CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2230
Chapter 92, Laws of 2024
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR ALL GRANT PROGRAM
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024
Passed by the House February 13, 2024 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 93 Nays 4
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2230 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate February 29,
2024
Yeas 47 Nays 1 BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Approved March 14, 2024 11:27 AM FILED
March 14, 2024
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2230
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning (originally
sponsored by Representatives Peterson, Eslick, Gregerson, Ramel,
Reed, and Waters)
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to promoting economic inclusion by creating the
2 economic security for all grant program; adding a new chapter to
3 Title 43 RCW; and creating a new section.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature declares that economic
6 inclusion shall be a top priority for Washington state. The
7 legislature recognizes that for communities to thrive and remain
8 vibrant, the state's economy needs to be inclusive of people who are
9 furthest away from opportunity and disproportionally more likely to
10 experience economic hardship. The legislature acknowledges that
11 stand-alone human service programs meet a pressing need but can be
12 difficult to access for those lacking the resources to do so. The
13 legislature recognizes that barriers to access can delay reentry into
14 the workforce and career development. The legislature finds that
15 leveraging or supporting the integration of existing benefits and
16 services whenever possible will help people access the benefits they
17 need to help them move out of poverty, without creating another
18 duplicative system. The legislature finds that incorporating people
19 with lived experience deeply and meaningfully into systems
20 development and program implementation can help improve meaningful
21 access to state programs. The legislature, therefore, intends to help
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1 facilitate an inclusive economy by creating the economic security for
2 all grant program to provide greater access to resources for those in
3 need.
4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply
5 throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires
6 otherwise.
7 (1) "Business services" means services by local workforce
8 development councils to increase employer engagement in an effort to
9 support industry growth, increase quality employment opportunities
10 for job seekers, and enable persons served by economic security for
11 all grants to access careers with wages that allow them to achieve
12 self-sufficiency.
13 (2) "Department" means the employment security department.
14 (3) "People experiencing poverty" means people with a household
15 income that is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
16 (4) "People who demonstrate financial need" means people with a
17 household income that is above 200 percent of the federal poverty
18 level but below self-sufficiency who need employment-related services
19 to achieve self-sufficiency.
20 (5) "Rural counties" has the same meaning as provided in RCW
21 82.14.370.
22 (6) "Self-sufficiency" means a level of household income that is
23 equal to or greater than the self-sufficiency standard for a
24 household as determined by the University of Washington's self-
25 sufficiency calculator.
26 (7) "Steering committee" means the poverty reduction work group
27 steering committee created in response to a directive of the
28 governor, dated November 6, 2017.
29 (8) "Workforce development council" means a local workforce
30 development board as established in P.L. 113-128 Sec. 107.
31 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The economic security for all grant
32 program is created in the department. The purpose of the program is
33 to empower and incentivize communities to coordinate existing poverty
34 reduction resources and benefits to make them easier to access, get
35 them to the people who need them, and work as a coordinated system to
36 help more people move out of poverty and be included in Washington's
37 economic success.
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 1 (2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this
2 specific purpose, the department, in consultation with the department
3 of social and health services, the department of commerce, the
4 department of children, youth, and families, the health care
5 authority, the workforce training and education coordinating board,
6 the steering committee, and other stakeholders as determined by the
7 department, shall make and oversee the implementation of economic
8 security for all grants. Grants awarded under this section must be
9 made available to local communities to promote equity, economic
10 inclusion, and a stable financial foundation for people experiencing
11 poverty and people who demonstrate financial need, with a particular
12 focus on people of color and people in rural counties including
13 tribal nations, primarily through better coordination of existing
14 programs, resources, and provision of business services.
15 (3) Economic security for all grants awarded under this section
16 shall be made available in communities throughout all regions of the
17 state, including rural counties and urban communities for the
18 purposes described in this section, distributed utilizing a funding
19 allocation model.
20 (4) Recipients of economic security for all grants shall:
21 (a) Coordinate with existing local providers to make benefits
22 easier to access and work as a coordinated system to help more people
23 move out of poverty and be included in Washington's economic success;
24 (b) Provide input to inform the work described in section 5 of
25 this act, by identifying examples of federal regulations that prevent
26 better local coordination and identifying other needs for additional
27 state or federal funding for continuous improvement of the poverty
28 reduction system in future years;
29 (c) Utilize the existing local workforce development councils to
30 develop economic security for all grant partnerships that must
31 include people experiencing poverty, people of color, homelessness
32 programs, and representatives of the health care authority, community
33 service offices, accountable communities of health, and associate
34 development organizations, and may include other members;
35 (d) Coordinate leadership among the local workforce development
36 council, associate development council, and other organizations, and
37 utilize the local workforce development council as the fiscal agent;
38 (e) Work with people experiencing poverty and people who
39 demonstrate financial need to ensure they have access to multiple
40 benefits to help them meet their basic needs, in alignment with local
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 1 care coordination efforts, and when ready, to develop individualized
2 career plans that will lead to a self-sufficiency wage, which must be
3 the level established by the University of Washington self-
4 sufficiency standard;
5 (f) Provide streamlined access to local partners who can pay for
6 education or training elements of a person experiencing poverty or
7 person with financial need's individualized career plan using federal
8 Pell grants, the Washington college grant, or other resources;
9 (g) Provide streamlined access to local partners who can make
10 monthly payments to people experiencing poverty and people who
11 demonstrate financial need while in training, using existing
12 resources such as incentive payments, work study payments, work
13 experience payments, needs-related payments, or other financial aid
14 or workforce development resources, as identified locally and in
15 consultation with technical assistance provided by the department.
