E2SHB 2082 -
By Committee on Higher Education
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The field of dreams program is established.
The legislature finds that agriculture is a major and critical employer
in Washington state and recognizes that the industry is struggling to
attract and retain employees. The purpose of the program is to provide
college tuition in the form of GET units to students working for
agricultural employers to benefit the agriculture industry and to
assist students in accessing postsecondary education. The program
shall be administered by the employment security department and the GET
units shall be administered by the higher education coordinating board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 The definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Board" means the higher education coordinating board.
(2) "Department" means the employment security department.
(3) "GET units" means tuition units under the advanced college
tuition payment program in chapter 28B.95 RCW.
(4) "Institution of higher education" has the same meaning as in
RCW 28B.92.030.
(5) "Qualified employer" means an employer whose American industry
classification system (NAICS) code is within "111" or "112."
(6) "WorkSource" means one-stop delivery system as described in
P.L. 105-220, Section 134.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 (1) To be eligible for the field of dreams
GET units, a student must be enrolled in the field of dreams program.
To enroll, a student must:
(a) Meet the criteria for resident tuition and fee rates as defined
in RCW 28B.15.012;
(b) Be sixteen through twenty-one years of age;
(c) Register at WorkSource;
(d) Work for a qualified employer in an agricultural job; and
(e) Be enrolled in high school, have graduated from high school, or
hold a general equivalency diploma.
(2) To accrue GET units, a student shall:
(a) Register with WorkSource each time he or she accepts employment
with an agricultural employer under the field of dreams program to
verify that the employment meets the qualifications of this program and
that work hours are being counted;
(b) Work in a position at a qualified employer; and
(c) Consent to the disclosure of information or records deemed
private and confidential under chapter 50.13 RCW. Disclosure of this
information and these records by the department to the board shall be
solely for purposes related to the administration of this chapter.
Information obtained from employer records under this chapter is
confidential and not open to public inspection, other than to public
employees in the performance of their official duties.
(3) For each three hundred fifty hours worked for a qualified
employer, a student shall earn ten GET units. GET units are not
available in denominations fewer than ten. No partial credit shall be
awarded for less than three hundred fifty hours of employment.
(4) Students may earn a maximum of one hundred GET units.
(5) To receive GET units a student shall:
(a) Obtain a certificate verifying units earned from the WorkSource
office; and
(b) Enter an institution of higher education that is accredited by
an accrediting agency recognized by rule of the higher education
coordinating board.
(6) GET units awarded through the field of dreams program may only
be used for payment of qualified higher education expenses as detailed
by the GET program.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 (1) The department is responsible for
administering the field of dreams program. In this capacity, the
department shall:
(a) Inform WorkSource applicants about the program;
(b) Manage student enrollment in the program, including outreach
to schools, subject to funds appropriated for the specific purpose of
the field of dreams program;
(c) Track student hours worked through the unemployment insurance
system;
(d) Refer interested students to qualified employers;
(e) Provide verification of covered employment under Title 50 RCW
and verify that the student is working for a qualified employer;
(f) Work with the board to develop appropriate procedures for the
redemption of certificates for GET units awarded by the program; and
(g) Use information sharing and integration technology to
facilitate the disclosure of relevant information and records by the
employment security department, so long as an individual consents to
the disclosure as required under section 3(2) of this act.
(2) Information contained in the files and records pertaining to an
individual under this chapter are confidential and not open to public
inspection, other than to public employees in the performance of their
official duties. However, an individual or an authorized
representative of the individual may review his or her records or
receive specific information from the records on the presentation of
the signed authorization of the individual.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 The board shall administer GET units earned
through the field of dreams program. In this capacity, the board
shall:
(1) Purchase GET units to be owned and held in trust by the board,
for the purpose of field of dreams awards as provided for in this
section;
(2) Distribute award funds, in the form of GET units, to
institutions of higher education on behalf of eligible recipients
identified by the program administrator beginning on July 1, 2011;
(3) Work with the department to develop appropriate procedures for
the redemption of certificates for GET units;
(4) Provide annual reports to the appropriate higher education and
fiscal committees of the house of representatives and the senate
regarding use of GET units, enrollment, and graduation information of
GET field of dreams recipients, if the recipients have given permission
for the board to do so; and
(5) Submit a report, developed jointly with the department, to the
appropriate higher education and fiscal committees of the house of
representatives and the senate by December 1, 2011, December 1, 2013,
and December 1, 2015, that describes the utilization of the program.
The reports shall include, but are not limited to, the demographic,
geographic, and income distribution of the student participants.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 (1) The GET field of dreams account is
created in the custody of the state treasurer.
(2) The board shall deposit into the account all money received for
the GET field of dreams account from appropriations and private
sources. The account shall be self-sustaining.
(3) Expenditures from the account shall be used for purchases of
GET units. Purchased GET units shall be owned and held in trust by the
board.
(4) With the exception of the operating costs associated with the
management of the account by the treasurer's office as authorized in
chapter 43.79A RCW, the account shall be credited with all investment
income earned by the account.
