H-3448

AN ACT Relating to housing for farmworkers; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds and declares that:

(a) There continues to exist a serious shortage of safe, decent, and sanitary dwelling accommodations for migrant or seasonal farmworkers in the rural areas of the state. This shortage has contributed, and shall continue to contribute, to the creation and persistence of substandard living conditions which are detrimental to the health, welfare, and prosperity of the residents of the state;

(b) Existing federal, state, local, and private resources have not been adequate to remedy this shortage;

(c) The provision of either housing assistance grants or loans is necessary to make full and complete utilization of currently available resources for migrant or seasonal farmworker housing in the rural areas of the state; and

(d) The provision of either housing assistance grants or loans to local governments, public or private nonprofit organizations, and eligible growers for housing for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural areas of the state is exclusively for public and governmental purposes for which public money may be spent.

(2) The legislature declares that the purpose of the farmworker housing assistance act is to:

(a) Provide for financial and technical assistance to local governments, public and private nonprofit organizations, and eligible growers who will provide housing for migrant or seasonal farmworkers in areas of the state where the need for housing clearly exists and such housing is to be financed by federal, state, local, or private resources;

(b) Develop and enhance maximum flexibility in the use of federal assistance and funds in the provision of housing for migrant or seasonal farmworkers; and

(c) Create a farmworker housing assistance trust fund to be used by local governments, public and private nonprofit organizations, and eligible growers that provide housing for migrant or seasonal farmworkers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Department" means the department of community development.

(2) "Director" means the director of the department of community development.

(3) "Eligible grower" means a farm owner, family farm partnership, family farm corporation, or an association of farmers.

(4) "Farmworker housing center" means a facility that, in addition to housing, may provide facilities for day care, infant care, and access to a variety of other social, employment, cultural, and recreational programs for migrant or seasonal farmworkers that occupy the housing.

(5) "Grower-provided housing" means housing provided or rented by an eligible grower to low-income farmworkers.

(6) "Local government" means a county, city, town, or any combination as coapplicants.

(7) "Very low-income farmworker" means a migrant or seasonal farmworker household whose annual income is at or below fifty percent of median income, adjusted for household size, for the county where the farmworker housing is located.

(8) "Migrant farmworker" means a seasonal farmworker employed within a specific locality other than the place of residence and who does not reside within normal commuting distance of his or her place of employment.

(9) "Nonprofit organization" means a public housing authority created under chapter 35.82 RCW, a public nonprofit corporation created by a local government, or a nonprofit corporation as defined in RCW 24.03.005 and as further defined by the department by rule.

(10) "Rehabilitation" means repairs or improvements to a dwelling unit necessary to make it a decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling which meets applicable federal, state, and local building, housing, and health standards.

(11) "Seasonal farmworker" means a worker hired for work on any one farm for less than a continuous one hundred fifty-day period in the course of a year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. There is created within the department the farmworker housing assistance program to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The program shall be developed and administered by the department with advice and input from the low-income housing assistance advisory committee established in RCW 43.185.110.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. There is created in the state treasury an account to be known as the farmworker housing assistance trust fund. The farmworker housing assistance trust fund shall include revenue from the sources established by this chapter, appropriations by the legislature, private contributions, repayment of loans, and all other sources. Administrative and personnel costs incurred by the department in implementing the provisions of this chapter may be paid from the fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Using moneys specifically appropriated for such purposes, the department shall finance in whole or in part projects that will provide housing for very low-income farmworkers.

(2) Activities eligible for assistance include, but are not limited to:

(a) New construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of farmworker housing centers and housing for very low-income farmworkers;

(b) Rent or operating subsidies in new construction or rehabilitated farmworker housing centers or housing units for very low-income farmworkers;

(c) Mortgage subsidies for new construction or rehabilitation of farmworker housing centers or multifamily units for very low-income farmworkers; and

(d) Rehabilitation of grower-provided housing that is affordable for very low-income farmworkers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Organizations that may receive loan or grant assistance from the department under this chapter are local governments and public and private nonprofit organizations.

(2) Eligible growers may only receive loan assistance from the department under section 5(2)(d) of this act to be used solely for the rehabilitation of grower-provided housing that is affordable for very low-income farmworkers or very low-income farmworkers and their families.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) During each calendar year in which funds are available for use by the department for the farmworker housing assistance program, the department shall announce to all known interested parties, and through major media throughout the state, a grant and loan application period of at least ninety days' duration. This announcement shall be made as often as the director deems appropriate for proper utilization of resources. The department shall then promptly grant as many applications as will utilize available funds less appropriate administrative costs of the department.

(2) The department shall develop, with advice and input from the low-income housing assistance advisory committee established in RCW 43.185.110, criteria to evaluate applications for assistance under this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department shall adopt policies to ensure that the state's interest will be protected upon either the sale or change of use of projects financed in whole or in part under this chapter. These policies may include, but are not limited to: (1) Requiring a share of the appreciation in the project in proportion to the state's contribution to the project; (2) requiring a lump-sum repayment of the loan or grant upon the sale or change of use of the project; or (3) requiring a deferred payment of principal or principal and interest on loans after a specified time period.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The director shall monitor the activities of recipients of grants and loans under this chapter to determine compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in the application or stated by the department in connection with the grant or loan.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The department shall have the authority to adopt rules pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW regarding the grant and loan process, and the substance of eligible projects, consistent with this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This chapter may be known and cited as the farmworker housing assistance act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 13 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.