BILL REQ. #:  H-0479.1 

Read first time 01/15/13.   Referred to Committee on Labor & Workforce Development.

     AN ACT Relating to the agricultural labor skills and safety grant program; adding a new section to chapter 43.330 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes that Washington is one of the most productive growing regions in the country and Washington's agriculture is an integral part of this state's economic health. The legislature also recognizes the agricultural industry's need for skilled workers and the workers' needs in upgrading their agricultural skills and marketability. The legislature recognizes that providing skills and safety training for agricultural workers helps ensure their success and safety and helps to ensure the continued success of Washington's agricultural industry.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall create and administer the agricultural labor skills and safety grant program that will provide training opportunities for agricultural workers.
     (2) The department shall select one recipient that has a community-based organization with the ability to carry out the objectives set forth in subsection (3) of this section.
     (3) The grant recipient shall provide training to agricultural workers in workforce skills and safety training by:
     (a) Designing and implementing an agricultural skills development program;
     (b) Developing a plan to increase the number of skilled agricultural workers through a recruitment process;
     (c) Providing agricultural health and safety training to its participants;
     (d) Conducting project evaluations on agricultural trainings and service delivery strategies for agricultural workers and employers;
     (e) Partnering with an agricultural association that has focused exclusively on agricultural labor and employment issues and services for at least ten years, and that has experience in providing training to agricultural employees in developing and providing the training curriculum; and
     (f) Delivering training through a service delivery system that is sensitive to the unique needs of agricultural employers and to the barriers agricultural workers face to employment.
     (4) The grant recipient may receive up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars per year.
     (5) This section expires July 1, 2016.