative only if AB 1098 of the 2025-26 Regular Session is enacted, creating a dependency on another bill's passage.

Multiple key provisions now carry an operative date of June 1, 2026, including the revised minimum eligibility standards, the holistic approach requirement for successful applicants, the consultation requirement with the Interagency Council instead of the Community Colleges Chancellor, and the positive consideration for applicants in high poverty areas.

The prohibition stating that under no circumstances shall an applicant be awarded an amount higher than what the allocation formula determines them eligible to receive is removed from Section 53071.

Minimum eligibility standards in Section 53071 are revised and recast effective June 1, 2026. The old standard requiring ongoing and meaningful industry and labor partnerships evidenced by written agreements and advisory committee participation is replaced with a simpler collaboration standard. A new standard requires ensuring career programs align with workforce needs identified through local, regional, or statewide economic and workforce development plans, Strong Workforce Program consortia plans, and employer engagement.

The legislative digest title changes from referencing only the California Education and Workforce Development Coordinating Entity to also referencing an Interagency Council, reflecting the new governance structure.

The bill now amends Sections 53070, 53070.1, 53071, 53072, 53074, and 53075 of the Education Code in addition to adding new chapters. The existing CTE Incentive Grant Program is being restructured alongside the new grant program, making this a comprehensive reform rather than just an additive measure.

Senator Rubio is added as a principal coauthor and Assembly Member Muratsuchi is added as a coauthor, reflecting broader legislative support after the Assembly amendments.

The prohibition on awarding an applicant an amount higher than what the allocation formula determines them to be eligible to receive is deleted. This removes a cap that previously limited how much any single applicant could receive relative to the formula-based allocation.

When developing and considering grant applications, the State Department of Education must now consult with the California Education and Workforce Development Coordinating Entity instead of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.

Minimum eligibility standards for the existing CTE Incentive Grant Program are revised and recast, including new standards related to collaborating with labor and business entities, aligning programs with workforce needs and labor market demand, providing opportunities for certain pupil populations, and reporting information for program evaluation. Successful applicants must also demonstrate a holistic approach to providing CTE and career pathways.

Positive consideration in grant determinations now extends to applicants located in areas with a high poverty rate (defined as at least 150 percent of the statewide poverty rate), in addition to the existing consideration for high unemployment areas. Both terms are formally defined in the bill.

The term 'earn and learn opportunities' is changed to simply 'earn and learn' throughout the bill, a terminology simplification that appears in multiple sections.

The bill adds language stating it is the intent of the Legislature that one-time funding for career technical education appropriated pursuant to Section 94 of AB 121 (Chapter 8 of Statutes of 2025) be made available to the department for the CTE Incentive Grant Program.

New Section 53081(f) requires the Superintendent to present recommended grant applicants to the Coordinating Entity for review and approval at a publicly noticed meeting before any grant can be awarded. No grant may be issued without this approval.

Section 53081(a) changes the Superintendent's role from simply 'establishing' the grant program to 'developing and administering' it in consultation with the Coordinating Entity, creating a shared governance structure.

New Section 11924(a)(1) adds a broad duty to streamline rules, allocations, and reporting requirements of career technical education and workforce development programs administered or overseen by statewide or local agencies, including programs supporting career exploration, work-based learning, dual enrollment, postsecondary transition, or job placement.

Grant applicants (Section 53081(c)(1)) must now demonstrate that their programs are aligned with regional workforce needs and labor market demand, as identified through local, regional, or statewide economic and workforce development plans, labor market information, or employer engagement.

Grant priority criteria (Section 53081(d)(2)) now include aligning proposed programs and services with current or projected labor market demand within the applicant's region as part of the holistic approach evaluation.

New Section 11922(b) requires the Coordinating Entity to support implementation of the Master Plan for Career Education by facilitating strategic alignment across education, workforce, and economic development systems.

