Streamlining workforce development agencies and efforts at the state level under a new agency, the Alabama Department of Workforce, was a top priority identified by Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth’s 21st Century Workforce Study Commission.
In early May, SB247, the Workforce Transformation Act was signed by Gov. Ivey.
The top 5 most important points of the bill are:
1. Renaming the Alabama Department of Labor to the Alabama Department of Workforce and change the title of the department head from Secretary of Labor to Secretary of Workforce.
2. Establishing the Alabama Workforce Board as the State Workforce Development Board.
3. Repealing sections of the Code of Alabama 1975 related to the Alabama Workforce Council and the Regional Workforce Development Councils, indicating a restructuring or elimination of these entities.
4. Assigning the Alabama Workforce Board with advising and supporting the Governor, Legislature, and state agencies on workforce development.
5. The Department of Commerce will be reorganized into two divisions: the Business Development Division, which will focus on business growth and economic development, and the Alabama Industrial Development and Training Institute (AIDT), which will provide tailored workforce development programs. AIDT will continue to be headed by a director appointed by the Secretary of Commerce.
