BILL REQ. #: S-3219.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/19/12. Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Trade & Innovation.
AN ACT Relating to extending the customized employment training program; amending RCW 28B.67.020, 28B.67.030, and 82.04.449; and repealing RCW 28B.67.902.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 28B.67.020 and 2011 c 151 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The Washington customized employment training program is hereby
created to provide training assistance to employers locating or
expanding in the state.
(2)(a) Application to receive funding under this program ((shall))
must be made to the board in a form and manner as specified by the
board. Successful applicants ((shall)) must receive a training
allowance from the board to cover the costs of training at a qualified
training institution. Employers may not receive an allowance for
training costs which exceed the maximum annual training cost per
employee, as established by the board, and are not eligible to receive
an allowance or allowances of over five hundred thousand dollars per
calendar year.
(b) Allowances ((shall)) must be granted for applicants who meet
the following criteria:
(i) The employer must have entered into an agreement with a
qualified training institution to engage in customized training and the
employer must agree to: (A) Upon completion of the training, make a
payment to the employment training finance account created in RCW
28B.67.030 in an amount equal to one-quarter of the amount of the
training allowance; and (B) over the subsequent eighteen months, make
monthly or quarterly payments, as specified in the agreement, to the
employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030 in an
amount equal to three-quarters of the amount of the training allowance.
During calendar years 2009 and 2010, participants may delay payments
due under this section for up to eighteen months. The payments into
the employment training finance account provided for in this section do
not constitute payment to the institution.
(ii) When hiring, the employer must make good faith efforts, as
determined by the board, to hire from trainees in the participant's
training program. The agreement with the qualified training
institution provided for in (b)(i) of this subsection ((shall)) must
specify terms for reimbursement or additional payment to the employment
training finance account by the employer if the participant does not,
when hiring, make good faith efforts to hire from trainees in the
participant's training program.
(iii) The training allowance may not be used to train workers who
have been hired as a result of a strike or lockout.
(c) Preference ((shall be)) is given to employers with fewer than
fifty employees.
(d) Preference ((shall be)) is given to training that leads to
transferable skills that are interchangeable among different jobs,
employers, or workplaces.
(3) Qualified training institutions may enter into agreements with
four-year institutions of higher education, as defined in RCW
28B.10.016, in accordance with the interlocal cooperation act, chapter
39.34 RCW.
(4) The board and qualified training institutions may solicit and
receive gifts, grants, funds, fees, and endowments, in trust or
otherwise, from tribal, local, federal, or other governmental entities,
as well as private sources, for the purpose of providing training
allowances under chapter 112, Laws of 2006. All revenue thus solicited
and received ((shall)) must be deposited into the employment training
finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030.
(5) Qualified training institutions must make good faith efforts to
develop training programs using trainers preferred by participants.
(6) For employers who (a) have requested training under the job
skills program created under chapter 28C.04 RCW but are not able to
participate in the job skills program because the funds have all been
committed, and (b) desire to become participants in the Washington
customized employment training program, the board shall ensure a
seamless process toward participation.
(7) The board may adopt rules to implement this section.
(((8) This section expires July 1, 2012.))
Sec. 2 RCW 28B.67.030 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 26 s 4 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) All payments received from a participant in the Washington
customized employment training program created in RCW 28B.67.020
((shall)) must be deposited into the employment training finance
account, which is hereby created in the custody of the state treasurer.
Only the state board for community and technical colleges may authorize
expenditures from the account and no appropriation is required for
expenditures. The money in the account must be used solely for
training allowances under the Washington customized employment training
program created in RCW 28B.67.020 and for providing up to seventy-five
thousand dollars per year for training, marketing, and facilitation
services to increase the use of the program. The deposit of payments
under this section from a participant ((shall)) ceases when the board
specifies that the participant has met the monetary obligations of the
program. During the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the legislature may
transfer from the employment training finance account to the state
general fund such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance in the
account.
(2) All revenue solicited and received under the provisions of RCW
28B.67.020(4) ((shall)) must be deposited into the employment training
finance account to provide training allowances.
(3) The definitions in RCW 28B.67.010 apply to this section.
(((4) This section expires July 1, 2012.))
Sec. 3 RCW 82.04.449 and 2010 c 114 s 121 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) In computing the tax imposed under this chapter, a credit is
allowed for participants in the Washington customized employment
training program created in RCW 28B.67.020. The credit allowed under
this section is equal to fifty percent of the value of a participant's
payments to the employment training finance account created in RCW
28B.67.030. If a participant in the program does not meet the
requirements of RCW 28B.67.020(2)(b)(ii), the participant must remit to
the department the value of any credits taken plus interest. The
credit earned by a participant in one calendar year may be carried over
to be credited against taxes incurred in a subsequent calendar year.
((No credit may be allowed for repayment of training allowances
received from the Washington customized employment training program on
or after July 1, 2016.))
(2) A person claiming the credit provided in this section must file
a complete annual survey with the department under RCW 82.32.585.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 RCW 28B.67.902 (Expiration date -- 2006 c 112
ss 1-4 and 8) and 2006 c 112 s 11 are each repealed.