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                                 ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1207

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                                                                            C 437 L 85

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By House Committee on Trade & Economic Development (originally sponsored by Representative McMullen)

Read first time 3/8/85 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to employment and training; creating new sections; providing an effective date; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that there is an urgent need for retraining and reeducation of persons living in areas with high unemployment who have become unemployed due to large changes in the economy of our state and the demands of industry.  The state through its agencies has a responsibility to assist in the retraining of unemployed citizens.  The legislature further finds that retraining and reeducation is crucial for the well-being of all citizens of this state and the economic recovery of the distressed areas in this state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) From August 1, 1985 to August 30, 1986, eligible persons under subsection (2) of this section may attend an emergency pilot vocational training program under this section.  The program shall be designed to provide retraining in vocational skills for not more than a one-year period on either a full-time or part-time basis as applicable.

          (2) Eligible persons participating in the program under this section shall not, by reason of their participation in the program, be deemed ineligible for unemployment compensation and participation shall be deemed training for the purposes of RCW 50.20.043.

          (3) Persons participating in the program under this section shall not be required to pay tuition, operating, and services and activities fees at Lower Columbia Community College, Spokane Community College, Grays Harbor Community College, Skagit Valley Community College, Yakima Valley Community College, and Centralia Community College if attended as part of the program or pay fees at a vocational-technical institute attended as part of the program if funds are available in the 1985-87 omnibus operating appropriations act.

          (4) A person is eligible to participate in the program under this section if the person:

          (a) Meets the requirements for a resident student under RCW 28B.15.011 through 28B.15.015;

          (b) Resides, before admittance to a program under this section, in a county in which the average level of unemployment during 1984 exceeded the average state unemployment by twenty percent;

          (c) Had been employed full time for a minimum of two years in a trade or occupation and using a skill which is in declining demand;

          (d) Is unemployed due to a significant reduction in force or a plant closure  which reduction or closure has occurred within two years before the date on which the person has applied for participation in the program; and

          (e) Has been continuously unemployed for the period of ten weeks immediately prior to the date on which the person has applied for participation in the program.

          (5) If an eligible person attends a vocational-technical institute instead of one of the community colleges under this section, the state board for community college education shall pay the vocational-technical institute a sum equivalent to that allocated for a person attending a community college under this section if funds are available under subsection (3) of this section.  All persons applying for the program shall be given a list of the eligible community colleges and the vocational-technical institutes in the state and informed that they may attend either the community college or a vocational-technical institute.  The state board for community college education shall administer the program under this section and shall submit a report on the program to the legislature by January, 1987.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The number of persons granted tuition and fee waivers under section 2 of this act shall not exceed two hundred full time equivalent students.  The state board for community college education shall provide an equitable allocation of the waivers among the community colleges specified in subsection (3) of section 2 of this act.  The provisions of RCW 28B.15.740 shall not apply to waivers of tuition and fees granted under this act.  The waivers provided under this act may only be granted to the extent that public or private funds are provided to the state board for community college education expressly for such purposes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     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 June 30, 1985.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     The terms of this act shall be implemented only to the extent that funds are available.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     The emergency pilot vocational training program shall cease to exist on July 1, 1987, unless extended by law for an additional fixed period of time.

                                                                                                                           Passed the House April 23, 1985.

                                                                                                                                         Speaker of the House.

                                                                                                                           Passed the Senate April 18, 1985.

                                                                                                                                       President of the Senate.