AN ACT Relating to community economic development; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Unless the context clearly requires to the contrary, 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.

(3) "Distressed area" means: (a) A county that has an unemployment rate that is twenty percent above the state-wide average for the previous three years; or (b) a community that has experienced sudden and severe loss of employment; or (c) an area within a county which area: (i) Is composed of contiguous census tracts; (ii) has a minimum population of five thousand persons; (iii) has at least seventy percent of its families and unrelated individuals with incomes below eighty percent of the county's median income for families and unrelated individuals; and (iv) has an unemployment rate which is at least forty percent higher than the county's unemployment rate. For purposes of this definition, "families and unrelated individuals" has the same meaning that is ascribed to that term by the federal department of housing and urban development in its regulations authorizing action grants for economic development and neighborhood revitalization projects.

(4) "Team" means the community revitalization team.

(5) "Technical assistance" includes, but is not limited to, assistance with strategic planning, market research, business plan development review, organization and management development, accounting and legal services, grant and loan packaging, and other assistance which may be expected to contribute to the redevelopment and economic well-being of a distressed area.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. There is established within the department a community revitalization team. The team shall be responsible for providing comprehensive technical and business assistance to distressed areas.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The team shall be a combined effort of the department, the employment security department, the commission for vocational education, and the department of commerce and economic development or its successor agency. Each agency shall provide staff to the team as expertise is needed. The team shall have the ability to:

(1) Identify emerging problems for businesses, workers, and communities and provide for timely communication on available assistance by state and federal programs;

(2) Assist employers and workers faced with substantial business reductions by providing examples of responses to retain business production and diversification and promote retraining and reemployment of unemployed workers using links with local economic development efforts;

(3) Examine the economic health of a community, including the economic base and its strengths, weaknesses, and untapped opportunities;

(4) Assist to develop and coordinate industry services for tourist promotion and recruiting new firms to the area;

(5) Provide technical assistance as to the potential viability of a business retention effort;

(6) Convene meetings of local business, labor, and education leaders and public officials to determine immediate and long-range steps to revitalize the community;

(7) Conduct work shops in distressed areas or state-wide conferences on problems in revitalizing stagnant communities, models for redevelopment and diversification, and means to bring additional resources to developing solutions; and

(8) Utilize funds to match local and private resources to assist in the analysis and implementation of business retention and expansion efforts.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The team's response shall be triggered by a request made by community leaders to the director. The director may direct the team to explore initial opportunities in an economically distressed area by convening meetings with local groups. A formal request shall be made that details the type of assistance needed, local resources available to help with the effort, and a description of the problems or opportunities where the team is needed. In making a decision on the extent to which the team is needed in a distressed area, the director shall consider community initiative, degree of distress, market conditions for business opportunities, resources available for the effort, and expected outcomes. The director shall respond to a formal request for services within seven days of receipt of the request.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The team shall assist in the preparation of an action plan together with community leaders as to the best strategies for facilitating revitalization efforts.

(2) The team shall prepare a problem statement which identifies the causes and reasons for distress in the affected area.

(3) The team shall recommend to the director methods to use private, state, and federal resources and shall analyze their potential costs and benefits.

(4) The director shall work with the governor and other state and federal agencies to determine the availability of resources and appropriate courses of action.

(5) The director shall encourage the direct application of private resources in the analysis and development of solutions.

(6) The director shall assist in the dissemination of the action plan at a public meeting of interested groups in the distressed area.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Appropriations to any agency for the purposes of this chapter shall be used in accordance with the following rules:

(1) The agency shall give preference to projects which have been developed by action of the team and are requested by the director.

(2) The agency shall attempt to ensure that funds available to its program for distressed areas are reasonably available throughout the biennium.

(3) The agency may spend the funds available to it for activities in distressed areas without the director's request.

(4) If funds to be spent in distressed areas are not used by February 1 of the second year of the biennium or are not requested for use by the director, then these funds shall be released for use by the agency under the activities for which they were generally intended.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. In the administration of this chapter, the department may:

(1) Accept gifts and grants from public and private sources; and

(2) Request the cooperation of state, local, and federal agencies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department of commerce and economic development or its successor agency shall provide the team and leaders in the distressed area with assistance including but not limited to the following:

(1) Identifying sources of assistance to firms to diversify production or to reuse unused plant capacity;

(2) Identifying raw materials suppliers, subcontractors, and other product needs which can be used locally;

(3) Facilitating marketing of firms to locate in the area or the marketing of a firm scheduled for closure;

(4) Assisting with tourist promotion activities; and

(5) Assisting with site improvements.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The employment security department shall provide the team and leaders in the distressed area with assistance including but not limited to the following:

(1) Establishing links between service delivery areas as created under the federal job training partnership act and businesses and persons needing training resources in distressed areas;

(2) Providing labor market information and wage and benefit reports;

(3) Informing new and existing firms of retraining funding sources; and

(4) Locating suitable employees, including displaced workers, for new employment opportunities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The commission for vocational education shall provide the community revitalization team and community leaders in the distressed area with assistance, including but not limited to:

(1) Establish links between service delivery areas and training providers to provide services under the education coordination and grants program of the federal job training partnership act;

(2) Assist in the delivery of education and training services to distressed areas;

(3) Address the needs of distressed areas and the allocation of federal vocational education funds to those areas in the development of the state plan for vocational education; and

(4) Assist in the development of partnerships between educational institutions and businesses that can benefit from job skills program grants.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The department shall produce an annual report for the governor and legislature on activities of the team.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 11 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. There is appropriated from the general fund to the department of community development for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. 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. 15. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.