READ FIRST TIME 03/02/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to workforce employment and training; amending RCW 50.24.014; adding a new section to chapter 50.22 RCW; creating new sections; providing expiration dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) This is a time of great economic difficulty for the residents of Washington state;
     (b) Education and training provides opportunity for unemployed workers and economically disadvantaged adults to move into living wage jobs and is of critical importance to the current and future prosperity of the residents of Washington state;
     (c) Community and technical college workforce training programs, private career schools and colleges, and Washington state apprenticeship and training council-approved apprenticeship programs provide effective and efficient pathways for people to enter high-demand occupations while also meeting the needs of the economy;
     (d) The identification of high-demand occupations needs to be based on reliable labor market research; and
     (e) Workforce development councils are in a position to provide funding for economically disadvantaged adults and unemployed workers to access training.
     (2) Consistent with the intent of the workforce investment act adult and dislocated worker program provisions of the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, the legislature intends that individuals who are eligible for services under the workforce investment act adult and dislocated worker programs, or are receiving or have exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation benefits be provided the opportunity to enroll in training programs to prepare for a high-demand occupation.

Sec. 2   RCW 50.24.014 and 2007 c 327 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) A separate and identifiable account to provide for the financing of special programs to assist the unemployed is established in the administrative contingency fund. All money in this account shall be expended solely for the purposes of this title and for no other purposes whatsoever. Contributions to this account shall accrue and become payable by each employer, except employers as described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers as described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, at a basic rate of two one-hundredths of one percent. The amount of wages subject to tax shall be determined under RCW 50.24.010.
     (b) A separate and identifiable account is established in the administrative contingency fund for financing the employment security department's administrative costs under RCW 50.22.150 and section 4, chapter 3, Laws of 2009 and the costs under RCW 50.22.150(((10))) (11) and section 4(14), chapter 3, Laws of 2009. All money in this account shall be expended solely for the purposes of this title and for no other purposes whatsoever. Contributions to this account shall accrue and become payable by each employer, except employers as described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers as described in RCW 50.44.035, those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, those employers described under RCW 50.29.025(1)(f)(ii), and those qualified employers assigned rate class 20 or rate class 40, as applicable, under RCW 50.29.025, at a basic rate of one one-hundredth of one percent. The amount of wages subject to tax shall be determined under RCW 50.24.010. Any amount of contributions payable under this subsection (1)(b) that exceeds the amount that would have been collected at a rate of four one-thousandths of one percent must be deposited in the account created in (a) of this subsection.
     (2)(a) Contributions under this section shall become due and be paid by each employer under rules as the commissioner may prescribe, and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the remuneration of individuals in the employ of the employer. Any deduction in violation of this section is unlawful.
     (b) In the payment of any contributions under this section, a fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to one-half cent or more, in which case it shall be increased to one cent.
     (3) If the commissioner determines that federal funding has been increased to provide financing for the services specified in chapter 50.62 RCW, the commissioner shall direct that collection of contributions under this section be terminated on the following January 1st.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Subject to the availability of funds through March 1, 2011, funds appropriated in the 2009-2011 operating budget for the purposes of this act shall be distributed by the employment security department to workforce development councils as a match to American recovery and reinvestment act formula funds or local workforce investment act funds that workforce development councils provide specifically for the education and training of eligible individuals in high-demand occupations for the purposes identified in section 5(2) of this act. The education and training of eligible individuals in occupations in the aerospace, energy efficiency, forest product, and health care industries shall be given priority, so long as the priority is consistent with federal law.
     (a) Funds used to increase capacity as described in section 5(2)(a) of this act shall receive a seventy-five percent match.
     (b) Funds used to provide student financial aid described in section 5(2)(b) of this act shall receive a twenty-five percent match.
     (2) Funds available for the purposes identified in section 5(2) of this act but not distributed under subsection (1) of this section shall be allocated to the state board for community and technical colleges March 1, 2011. The board shall only use the funds to increase capacity as described in section 5(2)(a) of this act. The board shall report to the employment security department on the use of these funds.
     (3) The employment security department, in cooperation with the workforce training and education coordinating board and the state board for community and technical colleges, shall develop a set of guidelines on allowable uses for the incentive funds made available under this section. These guidelines shall emphasize training programs that expand the skills for Washington workers in order to obtain and retain jobs in high-demand industries such as those referenced in the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009.
     (4) This section expires July 1, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   The governor shall direct ten percent of statewide funds made available for activities under the workforce investment act in Title VIII of division A of the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) to be used for the purposes of section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) Consistent with the intent of the workforce investment act adult and dislocated worker program provisions of the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, the employment security department shall encourage an increase in education and training through grants and local plan modifications with workforce development councils. The department shall encourage workforce development councils to collaborate with other local recipients of American recovery and reinvestment act funding for the purposes of increasing training and supporting individuals who receive training. The department shall also require workforce development councils to determine the number of participants who will receive education and training in high-demand industries. The department shall require the workforce development councils to report on these efforts to accomplish the tasks described in this subsection.
     (2) The employment security department shall use funds as described in section 3 of this act to encourage workforce development councils to use American recovery and reinvestment act and workforce investment act adult and dislocated worker formula resources for the following education and training purposes:
     (a) To provide enrollment support or enter into contracts with the community and technical college system to increase capacity for training eligible individuals for high-demand and other occupations listed in section 3(1) of this act in programs on the eligible training provider list or new programs; and
     (b) For the provision of individual training accounts that provide financial aid for eligible students training for high-demand and other occupations listed in section 3(1) of this act in programs on the eligible training provider list.
     (3) American recovery and reinvestment act formula funds described in this section may not be used to replace or supplant any existing enrollments, programs, support services, or funding sources.
     (4) The employment security department, in its role as fiscal agent for workforce funds available under the American recovery and reinvestment act, shall monitor and report to the governor on the use of these funds and identify specific actions that the governor or the legislature may take to ensure the state and local workforce development councils are effectively meeting the intent of this act. This shall include such reports as required by the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 and the governor.
     (5) This section expires July 1, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   The employment security department, in collaboration with the workforce training and education coordinating board, workforce development councils, and the state board for community and technical colleges, shall submit a report to the governor and to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2010. The report shall describe the implementation of this act, and shall include the following:
     (1) The amounts of expenditures on education and training;
     (2) The number of students receiving training;
     (3) The types of training received by the students;
     (4) Training completion and employment rates;
     (5) Comparisons of preprogram and postprogram wage levels;
     (6) Student demographics and institution/program demographics;
     (7) Efforts made to ensure training was provided in areas that would lead to employment;
     (8) Efforts to develop capacity in occupations that are of particularly high demand; and
     (9) Specific enhancements made in the workforce system to ensure additional training in high-demand occupations is accessible to low-income and dislocated workers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 50.22 RCW to read as follows:
     The employment security department shall periodically bring together representatives of the workforce training and education coordinating board, workforce development councils, the state board for community and technical colleges, business, labor, and the legislature to review development and implementation of chapter . . ., Laws of 2009 (this act) and related programs under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   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 takes effect immediately.