AN ACT Relating to creating the skilled worker outreach, recruitment, and career awareness training program; and adding a new chapter to Title 28C RCW.

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

(1) "Department" means the department of commerce.

(2) "Eligible applicant" means any government or nongovernment entity or organization that offers, or plans to offer, a skilled worker awareness training program and that has partnered with industry to offer or fund a skilled worker awareness training program.

(3) "Grant program" means the skilled worker outreach, recruitment, and career awareness training program.

(4) "Grant review committee" means the skilled worker outreach, recruitment, and career awareness training program review committee as created in section 5 of this act.

(5) "Matching grant" means a grant funded by the state to match funding provided by an eligible applicant to support efforts to increase the state's skilled workforce.

(6) "Skilled worker awareness training program" means an accredited educational, occupational education, state-approved preapprenticeship, apprenticeship, or similar training program that:

(a) Trains or retrains individuals to perform a skill that is needed in the workforce;

(b) Awards an industry or state recognized certificate, credential, associate degree, professional license, or similar evidence of achievement upon completion of the program; and

(c) Does not include an educational program that awards a bachelor's or higher degree upon completion of the program.

(1) Engage in outreach and recruiting efforts to increase enrollment in and completion of skilled worker awareness training programs and, by partnering with business and industry, to determine current, future, and critical workforce needs; and

(2) Provide skilled worker awareness training.

(2) By January 1, 2018, and annually no later than January 1st thereafter, the department shall start accepting grant applications.

(a) A description of how the matching grant will be used to recruit participants to and provide an outreach plan for its existing or proposed skilled worker awareness training program;

(b) A description of the skilled worker awareness training program it plans to offer or offers, including the location of the program, the particular skills taught, and if an existing program, the number of years it has been in operation;

(c) Past, current, and projected enrollment in the skilled worker awareness training program, and if an existing program, the estimated increases in enrollment;

(d) If an existing skilled worker awareness training program, a comparison of the number of participants who enroll in the program and the number of participants who complete the program over a five-year period, if available;

(e) Specific industry needs or gaps in the workforce that the planned or existing skilled worker awareness training program will or does address;

(f) A description of intended or existing partnerships with industry members, including those where program participants will have the opportunity to earn income or credit hours;

(g) Costs or the anticipated costs to operate the skilled worker awareness training program;

(h) Resources that the eligible applicant will commit in matching dollars if a matching grant is awarded, and if the skilled worker awareness training program already exists, existing resources that the eligible applicant has invested in recruiting, outreach, and funding of its skilled worker awareness training program; and

(i) Any other information the department requires.

(2) Upon receipt of an application that satisfies the requirements in this section, the department must send the application to the grant review committee for its consideration.

(a) The department of labor and industries;

(b) The department of employment security;

(c) The department of enterprise services;

(d) The workforce training and education coordinating board;

(e) The state board for community and technical colleges;

(f) Two representatives from business;

(g) Two representatives from labor; and

(h) Two representatives from the Washington apprenticeship and training council.

(2) The grant review committee shall designate a chair to oversee the committee's meetings.

(3) The grant review committee shall establish criteria for ranking eligible applicants for matching grant awards. The grant review committee shall consider and rank eligible applicants based on which have the best potential to:

(a) Reach a broad diverse audience through their recruitment and outreach efforts;

(b) Significantly increase enrollment and completion of their skilled worker awareness training program;

(c) Fill existing needs for skilled workers in the market;

(d) Have demonstrated the following, prioritized in the following order:

(i)(A) That the eligible applicant will provide monetary contributions from its own resources; or

(B) That the eligible applicant has contributed its own resources in the form of monetary or in-kind matching contributions; and

(ii)(A) That the eligible applicant has secured an industry partner; or

(B) That the eligible applicant has secured from an industry partner a monetary or in-kind contribution, conditional job placement guarantees or articulation agreements, or that the industry partner has contributed other meaningful investment in skilled worker awareness training programs.

(4) The grant review committee shall submit its recommendations to the director of the department, who shall determine to whom and in what amounts to award matching grants. Matching grants must be awarded no later than April 1st each year following the application submittal deadline.

(a) The manner in which the grant recipient has used the matching grant to provide outreach and recruit participants in its skilled worker awareness training program;

(b) The number of participants enrolled in and the number of participants who completed the skilled worker awareness training program, both before the matching grant was awarded and since the matching grant was received;

(c) The number of skilled worker awareness training participants who obtained employment in an industry for which the participant was trained under the program, including information about the industry in which the participants are employed;

(d) The number of participants recruited; and

(e) Any other information the grant review committee determines appropriate.

(2) By December 1, 2019, and by each December 1st thereafter, the grant review committee shall submit an annual report to the governor and appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance with the reporting requirements in RCW 43.01.036. The report must include:

(a) The number of matching grants awarded in the prior year, including the amount, recipient, and duration of each matching grant;

(b) The number of individuals who enrolled in and completed a skilled worker awareness training program offered by each grant recipient;

(c) The number of individuals who obtained employment in a position that uses the skills for which they were trained through a skilled worker awareness training program offered by a grant recipient; and

(d) Other information obtained from grant recipients' reports under subsection (1) of this section.

(1) Identifying current, future, and critical workforce needs;

(2) Partnering with industry associations, labor/management programs, and businesses to assess and determine their workforce needs; and

(3) Coordinating with skilled worker awareness training program providers on skill sets being developed and the quality of applicants being trained.

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