Newsom promised to help Californians build new careers. Now, the money is running out

Written by Cal Matters.

Key points

• Starting around 2014, the state put a small amount of funds into these programs, stated Stewart Knox, the secretary of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
• By comparison, the state put over $2.2 billion into new workforce grants in the 2022-23 budget year.
• This year, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, a Los Angeles Democrat, is proposing a bill to further restrict how the high-road funds is employed.
• Out of the roughly 1, 700 oil workers who could benefit from the state's retraining grants, only regarding 500 participated as of May, according to a bill analysis.
• Standing in a West Sacramento high school cafeteria in 2023, Gov.

Standing in a West Sacramento high school cafeteria in 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised fundamental reforms to the state's job training programs. A few months afterwards, he was in front of a fire truck in Modesto, and afterwards, in a welding classroom in Redding, making the same promise. It was a "point of pride, " Newsom remarked last year.

Now, a handful of those reforms are underway. A new inter-agency council, designed to growth collaboration among workforce providers, is gathering next week. The state is additionally developing a new kind of digital resume that would assist students and workers consolidate information regarding their work experience and education.

But as the state faces yet another budget deficit, a flagship workforce program could be forced to scale back. One of the state's leading agencies for coordinating workforce training, the California Workforce Development Board, could lose 20% of its staff.

In the governor's budget proposal for 2026-27 fiscal year, a number of workforce programs, including the governor's "high road training partnerships, " would receive little or no new funding, meaning that they could shut down by the time the next governor assumes office or shortly thereafter. The Legislature has already passed a budget that largely accepts Newsom's proposals, and the governor has until the end of the month to approve it.

Some job training organizations criticized the governor's proposal to withhold new funding this year.

"At a time when affordability is such a massive concern, it feels like we're focusing on what things cost and not enough on what people can earn, " remarked Julia Hatton, the president of the Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, informed CalMatters. Her organization trains workers for jobs in construction and climate-related careers and has received almost $4 million in state workforce grants.

Nevertheless, in a legislative hearing in April, Allison Hewitt, a budget analyst with California's Department of Finance stated the state is still committed to workforce development and that the board's budget isn't being cut, just that it isn't receiving new funding. The workforce development board received a "surge" of grants over the past few years, and those dollars have been spent so less funding is available this year, she remarked. That did not sit well with at least one legislator.

"I mean, you can say that all you want, " remarked Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat, in response. "But if we're not proposing funding for that. Then you're basically saying this is gonna be the new policy. The bottom line is without funding, it's not a reality."

In an emailed statement to CalMatters, Marissa Saldivar, a spokesperson for the governor, remarked Newsom's workforce plan focuses on "structural changes to benefit students, which does not always require funding."

H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for California's Department of Finance, responded in the same email, saying that the current budget proposes over $250 million in new workforce funds, including in healthcare and construction.

By comparison, the state put over $2.2 billion into new workforce grants in the 2022-23 budget year. Have workforce programs succeeded?

For decades, states and the federal administration have pumped capital into job training programs, especially for low-income workers without college degrees, but the results are often poor. Graduates end up earning minimum-wage or landing in jobs with low retention, where plenty of workers quit within the first year.

To improve outcomes, California created the high road training partnerships to target job training programs that yield long-lasting, living-wage employment where the employer, not just the administration, has a stake in the worker's professional expansion. Starting around 2014, the state put a small amount of funds into these programs, stated Stewart Knox, the secretary of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

In 2021 and 2022, the state created "massive investments in the workforce, " he stated, pumping hundreds of millions into high-road programs all throughout the state, including in construction, healthcare, technology and in public sector jobs. The state sent funds to current and former oil workers to assist them retrain for careers when refineries close. It additionally sent capital to youth apprenticeship programs.

Results have been mixed. In the high-road program, some grants supported train hundreds or thousands of workers for union jobs while other grants created few concrete benefits for workers. One grant was supposed to train workers at the electric vehicle firm Proterra, but the business closed before workers could commence.

Out of the roughly 1, 700 oil workers who could benefit from the state's retraining grants, only regarding 500 participated as of May, according to a bill analysis. That bill, authored by San Rafael Assemblymember Damon Connolly, a Democrat, would offer grantees more time to spend the capital. A 'master plan' for career education.

In 2023, Newsom's workforce intends culminated with an executive order calling for the creation of a master plan for career education that would create a "new foundation" for the state. The plan, published in 2025, called on better coordination among the state's workforce providers. This person often compete for the same students. The master plan additionally called on more high-road job training programs and highlighted ongoing work supporting youth apprentices.

"We're definitely not done. We're kind of mid-stage, " remarked Knox. "What you're seeing is a little less money, yes, in terms of programs, but that's because we did such massive investments from 2021 on into the system (and) those outcomes now are what we're focused on."

Knox pointed to outcomes from the master plan, including the expansion of dual enrollment. It allows high school students to take college classes. The state is additionally helping thousands more students secure college credit for their prior work experience, he noted.

Palmer, with the state's Department of Finance, remarked in an email that the current proposal from the Legislature includes more funding both for dual enrollment and to assist college students obtain credit for their work experience. Those funding allocations, nevertheless, come from a different pot of capital, known as Proposition 98. It is largely restricted to education.

In practice, the Shirley Ware Education Center, a national job training nonprofit founded in Oakland, was among the earliest and largest recipients of the high-road training grants. It it applied to assist over 5, 500 workers find better jobs, mostly in the healthcare industry. All informed, the organization received more than $40 million in state workforce dollars starting in 2017.

"When the state was flush with cash, they put a lot of money into these programs, " remarked Rebecca Hanson, the executive director. Now, she remarked the state budget deficit makes it "hard to argue" for climbed funding, especially when so plenty of other core services are facing cuts.

Since her organization has other funding and is employed to these fluctuations in state backing, hanson's high-road workforce grant ends in 2027, but even then, she remarked she isn't too worried. "My hope is that by the time we're talking about 2028, we'll be able to find other money."

Taken together, the developments around newsom promised to help Californians build new careers. Now, the money is point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.