AN ACT Relating to investment in human capital; creating new sections; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that demographic and economic changes are causing an increasing shortage of well trained workers within Washington. The working age population is growing at a decreasing rate due to the aging of the post World War II baby boom generation and due to a lower rate of birth. The current economic boom in the state is aggravating this long-term trend by lowering the rate of unemployed individuals seeking work. Because of the developing labor shortage, Washington businesses increasingly need to employ individuals from demographic groups which have been traditionally underrepresented among the employed population. Many of these and other individuals need training in order to have the skills required by employers. Despite economic growth, significant unemployment remains a serious and persistent problem in many areas of the state. By making first rate training available to individuals who lack suitable skills for employment in well-paying careers, the state will enhance employment opportunities for low-income individuals, unemployed persons, dislocated workers, and others enabling more citizens of the state to enjoy our economic prosperity.

The legislature further finds that our state's businesses have a growing need for highly trained workers because of the increasing technological complexity of occupations and due to increasing world market competition. Because of these technical and economic changes, businesses in the future will need to fully utilize the capacities of their workers for skilled, flexible, and intelligent work.

The legislature further finds that the vast majority of the work force for the year 2000 and beyond is already of the age eighteen years or older. For the work force of the future to be well trained will require a first-rate adult training system. This system will need to train those individuals who are entering and reentering the labor market and those individuals already employed who need new or updated skills to meet changing technological and economic conditions. For the training system to be first rate will require a system that is well coordinated between service providers, is accountable for its performance, and is responsive to the needs of businesses and the work force. The training system must emphasize training in broad- based skills with long-term career potential. For the state to have a first rate training system requires a thorough study of our present and future training needs; experimentation in new ways of providing training; and leadership and recommendations from representatives of business, workers, and training providers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this act.

(1) "Council" means the advisory council on investment in human capital.

(2) "Training" means any education, literacy, or skill training or retraining activity that is needed by an individual to begin or continue full participation in the Washington work force.

(3) "Training system" means the network of public and private providers of training, and includes secondary vocational education programs for gainful employment upon completion of a designated program sequence, but not other programs of primary or secondary education.

(4) "Training providers" includes agencies and institutions of secondary vocational education programs for gainful employment upon completion of a designated program sequence, adult education, vocational technical institutes, community colleges, apprenticeship programs, private and public nonprofit organizations that are representative of communities or significant segments of communities and provide job training services, and private for-profit organizations that provide training as their primary service.

(5) "Workforce" means all persons of working age including those who are currently gainfully employed and those who are not.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) There is created the advisory council on investment in human capital. The council shall consist of ten voting members, nine nonvoting members, and a nonvoting chairperson. The governor shall appoint the members of the council except for the legislative members. Three of the voting members shall be representatives of business, and three of the voting members shall be representatives of labor. Four of the voting members shall be the state superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee, the executive director of the state board for community college education or the director's designee, the commissioner of the department of employment security or the commissioner's designee, and the director of the department of labor and industries or the director's designee. The nine nonvoting members shall be a member from each of the two major caucuses in the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house, a member from each of the two major caucuses in the senate appointed by the president of the senate, a representative of the council of vocational technical institutes, a representative of the general public, a representative of a broad-based coalition of groups providing literacy services, a representative of private or public nonprofit organizations that are representative of communities or significant segments of communities and provide job training services, and a representative of private for-profit organizations which provide job training services as their primary service. The governor or the governor's designee shall serve as the nonvoting chairperson of the council.

(2) The council shall advise the office of financial management concerning the study of training authorized under section 4 of this act.

(3) The council shall advise the office of financial management and other appropriate state agencies concerning the pilot programs established under sections 5 through 9 of this act.

(4) The council shall make recommendations on changes necessary in state policies for training to the office of financial management and to the governor by December 1, 1990.

(5) The office of financial management and the office of the governor shall provide staff to the council as necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

(6) The council shall meet as necessary to carry out the purposes of this act, and council members shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060, or 44.04.120.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The office of financial management shall, with the advice of the council, administer a study of the training needs of the state's work force, businesses, and the economy, including an evaluation of the training system. The office of financial management shall complete the study by December 1, 1990, and present the study to the council and governor. For purposes of the study, the office of financial management shall use already existing data whenever appropriate. As necessary, the labor market and economic analysis unit of the department of employment security shall assist the office of financial management with labor market and economic data, and state agencies that provide training shall assist the office of financial management with data on their training programs. The director of the office of financial management may contract for services necessary for the completion of the study, and shall contract for services as necessary to ensure objectivity in evaluating the training system. The study shall include:

(2) An assessment of the employment competency needs of the present Washington work force, including regional and demographic subgroups of the state work force, and projections of these competencies to the year 2010. Employment competency needs shall include, but not be limited to, literacy, basic skills, and vocational skills;

(3) An assessment of the current work force skill needs of Washington businesses and public employers, including subgroups by region, industry, and firm size, and projections of these needs to the year 2010. Work force skill needs shall include, but not be limited to, literacy, basic skills, and vocational skills;

(4) An assessment of the gaps which may exist between the competencies of the work force and the work force skill needs of Washington businesses between now and the year 2010 given current training policies;

(5) An assessment of the characteristics, size, and geographic distribution of Washington population groups which are in need of training between now and the year 2010;

(6) An inventory and analysis of alternative training programs, policies, and funding mechanisms including, but not limited to, financial contributions from businesses, workers, and trainees, which have been proposed or are in use in other states or other nations;

(7) An assessment of current data, information, monitoring, and evaluation systems so that training needs and training providers may be assessed on an ongoing, systematic, objective, and comprehensive basis. This assessment shall include integrating an evaluation component into each of the pilot programs authorized under sections 5 through 9 of this act;

(8) An inventory and analysis of the current training system in terms of organization, including the governance of vocational technical institutes, coordination, responsiveness, accountability, effectiveness, resources, support services for trainees, including but not limited to child care, and access, including access for subgroups of the population, including but not limited to subgroups by gender, race, ethnicity, and income level, and an inventory of training provided by employers whose primary product is not training;

(9) An analysis of current training programs to enable women and minorities to enter occupations and industries in which women and minorities have traditionally been underrepresented, and ways of improving such training; and

(10) Recommendations on changes in the training system, including but not limited to ways of improving coordination and integration to meet the present and future needs of the work force, businesses, and the economy.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The office of financial management and the office of the governor, with the advice of the council, shall oversee the pilot programs for job training. The pilot programs shall test means of integrating delivery systems and improving the responsiveness of training providers to the needs of businesses and the work force. Each pilot program shall integrate an evaluation component in conjunction with the study conducted under section 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The state board for community college education shall, in cooperation with the office of financial management, administer pilot programs which provide additional community college training programs incorporating new means of responding to the needs of businesses and the work force. The state board for community college education shall, as appropriate, coordinate these projects with the economic development services provided by the department of trade and economic development and the department of employment security.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The employment security department shall conduct a pilot program for the provision of training and access to related services for workers in timber or wood products industries who have been dislocated from rural firms, or for workers dislocated from rural firms, employing fifty or fewer persons on a full-time basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department of employment security shall, in cooperation with the office of financial management and other appropriate state agencies, administer a pilot program on integrating training services with programs for substance abuse prevention and or treatment for youth.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The superintendent of public instruction shall administer a pilot program on integrating adult education instruction within vocational technical institutes. Under this pilot program the vocational technical institutes shall provide two hundred thousand additional hours of adult education instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act shall expire on July 1, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. 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 shall take effect immediately.