H-0926.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1431

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representatives Veloria, Dunn, Hunt, Tokuda, Ogden, Boldt, O'Brien, D. Schmidt, Santos, Hurst, Fromhold and Conway

Read first time 01/25/2001.  Referred to Committee on Trade & Economic Development.

Establishing the Washington jobs initiative program.

    AN ACT Relating to regional job skills programs; adding a new section to chapter 43.330 RCW; and making appropriations.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The department of community, trade, and economic development shall establish the Washington jobs initiative program.  The department shall provide grants to local governments for the purpose of creating local or regional programs designed to achieve livable wage jobs, promote retention and upward mobility for low-income job seekers by supplying regional employers with qualified workers, and by working on job and job-related system improvements.

    (2) Grants awarded under this section must be used to develop strategies that:

    (a) Assist unemployed and underemployed residents obtain livable wage jobs in targeted sectors in the regional economy;

    (b) Help low-income residents access job opportunities with businesses that benefit from local government led economic development efforts by establishing first-source and voluntary hiring agreements with those businesses;

    (c) Create pathways to employment that are longer-term and more intensive for residents that are harder to serve due to chronic unemployment or lack of work experience; and

    (d) Coordinate services of the public and private sector, and community organizations to provide outreach, recruitment, and job readiness services to low-income job seekers.

    (3) The department shall develop, by rule, guidelines regarding the amount of funds awarded to local governments, performance evaluation standards, and other guidelines the department deems necessary for the administration of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  The sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, from the general fund to the department of community, trade, and economic development for the purposes of section 1 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  The sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, from the general fund to the department of community, trade, and economic development for the purposes of section 1 of this act.

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