With more than 20 divisions of state government overseeing 110 programs promoting postsecondary education and workforce training, the average Colorado employer or student would need a PhD to understand how they could fully take advantage of the offerings.
So, as employers continue to cite a shortage of skilled talent as one of their biggest obstacles to growing in Colorado, a bipartisan quartet of legislators introduced a bill on Wednesday afternoon to streamline and improve state workforce-development programs. The goal: Create a single department by July 2028 overseeing everything from workforce training to public-private sector partnerships to higher education and make it a accessible agency with a single front door that employers and learners can use.
House Bill 1317, sponsored by Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie of Dillon and Republican Rep. Rick Taggart of Grand Junction, would bring together an advisory committee to recommend by the end of this year how the new department would be structured and what programs would fall under it. It must recommend how programs from the recently completed regional talent summits to the division of employment and training would work under this new office, and it can also recommend inclusion of programs from the State Apprenticeship Agency to the Office of Future Work.
To be sure, this is not another anomalous task force with vague goals and hoped-for outcomes but rather the final step in a nine-month process in which state leaders worked with business groups, education advocates and state agencies to produce a report on how this can be done. That process began when Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order in May directing state agencies responsible for K-12, higher education and workforce development to combine their disparate efforts and create a seamless pathway into successful careers.
The goal: Get all Colorado students more prepared for careers
Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie hugs Sen. Jeff Bridges, a primary sponsor of House Bill 1317, at a December event that unveiled the report that formed the backbone for the bill that was introduced on Wednesday.
“For too long, Colorado has had a siloed approach to connecting workers and students with good-paying, in-demand jobs,” McCluskie said in a news release announcing the bill on Wednesday. “Today, we’re unveiling a plan to create a unified department that seamlessly supports Coloradans from early learning to career readiness. Democrats and Republicans are coming together to reimagine talent pipelines to jumpstart the creation of a one-stop-shop for job seekers and students.”
Since 2020, less than half of Colorado’s graduating high-school seniors have gone directly onto any kind of advanced education — be it a four-year degree, a two-year degree or even certificates or apprenticeships needed for entry into certain professions. Yet studies have shown that 95% of jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and, soon, 75% of all jobs will require some sort of postsecondary credential, offering empirical proof the Colorado must do more to get students into career pathways.
While a consolidation of existing state programs into a single department may sound bureaucratic, this move would result in several very important and practical changes, supporters say.
It would allow for the better coordination of programs across state agencies that may have the same big-picture workforce-development goal but may not work in harmony to guide learners along one pathway, said Will Simpkins, vice president for enrollment and student affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver. For example, students who may be unsure of whether to go to college or go directly into the trades via workforce training now have to study options across several state agencies rather than being able to consider how their many options work together to build their credentials over time.
Workforce department would be accessible to employers
Similarly, businesses that may want to partner with the state on workforce training by offering apprenticeships or launching new sector training programs or helping to develop technical-education curricula may not know how to do that and may be frustrated trying to find the right state agency for this work. Creation of a one-stop department that can direct employers to an appropriate program and allow them to talk with educators to ensure students are learning the most up-to-date skills would let them quickly become partners and benefit both their needs and the career viability of students.
Colorado Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Loren Furman speaks at the organization’s 2023 annual meeting about keeping the state competitive.
“If we want to remain competitive as a state, Colorado’s workforce must be equipped with the right skills to fill the jobs employers need and adapt to our growing and diverse economy,” Colorado Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Loren Furman said, noting that workforce development is a key facet to her organization’s 10-year economic plan. “This requires breaking down barriers between higher-education institutions and businesses, ensuring there are ongoing strategies in place to fill skills gaps and create opportunity for Coloradans.”
The transition advisory committee would consist of 26 members appointed by Polis and legislative leaders, representing state agencies, education institutions, apprenticeship instructors and sponsors, educational advocacy groups, labor and businesses of several types. It would have to come up with a transition plan by November so that legislators could pass a law in 2027 to launch the new department, which largely would replace the existing Department of Higher Education with a wider mission, by July 2028.
A term of workforce efforts from governor
Polis has spent much of his second term looking to improve the state’s workforce-development system. Among the laws he’s signed since 2023 are those that offered tuition-free credentialing for students looking to go into some high-demand careers, funded a series of regional talent summits that produced 232 action plans and launched creation of a longitudinal data system that can track the return on investment from various training pathways and educational degrees.
Gov. Jared Polis speaks about a plan to streamline workforce programs during a news conference in December.
This proposal, then, represents in some ways the culmination of the Democratic governor’s work in this area, as he is barred constitutionally from seeking a third term and will hand off his efforts to a new governor in January. But Polis, who appointed former Office of Future Work Director Katherine Keegan to lead the process that turned his executive order into HB 1317, said this last effort is needed to ensure that all learners, regardless of the pathway they choose, can navigate Colorado’s education and training system to a successful career.
“Colorado is leading the way on connecting workers with the education, training and the skills needed to get good-paying jobs and strengthen our economy,” Polis said in a statement. “This new and more efficient consolidated department will make it easier for Coloradans to access important resources and open new doors to opportunity.”
McCluskie on Wednesday assigned the new bill to the House Education Committee. No date has been set yet for its first hearing.