FINAL BILL REPORT

ESB 5863

C 164 L 15

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning highway construction workforce development.

Sponsors: Senators Jayapal, Rivers, Keiser, Miloscia, Conway, Angel, Liias, Pedersen, Hobbs, Kohl-Welles and Hasegawa.

Senate Committee on Transportation

House Committee on Transportation

Background: Under current law, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is directed to expend federal funds, and funds that may be available to WSDOT, to increase diversity in the highway construction workforce. To the greatest extent practicable, WSDOT coordinates with the Apprenticeship and Training Council using these funds for the following activities:

• pre-apprenticeship programs approved by the Apprenticeship and Training Council;

• pre-employment counseling;

• orientation on the highway construction industry, including outreach to women, minorities, and other disadvantaged individuals;

• basic skills improvement classes;

• career counseling;

• remedial training;

• entry requirements for training programs;

• supportive services and assistance with transportation;

• child care and special needs;

• job-site monitoring and retention services; and

• assistance with tools, protective clothing, and other related support for employment costs.

WSDOT, in coordination with the Apprenticeship and Training Council, must submit a report to the transportation committees of the Legislature by December 1 of each year. The analysis must show the results of activities that increase diversity in the highway construction workforce.

Summary: WSDOT must coordinate with the Department of Labor and Industries, rather than the Apprenticeship and Training Council, to expend funding for apprenticeship preparation and support services, including grants to local Indian tribes, churches, nonprofits, and other organizations. To the greatest extent practicable, WSDOT must expend funding from sources other than the federal funds that are used under current law. The services that WSDOT provides to increase diversity in the highway construction workforce is expanded to include the recruitment of women and persons of color to participate in the apprenticeship program at WSDOT.

WSDOT must hire and maintain a full-time equivalent position to coordinate department activities that increase diversity in the highway construction workforce and actively engage with communities with populations that are underrepresented in current transportation apprenticeship programs.

The annual report that WSDOT, in coordination with the Department of Labor and Industries, provides to the transportation committees of the Legislature must include an analysis of WSDOT's efforts to coordinate diversity in the highway construction workforce and engage communities with populations that are underrepresented in transportation apprenticeship programs.

WSDOT must report by December 31, 2020, on how efforts to actively engage with communities with populations that are underrepresented in current transportation apprenticeship programs result in a higher level of participation among underrepresented populations over a five-year period.

Votes on Final Passage: