AN ACT Relating to higher education; adding new sections to chapter 28B.50 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 28B.80 RCW; creating new sections; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to provide:

(1) Training and retraining opportunities for timber workers;

(2) Additional opportunities for dislocated timber workers and residents of timber-distressed counties to attend local community colleges;

(3) Educational opportunities to displaced timber workers who reside in areas where access to a four-year institution of higher education is not available;

(4) Educational opportunities in those communities that are most severely impacted by job losses in the timber industry; and

(5) A means for dislocated timber workers to remain gainfully employed within their communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.50 RCW to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3 through 7 of this act.

(1) "Board" means the state board for community college education.

(2) "Dislocated timber worker" means any individual who: (a) Has been terminated or received a notice of termination from employment in a timber-related occupation within standard industrial code 024; and (b) at the time of last separation from employment, resided in or was employed in a timber-distressed county.

(3) "Timber-dependent community" means a county, city, or town located in a county meeting two of the following three criteria for the most recent year such data is available: (a) A lumber and wood products employment location quotient at or above the state average, (b) a direct lumber and wood products job loss of one hundred or more, or (c) an annual unemployment rate twenty percent above the state average.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.50 RCW to read as follows:

The state board for community college education shall administer a program designed to provide higher education opportunities to dislocated timber workers or their spouses. In administering the program, the board shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) Appoint an advisory committee to assist the board in program design and funding distribution;

(2) Allocate funding to community colleges attended by eligible dislocated timber workers;

(3) Monitor the program and report on students' progress and outcome; and

(4) Report to the legislature by December 1, 1993, on the status of the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28B.50 RCW to read as follows:

In addition to the community college enrollment level funded by the omnibus appropriations act for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, the community college system is authorized to serve two hundred fifty full-time equivalent students in fiscal year 1992 and five hundred full-time equivalent students in fiscal year 1993. Under this program, the community colleges shall waive the tuition, services, and activities fees for dislocated timber workers or their spouses, enrolled as one of the full‑time equivalent students allocated under this section, who do not receive federal tuition assistance for retraining, provided the dislocated timber worker provides verification of the following conditions:

(1) The dislocated timber worker, within the five years before enrolling as a student, was employed in the timber industry on a full-time basis for at least six months each year; and

(2) The unemployment of the dislocated timber worker is due to reduction in work force and not misconduct of the timber worker;

The dislocated timber workers or their spouses are eligible to receive waivers for a total of six quarters within a two-year time period and must be enrolled for a minimum of ten credits per quarter.

Dislocated timber workers or their spouses shall receive priority for the full-time equivalent student allocations authorized under this section. Funding for any full-time equivalent student enrollment allocations that are unused by June 30, 1993, shall lapse.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

The higher education coordinating board shall administer a program designed to provide upper division higher education opportunities to dislocated timber workers, their spouses, and others in timber‑distressed counties. In administering the program, the board shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) Distribute funding for an institution of higher education to service Clallam county;

(2) Appoint an advisory committee to assist the board in program design and future project selection;

(3) Monitor the program and report on student progress and outcome; and

(4) Report to the legislature by December 1, 1993, on the status of the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

In consultation with Peninsula College, the higher education coordinating board shall contract with an institution of higher education to provide upper division classes to serve fifty full-time equivalent students per year in Clallam county. The institution shall utilize telecommunication technology, if available, to carry out the purposes of this section. The institution providing the service shall waive the tuition, service, and activities fees for dislocated timber workers or their spouses enrolled as one of the full-time equivalent students allocated to the college under this section, provided the dislocated timber worker provides verification of the following conditions:

(1) The dislocated timber worker, within the five years before enrolling as a student, was employed in the timber industry on a full-time basis for at least six months of each year; and

(2) The unemployment of the dislocated timber worker is due to reduction in work force and not misconduct of the timber worker;

The dislocated timber worker or his or her spouse is eligible to receive waivers for a total of four semesters or six quarters within a two-year time period and must be enrolled for a minimum of ten credits per semester or quarter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

Dislocated timber workers and their spouses shall receive priority for attendance in upper division courses allocated under section 6 of this act, offered in Clallam county. Remaining allocations may be distributed to others in the timber-dependent community.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act shall expire July 1, 1995.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. If by June 30, 1991, the omnibus operating budget appropriations act for the 1991-93 biennium does not provide specific funding for this act, referencing this act by bill number, this act is null and void.