BILL REQ. #:  H-1299.1 

Read first time 02/11/2003.   Referred to Committee on State Government.

     AN ACT Relating to employment opportunities for people with disabilities; amending RCW 43.19.520, 43.19.525, and 43.19.530; adding new sections to chapter 43.19 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 50.40 RCW; and providing expiration dates.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.19.520 and 1974 ex.s. c 40 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     It is the intent of the legislature to encourage state agencies and departments to purchase products and/or services manufactured or provided by ((sheltered workshops and)):
     (1) Community rehabilitation programs of the department of social and health services which operate facilities serving ((the handicapped and)) disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities and have achieved or consistently make progress towards the goal of enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities to maximize their opportunities for employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages; and
     (2) Until December 31, 2007, businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities that have achieved or consistently make progress towards the goal of enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities to maximize their opportunities for employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.19.525 and 1974 ex.s. c 40 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((As used in RCW 43.19.520 and 43.19.530 the term "sheltered workshops" shall have the meaning ascribed to it by RCW 82.04.385 and)) The definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 43.19.520 through 43.19.530 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities" means any sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation, that has at least fifty percent of its value owned by, and at least fifty percent of the positions exercising executive or management authority occupied by, persons who have been either:
     (a) Determined by the department of social and health services to have a developmental disability, as defined in RCW 71A.10.020;
     (b) Determined by an agency established under Title I of the federal vocational rehabilitation act to be or have been eligible for vocational rehabilitation services;
     (c) Determined by the federal social security administration to be or have been eligible for either social security disability insurance or supplemental security income; or
     (d) Determined by the United States department of veterans affairs to be or have been eligible for vocational rehabilitation services due to service-connected disabilities, under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 3100 et seq.
     (2) "Community rehabilitation programs of the department of social and health services" ((shall)) means ((the group training homes and day training centers defined in RCW 72.33.800)) any entity that:
     (a) Is registered as a nonprofit corporation with the secretary of state; and
     (b) Is recognized by the department of social and health services, division of vocational rehabilitation as eligible to do business as a community rehabilitation program.
     (3) "Vendor in good standing" means a business owned and operated by persons with disabilities or a community rehabilitation program, that has been determined under sections 4 and 6 of this act to meet the following criteria:
     (a) Has not been in material breach of any quality or performance provision of any contract for the purchase of goods or services between the workshop, business, or program and any state agency during the past twelve months; and
     (b) Has achieved, or continues to work towards, the goal of enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities to maximize their opportunities for employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages, as determined by the governor's committee on disability issues and employment.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.19.530 and 1977 ex.s. c 10 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The state agencies and departments are hereby authorized to purchase products and/or services manufactured or provided by ((sheltered workshops and)):
     (1) Community rehabilitation programs of the department of social and health services; and
     (2) Until December 31, 2007, businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities.
     Such purchases shall be at the fair market price of such products and services as determined by the division of purchasing of the department of general administration. To determine the fair market price the division shall use the last comparable bid on the products and/or services or in the alternative the last price paid for the products and/or services. The increased cost of labor, materials, and other documented costs since the last comparable bid, the average of current comparable contracts including the effects of any changes in specifications, or the last price paid are additional cost factors which shall be considered in determining fair market price. Upon the establishment of the fair market price as provided for in this section the division is hereby empowered to negotiate directly for the purchase of products or services with ((sheltered workshops or)) officials in charge of the community rehabilitation programs of the department of social and health services ((for the purchase of the products or services)) and, until December 31, 2007, businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.19 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Annually, the department of general administration shall compile a list of vendors in good standing that includes all registered vendors that:
     (a) Are businesses owned and operated by persons with disabilities or community rehabilitation programs of the department of social and health services;
     (b) Have not been in material breach of any quality or performance provision of any contract for the purchase of goods or services between the business or program and any state agency during the past twelve months; and
     (c) Have achieved, or continue to work towards, the goal of enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities to maximize their opportunities for employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages, as determined by the governor's committee on disability issues and employment under section 6 of this act.
     (2) The department of general administration shall annually, but no less often than once every fifteen months:
     (a) Request from vendors in good standing information sufficient to accurately describe all products and services, including but not limited to any significant quantity or geographic limitations affecting the availability of such products and services, that such vendors propose to offer to state agencies during at least the subsequent fifteen-month period;
     (b) Disseminate the information obtained in response to the request made pursuant to (a) of this subsection to at least one purchasing official in each state agency; and
     (c) Notify each vendor in good standing of all contracts for the purchase of goods and services by state agencies with respect to which the department anticipates either renewing or requesting bids or proposals within at least twelve months of the date of the notice.
     (3) The department of general administration and the governor's committee on disability issues and employment shall jointly prepare and, on or before December 31, 2006, issue a report to the governor and the legislature. The report shall describe the activities authorized or required by this act, and their effect on enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities to maximize their opportunities for employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages.
