AN ACT Relating to youth employment; amending RCW 50.65.110, 43.220.070, and 43.220.900; adding new sections to chapter 43.220 RCW; repealing RCW 43.220.100, 43.220.110, and 43.220.200; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.220 RCW to read as follows:

The department of employment security shall select, approve, and evaluate the success of projects and work agreements under this chapter and chapter 50.65 RCW. The Washington corps coordinating council, as created by RCW 43.220.190 shall recommend work projects to the employment security department for approval.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.220 RCW to read as follows:

Sixty percent of the general funds available to the youth employment exchange as prescribed in chapter 50.65 RCW, and the Washington conservation corps shall be for enrollees and members from distressed areas and for projects in distressed areas. A distressed area shall mean: (1) A county which has an unemployment rate which is twenty percent above the state average for the immediately previous three years; (2) a community which has experienced sudden and severe loss of employment; or (3) an area within a county which area: (a) Is composed of contiguous census tracts; (b) has a minimum population of five thousand persons; (c) 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 (d) 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.

The department of employment security shall evaluate projects on the basis of average cost per enrollee, public benefit of the proposed project, opportunity for placement of enrollees and corps members, degree of public and private support, and coordination of projects with other agencies. A training plan shall be developed for each corps member and enrollee. Preference shall be given to persons not less than eighteen years of age, and not older than twenty-three years of age. The department of employment security shall ensure the availability of corps members to respond to emergency projects and needs as they arise.

Agencies which do not develop projects which meet the department's requirements in the biennium, and result in unexpended funds, shall have those unexpended funds revert back to the general fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.220 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Not more than fifteen percent of the funds available for the Washington conservation corps and the youth employment exchange prescribed in chapter 50.65 RCW shall be expended for the cost of administration. For the purpose of this chapter, administrative costs are defined as including, but not limited to, program planning and evaluation, budget development and monitoring, personnel management, contract administration, payroll, development of program reports, normal recruitment and placement procedures, standard office space, and costs and utilities.

(2) The fifteen percent limitation does not include costs for any of the following: Program support activities such as direct supervision of enrollees, counseling, job training, equipment, and extraordinary recruitment procedures necessary to fill project positions.

(3) The total costs for all items included under subsection (1) of this section and excluded from the fifteen percent lid under subsection (2) of this section shall not: (a) Exceed thirty percent of the appropriated funds available during a fiscal biennium for the Washington conservation corps and the youth employment exchange programs; or (b) result in the average cost per enrollee exceeding seven thousand dollars. The tests included in items (a) and (b) of this subsection are in the alternative and it is only required that one of these tests be satisfied. For purposes of this section, the term administrative costs does not include those extraordinary placement costs of the department of employment security for which the department is eligible for reimbursement under section 4 of this act. The provisions of this section apply separately to each corps agency listed in RCW 43.220.020.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.220 RCW to read as follows:

Staff support to the department of employment security shall be provided by the Washington conservation corps coordinating council as established in RCW 43.220.190. The employment security department shall be the central administrative authority for data on projects, project requests, applicants and reports to the legislature. The department shall be reimbursed by the Washington conservation corps agencies specified in RCW 43.220.020. Reimbursement shall be for reasonable administrative costs associated with the department's role as the central administrative authority and for extraordinary placement costs incurred for the corps agencies. The Washington conservation corps coordinating council is to develop the most cost-effective administrative system to provide training, payroll, and purchasing services to the conservation corps agencies and present the system to the department for approval. The department shall select the administrative system which best meets the purposes of this chapter, and is cost-efficient.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 43.220 RCW to read as follows:

A nonprofit corporation which contracts with an agency listed in RCW 43.220.020 to provide a specific service, appropriate for the administration of this chapter which the agency cannot otherwise provide, may be reimbursed at the discretion of the agency for the reasonable costs the agency would absorb for providing those services.

Sec. 6. Section 11, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.110 are each amended to read as follows:

((~~Not more than the federal minimum wage or subsistence living allowance,~~)) The compensation received shall be considered a training and subsistence allowance. Comprehensive medical insurance, and medical aid shall be paid for the enrollees in the youth employment exchange by the commissioner in accordance with the standards and limitations of the appropriation provided for this chapter. The department shall give notice of coverage to the director of labor and industries after enrollment. The department shall not be deemed an employer of an enrollee for any other purpose.

Other provisions of law relating to civil service, hours of work, rate of compensation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, state retirement plans, and vacation leave do not apply to enrollees.

Sec. 7. Section 7, chapter 40, Law of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 43.220.070 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Conservation corps members shall be unemployed residents of the state between eighteen and twenty-five years of age at the time of enrollment who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States. The age requirements may be waived for corps leaders and specialists with special leadership or occupational skills; such members shall be given special responsibility for providing leadership, character development, and sense of community responsibility to the corps members, groups, and work crews to which they are assigned. Special effort shall be made to recruit minority and disadvantaged youth who meet selection criteria of the conservation corps. Preference shall be given to youths residing in areas, both urban and rural, in which there exists substantial unemployment exceeding the state average unemployment rate.

(2) Corps members shall not be considered state employees. Other provisions of law relating to civil service, hours of work, rate of compensation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, state retirement plans, and vacation leave do not apply to the Washington conservation corps except for the crew leaders, who shall be project employees, and the administrative and supervisory personnel.

(3) Enrollment shall be for a period of six months which may be extended for an additional six months by mutual agreement of the corps and the corps member. Corps members shall be reimbursed at the minimum wage rate established by federal law((~~: PROVIDED, That the conservation corps shall be operated, to the maximum extent possible, as a residential program and corps members being provided housing shall receive a stipend~~)).

(4) Corps members are to be available at all times for emergency response services coordinated through the department of emergency services or other public agency. Duties may include sandbagging and flood cleanup, search and rescue, and other functions in response to emergencies.

Sec. 8. Section 22, chapter 40, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 43.220.900 are each amended to read as follows:

The Washington conservation corps shall cease to exist and chapter 43.220 RCW shall expire on July 1, 1987, unless extended by law for an additional fixed period of time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. 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. 10. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) Section 10, chapter 40, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 43.220.100;

(2) Section 11, chapter 40, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 43.220.110; and

(3) Section 21, chapter 40, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 43.220.200.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. 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.