Read first time 01/17/12.   Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Trade & Innovation.

     AN ACT Relating to facilitating self-employment training; amending RCW 50.20.250 and 50.62.030; amending 2007 c 248 s 3 (uncodified); and repealing 2007 c 248 s 6 (uncodified).

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   2007 c 248 s 6 (uncodified) is repealed.

Sec. 2   RCW 50.20.250 and 2007 c 248 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature finds that the establishment of a self-employment assistance program would assist unemployed individuals and create new businesses and job opportunities in Washington state. The department ((shall)) must inform all individuals eligible under the terms of RCW 50.20.010 of the availability of self-employment assistance and entrepreneurial training programs and of the training provisions of RCW 50.20.043 which would allow them to pursue commissioner approved training. In addition, when individuals are identified as likely to exhaust benefits under RCW 50.20.011, and when individuals are otherwise eligible for commissioner-approved training under RCW 50.20.043, the department must inform such individuals ((identified as likely to exhaust regular unemployment benefits)) of the opportunity to enroll in commissioner-approved self-employment assistance programs.
     (2) An unemployed individual is eligible to participate in a self-employment assistance program if it has been determined that he or she:
     (a) Is otherwise eligible for regular benefits as defined in RCW 50.22.010;
     (b) Has been identified as likely to exhaust regular unemployment benefits under a profiling system established by the commissioner as defined in P.L. 103-152 or is otherwise eligible for commissioner-approved training under RCW 50.20.043; and
     (c) Is enrolled in a self-employment assistance program that is approved by the commissioner, and includes entrepreneurial training, business counseling, technical assistance, and requirements to engage in activities relating to the establishment of a business and becoming self-employed.
     (3) Individuals participating in a self-employment assistance program approved by the commissioner are eligible to receive their regular unemployment benefits.
     (a) The requirements of RCW 50.20.010 and 50.20.080 relating to availability for work, active search for work, and refusal to accept suitable work are not applicable to an individual in the self-employment assistance program for the first fifty-two weeks of the individual's participation in the program. However, enrollment in a self-employment assistance program does not entitle the enrollee to any benefit payments he or she would not be entitled to had he or she not enrolled in the program.
     (b) An individual who meets the requirements of this section is considered to be "unemployed" under RCW 50.04.310 and 50.20.010.
     (4) An individual who fails to participate in his or her approved self-employment assistance program as prescribed by the commissioner is disqualified from continuation in the program.
     (5) ((An individual completing the program may not directly compete with his or her separating employer for a specific time period and in a specific geographic area. The time period may not, in any case, exceed one year. Both the time period and the geographic area must be reasonable, considering the following factors:
     (a) Whether restraining the individual from performing services is necessary for the protection of the employer or the employer's goodwill;
     (b) Whether the agreement harms the individual more than is reasonably necessary to secure the employer's business or goodwill; and
     (c) Whether the loss of the employee's services and skills injures the public to a degree warranting nonenforcement of the agreement.
     (6))) The commissioner ((shall)) must take all steps necessary in carrying out this section to assure collaborative involvement of interested parties in program development, and to ensure that the self-employment assistance programs meet all federal criteria for withdrawal from the unemployment fund. The commissioner may approve, as self-employment assistance programs, existing self-employment training programs available through community colleges, workforce investment boards, or other organizations and is not obligated by this section to expend any departmental funds for the operation of self-employment assistance programs, unless specific funding is provided to the department for that purpose through federal or state appropriations.
     (((7))) (6) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

Sec. 3   2007 c 248 s 3 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     By December 1, ((2011)) 2015, the employment security department ((shall)) must report to ((the house of representatives commerce and labor committee and the senate labor, commerce, research and development committee)) relevant legislative committees on the performance of the self-employment assistance program. The report ((shall)) must include an analysis of the following:
     (1) Self-employment impacts;
     (2) Wage and salary outcomes;
     (3) Benefit payment outcomes; and
     (4) A cost-benefit analysis.

Sec. 4   RCW 50.62.030 and 1995 c 135 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Job service resources ((shall)) must be used to assist with the reemployment of unemployed workers using the most efficient and effective means of service delivery. The job service program of the employment security department may undertake any program or activity for which funds are available and which furthers the goals of this chapter. These programs and activities ((shall)) must include, but are not limited to:
     (((1))) (a) Giving older unemployed workers and the long-term unemployed the highest priority for all services made available under this section. The employment security department ((shall)) must make the services provided under this chapter available to the older unemployed workers and the long-term unemployed as soon as they register under the employment assistance program;
     (((2))) (b) Supplementing basic employment services, with special job search and claimant placement assistance designed to assist unemployment insurance claimants to obtain employment;
     (((3))) (c) Providing employment services, such as recruitment, screening, and referral of qualified workers, to agricultural areas where these services have in the past contributed to positive economic conditions for the agricultural industry; and
     (((4))) (d) Providing otherwise unobtainable information and analysis to the legislature and program managers about issues related to employment and unemployment.
     (2) Individuals who are eligible for services under the federal workforce investment act, P.L. 105-220 or its successor must be provided the opportunity to enroll in self-employment assistance or entrepreneurial training programs to prepare them for self-employment on the same basis as they are provided the opportunity to enroll in other training programs funded under the federal workforce investment act. The department must work with local workforce development councils to ensure that the contracting process with training providers is efficient and that the number of entrepreneurial training providers on the state's eligible training provider list is sufficient to meet demand. Each local workforce development council must:
     (a) Notify all individuals eligible for services under the workforce investment act of the availability of self-employment assistance and entrepreneurial training; and
     (b) Establish and implement a plan for expending workforce investment act funds on self-employment assistance and entrepreneurial training at a rate that is commensurate with either the demand for such services or the rate of self-employment within the council's workforce development area.