Read first time 01/23/2006.   Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture & Trade.

     AN ACT Relating to creating a pilot program to assist in asset building for low-income persons; adding new sections to chapter 43.63A RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes that one in four families lack the financial resources to sustain their family for a period of three months at the federal poverty level. Low-income wage earners need tools to allow them to better control, manage, and increase their financial resources. The legislature is committed to supporting the collaboration of community-based, faith-based, governmental, job training, health care, and social service agencies to help low-income families achieve greater prosperity.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.63A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department of community, trade, and economic development must establish a process to offer consulting services to community action agencies, established under RCW 43.63A.115, who are interested in developing pilot programs to assist low-income families accumulate assets. In implementing a pilot program, the community action agency applicant is encouraged to facilitate bringing together community partners to determine the asset building programs to initiate within the community.
     (2) The department must select the pilot sites through an application process developed by the department and beginning by July 31, 2006. The department must offer consulting services to no less than four sites with at least one of the pilot sites located in eastern Washington.
     (3) A community action agency as established in RCW 43.63A.115 may submit an application to be selected as a pilot site. To be considered for a pilot site, the application must demonstrate how the site will meet the following criteria. The application must:
     (a) Identify the local agency that will be the lead agency for the pilot program;
     (b) Describe how the lead agency will work with community partners, including local government, to implement the pilot program activities described in this section. The application must specifically identify the community partners with whom the community action agency will be collaborating and the role of the partners;
     (c) Identify the areas of potential need based upon input from the community partners. Areas of potential need may include financial literacy, assistance with federal income tax preparation and the use of tax credits, the use of individual development accounts, and other asset-building strategies; and
     (d) Identify the resources within the community that might support training for the implementation of the selected best practices chosen to address the needs identified by the community.
(4) The department must report to the legislature by December 1, 2007, on the progress of the implementation of the pilot programs including the application process, the status of the programs, and any implementation issues that arose in initiating the pilot programs.
     (5) As used in this section, "asset" or "asset building" means investment or savings for an investment in a family home, higher education, small business, or other long-term asset that will assist low-income families to attain greater self-sufficiency.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.63A RCW to read as follows:
     To the extent funding is appropriated, the department of community, trade, and economic development must establish a program to create an outreach campaign to increase the number of eligible families who claim the federal earned income tax credit. The department may work collaboratively with other state agencies, private and nonprofit agencies, local communities, and others with expertise that might assist the department in implementing the program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act expires January 1, 2008.