NC H55

Expresses the General Assembly's opinion that local Workforce Investment Act (WIA) services should be streamlined by realigning local workforce development areas with councils of governments (COG) boundaries established under G.S. 160A-470.

Supports recommendations from the Program Evaluation Division's March 28, 2012 report that found North Carolina's 23 local workforce development areas are based on outdated federal criteria from nearly 40 years ago and are not strategically aligned with economic development activities.

Identifies that realigning with COG boundaries would reduce the number of local workforce development areas from 23 to 16, disband nine areas (including six single-county areas), and increase area size to range from 3 to 12 counties with populations from 172,000 to 2,000,000.

Notes that realigning areas would increase available resources to job seekers since larger areas receive more funding, allowing for more programs or more efficient resource allocation.

Recognizes that 13 of the 23 current local workforce development areas are already administered by COGs, which have existing infrastructure to manage other state and federal programs.