The Office of the Governor of the State of Michigan
04/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/29/2024 15:29
Executive Directive 2024-1: Building Up Michigan's Workforce and Infrastructure
Since I first took office, I have been focused on growing Michigan's economy. By creating good-paying jobs, securing investments in advanced manufacturing and clean energy, pursuing advanced mobility, and taking action to improve our infrastructure, we can build a brighter future for Michigan. Our new Statewide Workforce Plan is the latest step towards achieving these goals by training workers, growing the middle class, powering our businesses, and supporting our entrepreneurs.
Our efforts to secure outside funding have paid off. The federal government is providing over nine billion dollars to the State of Michigan as part of a nationwide effort to build up our nation's infrastructure. One source of these funds is the Biden-Harris administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which will drive record investments in clean energy, lower costs for households, and help Michigan meet its climate and clean energy goals. These funds will be spent over the next three years, which means we have a huge opportunity right now to maximize their impact.
We must use this opportunity to build and strengthen our economic engine-the middle class. To take full advantage, however, we must support, train, and grow a new workforce that has the skills necessary to succeed in the tens of thousands of jobs that will be created as a direct result of all these federal and state investments. That is why I am working with impacted agencies and departments to ensure that these jobs are provided in an equitable and efficient manner, targeting positions that are critical to building up our infrastructure.
Therefore, acting pursuant to Article 5, § 1 and § 8 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963, I direct the following:
1. Statewide Workforce Plan for Infrastructure
(a) By May 1, 2025, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (the Department) shall build on the Statewide Workforce Plan by establishing a statewide strategy to meet infrastructure workforce development goals (the Plan). This could include, but is not limited to, creating clear pathways for target occupations, skillsets, and priority populations.
(1) The Department shall establish the Plan through coordination with affected departments and agencies. This shall include the Department of Transportation; the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and the Michigan Infrastructure Office (collectively, the "partnership departments"). The Plan shall be facilitated by workforce leads, who shall be appointed within each partnership department in accordance with Section 4(a) of this Directive.
(2) The Plan should be developed as a program-based assessment, referring to the overall workforce plan for each type of infrastructure asset class provided for in federal infrastructure funding, including but not limited to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act (collectively, the "federal programs").
(3) The Department shall coordinate with each partnership department to set a workers-trained goal for each project.
(4) The Department shall coordinate with each partnership department to ensure the Plan acknowledges historic racial and gender inequities in access to infrastructure career and educational opportunities.
(5) The Department shall coordinate with each partnership department to ensure the Plan removes barriers to worker availability.
(6) The Department, in coordination with partnership departments and other departments and agencies, shall adjust and update the Plan as needed.
(b) The Department shall, where permissible, allocate some portion of new funding received for each project from federal programs for infrastructure workforce development, at an amount not to exceed five percent of the funding received for the project. Funding otherwise allocated is exempt from this requirement.
(c) The Department shall work with partnership departments to use allocated funds to achieve workforce outcomes. Potential Plan provisions shall include but are not limited to:
(1) Directing funding of workforce development programming and incentives for hiring of workers needing extra support,
(2) Scaling existing programs, and
(3) Where needed, creating new workforce-development services or technical-assistance programs for skills-hiring entities.
(d) The Department shall periodically evaluate the Plan to ensure it is responsive to historic racial and gender inequities in access to infrastructure career and educational opportunities.
(e) The Department and partnership departments shall gather information and quality assurance data to determine where to increase workforce capacity and how to allocate investments among existing high-performing programs, as permitted by law. The Department and partnership departments shall exchange this information on a monthly basis.
(f) The Department and all recipients of funding for infrastructure development from federal programs shall comply with all federal laws and regulations and cooperate with all federal agencies in implementing programs using federal funding.
2. Training
(a) The Department shall set a goal to facilitate the training of 5,000 infrastructure workers in Michigan by January 1, 2030.
(b) Workers receiving training from an educational entity shall be issued an industry-recognized certificate or other industry-recognized credential, which includes, but is not limited to, a United States Department of Labor registered apprenticeship.
3. Oversight and Monitoring
(a) In implementing this Directive, the Department shall provide centralized oversight, coordination, and, where needed, consolidation of allocated funds, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
(b) The Department shall monitor metrics necessary to determine the effectiveness and success of this Directive. This shall include but is not limited to:
(1) Expenditure of workforce development funds and participant-level data points for federally required reporting,
(2) Increase in participation in the infrastructure development sector, and
(3) On-time project delivery.
(c) The workforce leads appointed by the partnership departments shall assist the Department in its monitoring and oversight.
4. Infrastructure Workforce Leads and Department Cooperation
(a) The partnership departments shall each appoint an infrastructure workforce lead to work with the Department.
(b) All departments and agencies are responsible for expending funds consistent with this Directive, the Department's strategy, and applicable laws and regulations.
(c) All reporting requirements remain with the partnership departments and other departments and agencies, as permissible by law.
(d) All departments and agencies shall coordinate and cooperate with other departments and agencies, including the Department and partnership departments, in executing the duties outlined by this Directive.
This directive is effective immediately.
Thank you for your cooperation in its implementation.
Click to view the full PDF of the executive directive.