16 Such payments must work to maximize the total benefits available to
17 the individual;
18 (h) Through the local workforce development councils, develop an
19 economic security for all grant coordination team that works to
20 facilitate easier access to all state and local government services.
21 The team may utilize and build upon, rather than duplicate, existing
22 coordinators and navigators that are already in place in the
23 community. The team must provide convenient one-stop access to
24 benefits available to people experiencing poverty and people who
25 demonstrate financial need. At a minimum, the team must encourage
26 people served by the economic security for all grants to apply for
27 and, if eligible, receive supplemental nutritional assistance program
28 benefits, temporary assistance for needy families benefits, medicaid
29 benefits, workforce innovation and opportunity act supportive
30 services, or other financial and health benefits, as appropriate for
31 each person;
32 (i) Provide equitable access to state and local government
33 services for people with disabilities, which may include equipment
34 and technology purchases;
35 (j) Identify where federal barriers hinder efforts to coordinate
36 benefits for customers and elevate those issues to the department;
37 (k) Provide options for career development, English language
38 learning, and other services for both parents in two-parent families,
39 including child care if desired by the family; and
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1 (l) When available, use the local and state teams already in
2 place for similar efforts, expanding the partners on those teams as
3 needed to meet the requirements of this section.
4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Members of the steering committee must be
5 reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and
6 43.03.060, as well as child care and other expenses as needed for
7 each day a steering committee member attends meetings to provide
8 consultative assistance to the agencies managing the economic
9 security for all grants as provided in sections 3 and 5 of this act,
10 for up to 12 meetings per calendar year.
11 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The department, in consultation with
12 the department of social and health services, the department of
13 commerce, the department of children, youth, and families, the health
14 care authority, the workforce training and education coordinating
15 board, the steering committee, and other stakeholders as identified
16 by the department:
17 (a) Shall identify federal reforms that would help persons served
18 by economic security for all grants access the federal benefits they
19 need more efficiently, avoid sudden benefit cuts as their earned
20 income increases, and move from poverty to self-sufficiency more
21 effectively; and
22 (b) May apply for federal waivers and propose federal law changes
23 to make the authorizing environment better support coordinated
24 service delivery across programs.
25 (2) The department of social and health services, in consultation
26 with the department, the department of commerce, the department of
27 children, youth, and families, the health care authority, the
28 workforce training and education coordinating board, the steering
29 committee, the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction
30 oversight task force, and other stakeholders as determined by the
31 department, shall further develop measures and indicators of yearly
32 progress toward poverty reduction, reducing income inequality, and
33 achieving an equitable and inclusive economy, using the University of
34 Washington self-sufficiency standard as a primary measure, as well as
35 other measures already underway in the department of social and
36 health services technical advisory group on inclusive economic
37 recovery, and apply those measures as needed to help promote a
38 statewide economy that is inclusive of rural areas, racially
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 1 equitable, and fully inclusive of people experiencing poverty, people
2 of color, people with disabilities, unhoused people, and other key
3 demographics that have historically been left behind by the state
4 economy.
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. By December 1, 2024, and annually
6 thereafter, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the department
7 shall report to the governor, the appropriate committees of the
8 legislature, the workforce training and education coordinating board,
9 and the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight
10 task force on the economic security for all grant program. The annual
11 report must include an analysis of the program, a detailed summary of
12 the quarterly data collected, demographics and geography of people
13 served, services delivered, average length of participation, number
14 of persons served by the grants maintaining self-sufficiency in the
15 years following program exit, and associated recommendations for
16 program delivery. The report must include an analysis of customer
17 feedback and actions taken to respond, based upon a standardized
18 customer feedback mechanism. The report shall be publicized and
19 easily accessible to the public.
20 NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department may adopt rules as
21 necessary to implement this chapter.
22 NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 2 through 7 of this act
23 constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.
Passed by the House February 13, 2024.
Passed by the Senate February 29, 2024.
Approved by the Governor March 14, 2024.
Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 14, 2024.
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