House Bill 1170 - Building Economic Strength Through Manufacturing, Washington (2021 Regular Session)

Summary

House Bill 1170, State of Washington, 67th Legislature, 2021 Regular Session, by Representatives Boehnke, Paul, Walsh and the other sponsors it lists, read first time 01/13/21 and referred to Committee on Community & Economic Development. It is an act relating to building economic strength through manufacturing. Section 1 names it the Washington BEST manufacturing act. Section 2 states the legislature's intent that Washington state be home to the largest per capita share of workers in the manufacturing and research and development sectors of any state in the United States by 2030. Section 3 makes the department responsible for implementing that goal, requires it to convene stakeholders each fiscal biennium to compile a report to the legislature, and directs it to establish permanent regional offices.

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Full text

     H-0306.1

                                 HOUSE BILL 1170


     State of Washington       67th Legislature          2021 Regular Session

     By Representatives Boehnke, Paul, Walsh, Kloba, Shewmake, Santos,
     Springer, Dolan, Dye, Graham, Leavitt, McCaslin, Young, Walen,
     Riccelli,   Bateman,   Lovick,  Lekanoff, Eslick, Frame,  Barkis,
     Sutherland, Robertson, and Dent

     Read first time 01/13/21.     Referred   to   Committee   on   Community   &
     Economic Development.




 1       AN   ACT   Relating   to  building   economic   strength       through
 2   manufacturing; and adding new sections to chapter 43.330 RCW.


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


4        NEW SECTION.   Sec. 1.   This act may be known and cited as the
5    Washington BEST manufacturing act.


 6       NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It is the intent of the legislature that
 7   Washington state be home to the largest per capita share of workers
 8   involved in the manufacturing and research and development sectors of
 9   any state in the United States on a consistent basis by 2030. The
10   legislature finds that a thriving research and production sector are
11   complimentary and should be promoted in every region of the state.
12   The legislature finds this is critical to provide a strong, resilient
13   tax base for good schools, safe streets, and community optimism.
14   Therefore, the legislature intends to build institutional capacity,
15   such as well-equipped and staffed skill centers and research and
16   manufacturing industrial councils, in state government and every
17   geographic region of the state to achieve the goal of being
18   universally recognized as the best state in the nation for both
19   manufacturing and research and development.


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 1       NEW SECTION.    Sec. 3.    (1) The department is responsible for
 2   implementing the state's goal to consistently have the highest share
 3   of workforce involved in manufacturing and research and development
 4   occupations of any state in the United States. The department is
 5   responsible for building capacity in every region of the state to
 6   allow any person who wants to do so to learn the skills to enter into
 7   the manufacturing or research and development field and find abundant
 8   local employment opportunities in those fields.
 9       (2)   Each   fiscal   biennium,   the   department   must  convene
10   stakeholders in manufacturing and research and development for the
11   purpose of compiling a report to the legislature on the performance
12   to date in attainment of the goal in subsection (1) of this section
13   and to identify any public policy obstacles hindering advancement
14   toward the goal. The biennial report must provide recommendations to
15   the legislature. All state agencies are directed to provide such
16   expertise,   information,   and   resources   as   requested  by   the
17   stakeholders to facilitate identification and analysis of public
18   policy problems and potential recommendations.
19       (3) The department shall establish permanent regional offices to
20   be staffed with a lead coordinator. The responsibilities of the lead
21   coordinator in each region include, but are not limited to:
22       (a) Establishing a research and manufacturing industrial council
23   comprised of private sector, not-for-profit, and public sector
24   leaders;
25       (b) Identifying local skill centers and fostering the appropriate
26   expansion of existing skill centers or creation of additional
27   capacity; and
28       (c) Promoting and fostering skilled trade learning programs that
29   connect students of all ages, teachers, and employers.
30       (4) The department shall coordinate with the office of the
31   superintendent of public instruction and the state board for
32   community and technical colleges to assess any inadequacy or gaps in
33   delivering   hands-on,   skills-based   learning   remotely  to   all
34   Washingtonians seeking to enter the manufacturing workforce or to be
35   retrained for a transition within the manufacturing workforce. The
36   department shall convene stakeholders to obtain information about
37   experiences of lost opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic related
38   to workforce training that resulted from closures or limitations at
39   on-site and in-person training facilities. The department shall
40   provide a report to the legislature with any recommendations on how
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 1   Washington can be the world leader in best practices for delivering
 2   remote learning opportunities adapted to the manufacturing workplace.
 3       (5) The department shall report to the legislature by December
 4   31, 2021, on the feasibility of forming both a state manufacturing
 5   office and a state research and development office within the
 6   department, akin to the current state energy office created under
 7   chapter 43.21F RCW, for the purpose of being home to appropriate
 8   expertise, leadership, and coordination of effort to support the
 9   attainment of the goal under subsection (1) of this section.
10       (6) For so long as the department retains a key sector focus
11   organization for economic development purposes, it shall employ a
12   sector lead for general manufacturing, and a sector lead for research
13   and development.
14       (7) In pursuit of the goal in subsection (1) of this section, the
15   department may expend resources to feature and promote a particular
16   innovation, product, or industry subclassification. The department
17   may not discriminate against or fail to use best efforts on behalf of
18   any lawful manufacturing or research and development activity that
19   seeks to employ Washingtonians.
20       (8) The department must submit reports required       under this
21   section, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, to the         appropriate
22   committees of the legislature.


23       NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each
24   added to chapter 43.330 RCW and codified with the subchapter heading
25   of "MANUFACTURING AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SECTOR PROMOTION."

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