H-2173

AN ACT Relating to higher education; adding new sections to chapter 28B.50 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 28B.80 RCW; creating a new section; making appropriations; 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; or (b) is eligible for or has exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation benefits; or (c) is unlikely to return to employment in the individual's principal occupation or previous industry because of a diminishing demand for his or her skills in that occupation or industry; and (d) at the time of separation from employment, resided in or was employed in a timber-distressed county.

(3) "Timber-distressed counties" means those counties that meet two of the following three criteria: (a) A lumber and wood products location quotient equal to or greater than the state average during the prior twelve months; (b) direct lumber and wood products job loss of one hundred jobs or more in the prior twelve-month period; or (c) a county annual insured employment rate that is twenty percent above the state annual insured unemployment rate for the prior calendar year.

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 five hundred full-time equivalent students per year. 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. Remaining allocations may be distributed to others in a timber-distressed county.

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 quarters within a two-year time period and must be enrolled for a minimum of twelve 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-distressed county.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The sum of two million nine hundred thirty-eight thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the general fund to the state board for community college education to carry out the purposes of sections 3 and 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The sum of five hundred forty-six thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the general fund to the higher education coordinating board to carry out the purposes of sections 5 through 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. 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.