STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND STRATEGIES.

(a) The commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission jointly shall develop and post in a prominent location on the initiative's and each respective agency's Internet website state workforce development goals and coordinated interagency strategies for achieving those goals.

(b) The goals developed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) be developed in consultation with employers;

(2) include goals for the attainment of employment in jobs that pay a self-sufficient wage for all career education and training programs in the state;

(3) be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender for each workforce development region; and

(4) provide for:

(A) locally determined priorities consistent with state goals; and

(B) collaborative planning and coordination with local employers, public schools, institutions of higher education, and local workforce development boards.

(c) The strategies developed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) include strategies for expanding work-based learning;

(2) articulate the ways in which the state can best leverage state and federal funding for career education and training programs; and

(3) be demonstrably guided by:

(A) education and workforce data;

(B) evidence of success and considerations of cost-effectiveness; and

(C) prioritized occupational classifications, including all target occupations and critical career pathways designated under Subsection (e).

(d) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission jointly shall update the state workforce development goals and strategies developed under Subsection (a) at least every four years, or more frequently if needed to reflect available data and circumstances.

(e) In consultation with employers, the commissioner of education, commissioner of higher education, and chair of the commission shall designate and update every two years a list of career pathways that includes the following two priority categories:

(1) target occupations, which include current needs that exist in one or more regions of the state as reflected in regional workforce assessments that:

(A) use the best available data and local employer requests; and

(B) satisfy minimum federal standards for designations, such as a foundation for qualified use of federal workforce funding; and

(2) critical career pathways that reflect the best statewide data and forecasts of skills and careers for which demand in the state is expected to grow that may:

(A) be associated with new emerging industries or new specialty occupations within an industry; or

(B) reflect pathways to better wages for workers with documented skills that provide promotional opportunities within or across occupations with targeted upskill training.