HBA-AMW, SEP H.B. 1243 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1243 By: Villarreal, Mike Economic Development 7/9/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, TWC tracked the short-term employment history of a former recipient of assistance under its employment programs for a maximum of 12 months after the recipient left the program. The ability of former recipients to earn a living wage is essential to the success of welfare-to-work 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. House Bill 1243 requires the employment history tracking of former program recipients for up to three years, and provides measures for assessing recipients' abilities to achieve and maintain long-term self-sufficiency. 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 House Bill 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 that the system must track recipients' wage and employment outcomes for up to 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 September 1, 2001.