AN ACT Relating to the Washington youth employment exchange; amending RCW 50.65.020, 43.220.220, 43.220.230, and 50.16.070; adding a new section to chapter 50.65 RCW; creating a new section; making an appropriation; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) The economic competitiveness of Washington state depends on its trained work force;

(2) As the numbers of young people available to enter the work force declines, skill levels required by the jobs of the future are climbing;

(3) The state has a vital interest in ensuring that the young people of Washington are as well prepared as possible to enter the labor force; and

(4) Students who leave school without achieving a solid base of educational skills face a serious disadvantage in obtaining employment which can lead to a career and sustain a family, a situation even more disadvantageous to members of ethnic minority groups;

The legislature recognizes that the Washington youth employment exchange through the Washington service corps has established a successful model for providing training to young people through community service opportunities in nonprofit and public agencies. It is the intent of the legislature that the service corps model be expanded to include training and community service opportunities through the private sector.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 50.65 RCW to read as follows:

The Washington youth employment exchange may establish internship positions with private corporations for young adults from eighteen to twenty-five years old, especially those young people who are members of ethnic minority groups, or who are enrolled under the family independence program and have not previously received benefits under the aid to families with dependent children program. Such positions shall be part time during the school year and full time during the summer. The interns shall be initially exposed to various phases of business and then serve with the businesses in some type of community service activity.

The department may provide all or a portion of the intern's stipend to the extent that state or federal funds are made available for that purpose.

Sec. 3. Section 2, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. as amended by section 2, chapter 167, Laws of 1987 and RCW 50.65.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the employment security department.

(2) "Department" means the employment security department.

(3) "Enrollees" means those persons who have completed enrollment forms, completed a work agreement, and who have entered into the Washington service corps following the approval of the director of the supervising agency.

(4) "Corps" means the Washington service corps operated as part of the Washington youth employment exchange.

(5) "Work agreement" means the written agreement between the department, the enrollee and the supervising agency under this chapter for a period of up to eighteen months.

(6) "Supervising agencies" means those private or public agencies which develop and implement full-time service projects in which enrollees agree to participate.

(7) "Matching funds" means funding that is provided to the employment security department by agencies or individuals as financial support for a portion of the stipend or wage and benefits paid to the enrollee.

(8) "Financial support" means any thing of value contributed by agencies or individuals to the department for a youth employment project which is reasonably calculated to support directly the development and expansion of a particular program under this chapter and which represents an addition to any financial support previously or customarily provided by the individual or agency. "Financial support" includes, but is not limited to funds, equipment, facilities, and training.

(9) "Director" means the individual who shall serve as the director of the exchange.

(10) "Exchange" means the Washington youth employment exchange.

Sec. 4. Section 2, chapter 230, Laws of 1985 and RCW 43.220.220 are each amended to read as follows:

Sixty percent of the general funds available to the ((~~youth employment exchange as prescribed in chapter 50.65 RCW, and the~~)) Washington conservation corps shall be for ((~~enrollees and~~)) members from distressed areas and for projects in distressed areas. A distressed area shall mean: (1) A county which has an unemployment rate which is twenty percent above the state average for the immediately previous three years; (2) a community which has experienced sudden and severe loss of employment; or (3) an area within a county which area: (a) Is composed of contiguous census tracts; (b) has a minimum population of five thousand persons; (c) the median household income is at least thirty-five percent below the county's median household income, as determined from data collected for the previous United States ten-year census; and (d) has an unemployment rate which is at least forty percent higher than the county's unemployment rate. For purposes of this definition, "families and unrelated individuals" has the same meaning that is ascribed to that term by the federal department of housing and urban development in its regulations authorizing action grants for economic development and neighborhood revitalization projects.

The department of employment security shall evaluate projects on the basis of average cost per ((~~enrollee~~)) corps member, public benefit of the proposed project, opportunity for placement of ((~~enrollees and~~)) corps members, degree of public and private support, and coordination of projects with other agencies. A training plan shall be developed for each corps member ((~~and enrollee~~)). Preference shall be given to persons not less than eighteen years of age, and not older than twenty-three years of age. The department of employment security shall ensure the availability of corps members to respond to emergency projects and needs as they arise.

Agencies which do not develop projects which meet the department's requirements in the biennium, and result in unexpended funds, shall have those unexpended funds go to other distressed areas to encourage the recruitment of disadvantaged unemployed youth.

Sec. 5. Section 3, chapter 230, Laws of 1985 and RCW 43.220.230 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Not more than fifteen percent of the funds available for the Washington conservation corps ((~~and the youth employment exchange prescribed in chapter 50.65 RCW~~)) shall be expended for the cost of administration. For the purpose of this chapter, administrative costs are defined as including, but not limited to, program planning and evaluation, budget development and monitoring, personnel management, contract administration, payroll, development of program reports, normal recruitment and placement procedures, standard office space, and costs and utilities.

(2) The fifteen percent limitation does not include costs for any of the following: Program support activities such as direct supervision of ((~~enrollees~~)) corps members, counseling, job training, equipment, and extraordinary recruitment procedures necessary to fill project positions.

(3) The total costs for all items included under subsection (1) of this section and excluded from the fifteen percent lid under subsection (2) of this section shall not: (a) Exceed thirty percent of the appropriated funds available during a fiscal biennium for the Washington conservation corps ((~~and the youth employment exchange programs~~)); or (b) result in the average cost per ((~~enrollee~~)) corps member exceeding seven thousand dollars. The tests included in items (a) and (b) of this subsection are in the alternative and it is only required that one of these tests be satisfied. For purposes of this section, the term administrative costs does not include those extraordinary placement costs of the department of employment security for which the department is eligible for reimbursement under RCW 43.220.240. The provisions of this section apply separately to each corps agency listed in RCW 43.220.020.

Sec. 6. Section 7, chapter 13, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.16.070 are each amended to read as follows:

The federal interest payment fund shall consist of contributions 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, employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, and employers paying contributions under RCW 50.44.035) for any calendar quarter which begins on or after January 1, 1984, and for which the commissioner determines that the department will have an outstanding balance of accruing federal interest at the end of the calendar quarter. The amount of wages subject to tax shall be determined according to RCW 50.24.010. The tax rate applicable to wages paid during the calendar quarter shall be determined by the commissioner and shall not exceed fifteen one-hundredths of one percent. In determining whether to require contributions as authorized by this section, the commissioner shall consider the current balance in the federal interest payment fund and the projected amount of interest which will be due and payable as of the following September 30. Unless otherwise provided by legislative appropriation, any excess moneys in the federal interest payment fund shall be retained in the fund for future interest payments.

Contributions under this section shall become due and be paid by each employer in accordance with such 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.

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.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. There is appropriated from the federal interest payment fund to the employment security department for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect April 1, 1988.