California Bill Would Help Job-seekers Move Into Self-employment

A Central Coast congresswoman is pushing a new bill to help job seekers move into self-employment.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, introduced the Entrepreneurial Training Improvement Act of 2012 in late May. The bill would make training available for would-be entrepreneurs through local Workforce Investment Boards.

In 2010, the Department of Labor assigned Workforce Investment Boards to provide self-employment training. But they have shied away from training because present Labor Department guidelines are geared toward traditional job creation and placement, Capps said.

In California, Workforce Investment Boards oversee One-Stop Career Centers, including the Sacramento Employment & Training Agency.

"As we work to help small businesses grow and create jobs, we can't overlook the importance of the smallest of businesses -- our innovative entrepreneurs," Capps said in a statement introducing the bill.

Today, the bill is in committee. It focuses new attention on job seekers who are looking to create their own jobs by starting their own businesses.

Though entrepreneurial activity nationwide fell slightly in 2011 compared to 2010, Californians remain among the most likely to start their own businesses, according to the Kauffman Foundation, which promotes and tracks entrepreneurship.

In California, 440 adults per 100,000 started businesses each month in 2011, tying Texas and trailing only Arizona's 520 per 100,000, according to the Kauffman Foundation's Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.
Nationwide, about 543,000 businesses were created each month in 2011, according to the Kauffman index.