AN ACT Relating to adult literacy; amending RCW 50.24.010; adding a new chapter to Title 28C RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that at least seventeen percent of the adult citizens of the state lack the basic literacy skills and knowledge necessary to participate in occupational training. Only seven percent of the five hundred sixty-eight thousand illiterate adults participate in adult basic education programs. Adults without the basic skills needed for training in job skills are the most likely to need unemployment compensation and welfare payments, and to fill our state's correctional institutions. The legislature intends to increase adult educational opportunities in the state for adults lacking basic literacy skills, for adults who have not received a high school diploma, and for adults who have received a high school diploma but whose level of achievement, based on standard measures, indicates that additional basic skills are necessary in order to enter a job training program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. As used in sections 1 through 8 of this act, "basic literacy" means achievement at a tenth grade educational level as measured by tests developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and approved by the state board of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. There is created the advisory council on investment in human capital. The council shall consist of ten voting members, four nonvoting members, and a nonvoting chairperson. The governor shall appoint the members of the council. Three of the voting members shall be representatives of business, and three of the voting members shall be representatives of labor. Five of the voting members shall be the state superintendent of public instruction, the executive director of the state board for community college education, the commissioner of the department of employment security, and the director of the department of labor and industries. The four nonvoting members shall be 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 that provide job training services as their primary service. The governor shall serve as the nonvoting chairperson of the council.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The advisory council on investment in human capital shall develop and submit to the legislature for adoption a state plan for reducing the percentage of the adult population lacking basic literacy to five percent by the year 2000. The state plan shall provide a framework for interagency collaboration. The state plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:

(1) Policies and objectives guiding the adult literacy development activities for the state of Washington, with corresponding evaluative criteria;

(2) Strategies and criteria for coordinating and enhancing adult literacy activities, programs, and services provided by entities such as state and local education and training agencies and vocational educational agencies, public libraries, and public assistance and employment agencies to achieve state policies and objectives, meet the basic skill needs of the adult population, and maximize available state and local resources and expertise;

(3) Procedures for identifying and recruiting adults lacking basic literacy skills for placement in literacy training programs;

(4) Mechanisms for assessing program successes and for monitoring compliance with state policies and objectives; and

(5) Performance guidelines for educational agencies to follow in developing and implementing local literacy plans.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The advisory council on investment in human capital shall disburse funds from the basic skills training fund established in section 8 of this act. Such funds shall be made available exclusively for use by individuals who (1) have taken but not passed the basic literacy skills test provided for in section 6 of this act, and (2) require such funds for enrollment in a program of basic skills training. The advisory council shall establish by rule the procedures and the terms under which individuals shall qualify for and receive basic skills training funds. The advisory council may make the funds available as scholarships or recoverable grants.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop, in conjunction with the state board for community college education and the council of vocational technical institutes, a standardized test to measure basic literacy skills.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The state board for community college education shall institute a basic skills diploma program. Basic skills diplomas shall be awarded to individuals passing the standardized test developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction as provided in section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The basic skills training fund is created in the custody of the state treasurer. The fund shall consist of moneys collected by the employment security department under section 9 of this act. Moneys in the fund may be used only as provided in section 5 of this act. Disbursements from the fund shall be on authorization of the advisory council on investment in human capital. The fund is subject to the allotment procedure provided under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for disbursements.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The department of employment security shall collect from each employer in the state one dollar per month for every one hundred sixty employee work hours. Funds collected under this section shall be deposited in the basic skills training fund established under section 8 of this act

Sec. 10. Section 89, chapter 35, Laws of 1945 as last amended by section 2, chapter 205, Laws of 1984 and RCW 50.24.010 are each amended to read as follows:

Contributions shall accrue and become payable by each employer (except employers as described in RCW 50.44.010 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions) for each calendar year in which the employer is subject to this title at the rate established pursuant to chapter 50.29 RCW.

In each rate year, the amount of wages subject to tax for each individual shall be one hundred fifteen percent of the amount of wages subject to tax for the previous year rounded to the next lower one hundred dollars: PROVIDED, That the amount of wages subject to tax in any rate year shall not exceed ((~~eighty~~)) seventy-seven percent of the "average annual wage for contributions purposes" for the second preceding calendar year rounded to the next lower one hundred dollars: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the amount subject to tax shall be twelve thousand dollars for rate year 1984 and ten thousand dollars for rate year 1985.

In making computations under this section and RCW 50.29.010, wages paid based on services for employers making payments in lieu of contributions shall not be considered remuneration. Moneys paid from the fund, based on services performed for employers who make payments in lieu of contributions, which have not been reimbursed to the fund as of any June 30 shall be deemed an asset of the unemployment compensation fund, to the extent that such moneys exceed the amount of payments in lieu of contributions which the commissioner has previously determined to be uncollectible: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That the amount attributable to employment with the state shall also include interest as provided for in RCW 50.44.020.

Contributions shall become due and be paid by each employer to the treasurer for the unemployment compensation fund in accordance with such regulations as the commissioner may prescribe, and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the remuneration of individuals in employment of the employer. Any deduction in violation of the provisions of this section shall be unlawful.

In the payment of any contributions, 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. 11. If the council established in section 3 of this act is established by a separate act during the 1990 legislative session, section 3 of this act shall become null and void.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. 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. 13. Sections 1 through 9 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28C RCW.