     (4) This section expires December 31, 2007.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 43.19 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Nothing in this act requires any state agency to take any action that interferes with or impairs an existing contract between any state agency and any other party, including but not limited to any other state agency.
     (2) Until December 31, 2007, except as provided under RCW 43.19.534 and subsection (1) of this section, a state agency shall not purchase any product or service identified in the notice most recently disseminated by the department of general administration, as provided under section 4(2)(b) of this act, from other than a vendor in good standing until the state agency has first solicited and considered in good faith a proposal to provide the goods or service from at least one vendor in good standing supplying the goods or service needed by the agency, unless no vendor in good standing supplying the goods or service needed by the agency responds within ten days to the agency's solicitation for proposal.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 50.40 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) No less frequently than once each year, the governor's committee on disability issues and employment shall determine whether entities seeking to qualify as vendors in good standing, pursuant to sections 4 and 6 of this act, have achieved, or continue to work towards, the goal of enhancing opportunities for persons of disabilities to maximize their employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages.
     (2) In making the determination provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the governor's committee on disability issues and employment shall appoint and, except in the case of malfeasance or misfeasance, shall rely upon the conclusions of an advisory subcommittee consisting of: (a) Three members chosen from among those current or former clients of a community rehabilitation program who have nominated themselves, at least one of whom must be a person with a developmental disability; (b) one member chosen from among those guardians, parents, or other relatives of a current client or employee of a community rehabilitation program who have nominated themselves; (c) one member chosen from among those who have been nominated by a community rehabilitation program; (d) one member chosen from among those owners of a business owned and operated by persons with disabilities who have nominated themselves; (e) one member who is designated by the developmental disabilities council; (f) one member who is a member of and selected by the governor's committee on disability issues and employment; (g) one member who is designated by the secretary of the department of social and health services; and (h) one member who is designated by the director of the department of services for the blind.
     (3) The advisory subcommittee appointed by the governor's committee on disability issues and employment shall conclude that entities seeking to qualify, pursuant to sections 4 and 6 of this act, as vendors in good standing, have achieved, or continue to work towards, the goal of enhancing opportunities for persons of disabilities to maximize their employment and career advancement, and increase the number employed and their wages if, and only if, the entity provides reasonably conclusive evidence that, during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the entity's application, at least one-half of the following measurement categories applicable to the entity have been either achieved, pursuant to rules established under subsection (4) of this section, or have been improved as compared to the entity's condition with respect to that measurement category one year ago:
     (a) The number of people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are working in integrated settings;
     (b) The percentage of the people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are working in integrated settings;
     (c) The number of people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are working in individual supported employment settings;
     (d) The percentage of the people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are working in individual supported employment settings;
     (e) The number of people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who, during the last twelve months, have transitioned to less restrictive employment settings either within the entity or with other community employers;
     (f) The number of people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are earning at least the state minimum wage;
     (g) The percentage of the people with disabilities in the entity's total work force who are earning at least the state minimum wage;
     (h) The number of people with disabilities serving in supervisory capacities within the entity;
     (i) The percentage of supervisory positions within the entity that are occupied by people with disabilities;
     (j) The number of people with disabilities serving in an ownership capacity or on the governing board of the entity;
     (k) The ratio of the total amount paid by the entity in wages, salaries, and related employment benefits to people with disabilities, as compared to the amount paid by the entity in wages, salaries, and related employment benefits paid by the entity to persons without disabilities during the previous year; and
     (l) The percentage of people with disabilities in the entity's total work force for whom the entity has developed a reasonable, achievable, and written career plan.
     (4) The commissioner shall consult with the advisory subcommittee established in subsection (2) of this section to develop and adopt rules establishing the measurement at which it is deemed that the measurement categories identified in subsection (3)(b), (d), (e), (g), (h), (j), (k), and (l) of this section have been achieved.
     (5) This section expires December 31, 2007.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 50.40 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules to implement section 6 of this act, including but not limited to authority to establish (a) a nonrefundable application fee of not more than five hundred dollars to be paid by each entity seeking to establish or renew qualification as a vendor in good standing, pursuant to sections 4 and 6 of this act; (b) a fee of not more than two percent of the face amount of any contract awarded under this act; or (c) both fees identified in (a) and (b) of this subsection.
     (2) The fee or fees established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must set a level of revenue sufficient to recover costs incurred by the department of general administration in fulfilling the duties identified in section 4 of this act and the governor's committee on disability issues and employment in fulfilling the duties identified in section 6 of this act.
     (3) The vendors in good standing account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from the fee or fees established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purpose described in subsection (2) of this section. Expenditures from the account may be authorized only upon the approval of both the director of the department of general administration and the commissioner, or their respective designees. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.
     (4) This section expires December 31, 2007, and any unencumbered funds remaining in the vendors in good standing account on that date shall revert to the general fund.