The Coordinating Entity's state plan (Section 11924(a)(7)) must now be aligned with the goals and priorities of the Master Plan for Career Education, adding a new statutory anchor for planning.

New Section 11924(a)(25) requires the Coordinating Entity to establish a diversity, equity, and inclusion standing subcommittee for implementation of strategic and operational goals regarding underserved populations.

Coordinating Entity membership (Section 11923(a)) adds the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development as member (16), expanding the entity's representation to include the labor department directly.

The entire amendment to Section 3120 of the Labor Code establishing youth apprenticeship as a priority for the Division of Apprenticeship Standards was removed. The bill no longer touches the Labor Code.

Grants may be used for apprenticeships, dual enrollment, earn and learn opportunities, preapprenticeships, service learning, work-based learning, and addressing statewide/regional needs in green technology, health care, information technology, and artificial intelligence.

New legislative findings and declarations (Section 1) cite workforce statistics including that 40 percent of California jobs will require a baccalaureate degree by 2030, one in three jobs requires education beyond high school but less than a bachelor's degree, and households without a college graduate have seen wages decline by 8 percent since 1980.

A new Career Technical Education and Career Pathways Grant Program Fund is established in the State Treasury (Education Code Section 53082). Moneys are available upon legislative appropriation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for grant purposes.

The new grant program is limited to local educational agencies (school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education) located in high poverty areas (poverty rate at least 150 percent of statewide) or high unemployment areas (unemployment rate at least 150 percent of statewide).

Grant priority is given to applications serving historically underrepresented communities, foster youth, adult learners, people with children, low-income pupils, English language learners, and other populations that struggle to access career technical education programs.

Grant recipients must enter into a partnership agreement with a community college district to establish or expand career pathways, collaborate with labor and business entities for student placement, collect data on job outcomes, and report annually to the department.

Two new members added to the Coordinating Entity: a labor representative with workforce development experience appointed by the Governor, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The student member description was corrected from referencing 'California State University campus' twice to properly including 'California Community College campus.'

Two new duties added to the Coordinating Entity: entering into a memorandum of understanding with the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data for access to the Cradle-to-Career Data System, and developing a strategic plan within three months of its first meeting.

Establishes a new California Education and Workforce Development Coordinating Entity within the Government Operations Agency (new Government Code Chapter 13, Sections 11920-11924) to serve as the statewide career technical education planning and coordinating entity.

The coordinating entity is tasked with developing a process for approval, review, and disestablishment of career technical education programs, giving it significant oversight authority over program creation and elimination across state education segments.

The coordinating entity is required to streamline workforce program rules, allocations, and reporting requirements across programs including Golden State Pathways, Teacher Residency Grant Program, School Counselor Residency Grant Program, and apprenticeship programs.

The coordinating entity must develop a state plan on career technical education, career pathways, and workforce development that resolves conflicts among segmental plans of UC, CSU, California Community Colleges, and the California Workforce Development Board, and report unresolved conflicts to the Legislature.

Defines 'campus' to include UC, CSU, California Community College campuses, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions; defines 'segmental plans' as systemwide plans of the three public university systems related to CTE, career pathways, and workforce development.

The coordinating entity's 13-member composition includes the UC President, CSU Chancellor, CCC Chancellor, AICCU President, Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education Chief, State Board of Education President, California Workforce Development Board Chair, Student Aid Commission Chair, Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development Director, plus four appointed members (one local workforce development board representative and one student appointed by the Assembly; one California Apprenticeship Council representative and one CTE student appointed by the Senate). The Governor designates the chairperson.

The bill now requires fiscal committee review (changed from 'no' to 'yes'), indicating it has budgetary implications. Members serve without compensation but receive expense reimbursement. If funding is insufficient, the entity must prioritize its streamlining duties first.

The original Labor Code Section 3120 amendment (swapping 'goals and objectives' to 'objectives and goals') is retained but renumbered as a secondary section following the new Government Code chapter.