(5) Disbursements from the account are exempt from appropriations
and the allotment provisions of chapter 43.88 RCW.
(6) Disbursements from the account shall be made only on the
authorization of the board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 This chapter expires December 31, 2015.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 A new section is added to chapter 28B.95 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Ownership of tuition units purchased by the higher education
coordinating board for the GET field of dreams program under section 5
of this act shall be in the name of the state of Washington and may be
redeemed by the state of Washington on behalf of recipients of GET
field of dreams awards for tuition and fees.
(2) This section expires December 31, 2015.
Sec. 9 RCW 28B.95.060 and 2007 c 214 s 13 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) The Washington advanced college tuition payment program account
is created in the custody of the state treasurer. The account shall be
a discrete nontreasury account retaining its interest earnings in
accordance with RCW 43.79A.040.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, the
governing body shall deposit in the account all money received for the
program. The account shall be self-sustaining and consist of payments
received from purchasers of tuition units and funds received from other
sources, public or private. With the exception of investment and
operating costs associated with the investment of money by the
investment board paid under RCW 43.33A.160 and 43.84.160, the account
shall be credited with all investment income earned by the account.
Disbursements from the account are exempt from appropriations and the
allotment provisions of chapter 43.88 RCW. Money used for program
administration is subject to the allotment of all expenditures.
However, an appropriation is not required for such expenditures.
Program administration shall include, but not be limited to: The
salaries and expenses of the program personnel including lease
payments, travel, and goods and services necessary for program
operation; contracts for program promotion and advertisement, audits,
and account management; and other general costs of conducting the
business of the program.
(b) All money received by the program from the higher education
coordinating board for the GET ready for math and science scholarship
program shall be deposited in the GET ready for math and science
scholarship account created in RCW 28B.105.110.
(c) All money received by the program from the higher education
coordinating board for the GET field of dreams program shall be
deposited in the GET field of dreams account created in section 6 of
this act.
(3) The assets of the account may be spent without appropriation
for the purpose of making payments to institutions of higher education
on behalf of the qualified beneficiaries, making refunds, transfers, or
direct payments upon the termination of the Washington advanced college
tuition payment program. Disbursements from the account shall be made
only on the authorization of the governing body.
(4) With regard to the assets of the account, the state acts in a
fiduciary, not ownership, capacity. Therefore the assets of the
program are not considered state money, common cash, or revenue to the
state.
Sec. 10 RCW 43.79A.040 and 2007 c 523 s 5, 2007 c 357 s 21, and
2007 c 214 s 14 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested,
and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080
in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the
state treasury.
(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust
fund shall be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be
known as the investment income account.
(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment
of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds
including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and
disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state
agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to
financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of
earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings
credited to the investment income account to the state general fund
except under (b) and (c) of this subsection.
(b) The following accounts and funds shall receive their
proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's
average daily balance for the period: The Washington promise
scholarship account, the college savings program account, the
Washington advanced college tuition payment program account, the
agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment
fund, the foster care scholarship endowment fund, the foster care
endowed scholarship trust fund, the students with dependents grant
account, the basic health plan self-insurance reserve account, the
contract harvesting revolving account, the Washington state combined
fund drive account, the commemorative works account, the Washington
international exchange scholarship endowment fund, the developmental
disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, the fair fund,
the family leave insurance account, the fruit and vegetable inspection
account, the future teachers conditional scholarship account, the game
farm alternative account, the GET field of dreams account, the GET
ready for math and science scholarship account, the grain inspection
revolving fund, the juvenile accountability incentive account, the law
enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 expense fund, the local
tourism promotion account, the produce railcar pool account, the
regional transportation investment district account, the rural
rehabilitation account, the stadium and exhibition center account, the
youth athletic facility account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the
sulfur dioxide abatement account, the children's trust fund, the
Washington horse racing commission Washington bred owners' bonus fund
account, the Washington horse racing commission class C purse fund
account, the individual development account program account, the
Washington horse racing commission operating account (earnings from the
Washington horse racing commission operating account must be credited
to the Washington horse racing commission class C purse fund account),
the life sciences discovery fund, the Washington state heritage center
account, and the reading achievement account. However, the earnings to
be distributed shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state
treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.
(c) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent
of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or
fund's average daily balance for the period: The advanced right-of-way
revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving
account, the city and county advance right-of-way revolving fund, the
federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high occupancy vehicle
account, the local rail service assistance account, and the
miscellaneous transportation programs account.
(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state
Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings
without the specific affirmative directive of this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute
a new chapter in Title
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12 If specific funding for the purposes of
this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not
provided by June 30, 2008, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act
is null and void."
E2SHB 2082 -
By Committee on Higher Education
On page 1, line 1 of the title, after "program;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 28B.95.060; reenacting and amending RCW 43.79A.040; adding a new section to chapter 28B.95 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 28B RCW; creating a new section; and providing expiration dates."