Drafter

Clerk 04/16/2025

Title

AN ORDINANCE related to the priority hire program and allowing for changes to the criteria of "economically distressed areas" that reflects a revised methodology which enhances regional uniformity and aligns with evolving economic and demographic shifts; and amending Ordinance 18672, Section 2, and K.C.C. 12.18A.010.

Body

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

1.  King County established the priority hire program in 2018, designed to prioritize the recruitment and placement of economically disadvantaged local workers on designated King County public works projects. The program is intended to help address construction workforce shortages, diversify the construction workforce and improve the well-being of individuals who live in geographic areas of economic distress.2.  The priority hire program focuses on workforce participation by apprentices and journey level construction workers and is therefore directly connected to the county's existing apprenticeship program.  King County is committed to achieving its apprenticeship hiring goals set in county policy and remedying the disproportionately low involvement by minority groups and women in the construction workforce.

3.  The priority hire program was designed in alignment with actions in King County's 2016 equity and social justice strategic plan, co-created with employees and community partners.  The program continues to deliver on King County's equity and racial and social justice values by expanding opportunities for disadvantaged populations and ensuring that county public works projects are planned and implemented in a way that improves equity in local communities.

4.  Adoption of the proposed criteria for “economically distressed areas” will expand the overall catchment area of the priority hire program by including eleven more ZIP Codes as being economically distressed.  This will enable the hiring of more local construction workers and put more labor dollars into economically distressed communities. It will also promote regional uniformity with the city of Seattle's program, making it easier for union dispatchers and contractors to implement priority hiring placements for construction projects.

5.  K.C.C. 12.18A.030 requires that the manager "analyze the indicators for economically distressed areas and prepare a list of ZIP Codes that are found by the manager to be economically distressed areas and update that list at least once every five years.  Any changes proposed by the manager to the criteria for determining economically distressed areas are subject to approval by ordinance."

                     BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:

                     SECTION 1.  Ordinance 18672, Section 2, and K.C.C. 12.18A.010 are hereby amended to read as follows:

                     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

                     A.  "Apprentice" means a person who has signed a written apprenticeship agreement with and enrolled in an active state-registered apprenticeship training program approved by the Washington state Apprenticeship and Training Council.

                     B.  "Apprenticeship training program" means an active program registered and in compliance with the Washington state Apprenticeship and Training Council as defined by chapter 49.04 RCW and WAC 296-05-011, and WAC 296-05-013.

                     C.  "Community workforce agreement" means an executed agreement signed by the executive, or the executive's designee, on behalf of the county, and representatives of the Seattle-King County Building Trades Council, the Northwest National Construction Alliance II, and other labor organizations, as applicable, for a covered project.  The community workforce agreement is a project labor agreement for a single covered project that contains terms and conditions for priority hiring requirements.

                     D.  "Contractor" means a person or business entity that enters into a contract with the county or that is a subcontractor performing services under such a contract.  A contractor employs individuals to perform work on covered projects, including general contractors, subcontractors of all tiers, and both union and nonunion entities.

                     E.  "Covered project" means a county public works project with project construction costs estimated to equal fifteen million dollars or greater, and such other criteria established by the executive, upon enactment of Ordinance 18672.  This threshold of fifteen million dollars may be lowered to five million dollars by December 31, 2020, at the discretion of the executive.

                     F.  "Division" means the department of executive services, finance and business operations division or its successor.

                     G.  "Economically distressed area" means a geographic area within King County, defined by ZIP ((c))Code, and found by the manager to ((be in the top thirty percent of all ZIP codes in)) include at least sixty percent of the King County ((in terms of the concentration of individuals who meet)) population of residents in that ZIP Code that have a high absolute number, have a high share by percentage, or have a high density per acre of people meeting at least two of the following three criteria:  have income at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level; are unemployed; or are at least twenty-five years old and ((without a college)) with less than a bachelor's degree.  The manager may add ZIP ((c))Codes that meet ((this)) these criteria for construction projects that are part of the county's wastewater service area in Pierce and Snohomish counties.  Also, the manager may adjust the list of economically distressed areas within King County ((in order)) to enhance regional uniformity with other local jurisdictions implementing priority hire programs.

                     H.  "Good faith efforts" means the strongest possible efforts that the contractor and its subcontractor can reasonably make to meet the established apprentice requirement, priority hiring requirement and other hiring goals.

                     I.  "Helmets to Hardhats" means the nationwide program that is administered by the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans Employment, a nonprofit corporation that connects National Guard, Reserve, retired and transitioning active-duty military service members with skilled training and quality career opportunities in the construction industry.

                     J.  "Journey level" means that an individual has sufficient skills and knowledge of an occupation, either through a formal apprenticeship training program or through practical on-the-job work experience, to be recognized by any combination of a state registration agency, a federal registration agency or an industry, as being fully qualified to perform the work of the occupation.  To be "journey level," practical experience must be equal to or greater than the term of apprenticeship.

                     K.  "Labor hours" means hours performed on covered projects by workers who are subject to prevailing wages under chapter 39.12 RCW.

                     L.  "Manager" means the manager of the finance and business operations division, or its successor, or the manager's designee.

                     M.  "Master community workforce agreement" means a standardized project labor agreement that would be anticipated to apply to all covered projects and sets forth terms and conditions for hiring requirements to include priority hire workers, signed by the executive or the executive's designee on behalf of the county, and representatives of the Seattle-King County Building Trades Council, the Northwest National Construction Alliance II, and other labor organizations, as applicable.

                     N.  "Open shop contractor" means a contractor that is not a signatory to a collective bargaining agreement with a union representing the trade or trades of the contractor's workers, also known as a nonunion contractor.

                     O.  "Pre-apprentice" means a student enrolled in a construction pre-apprenticeship training program that is recognized by the Washington state Apprenticeship and Training Council.

                     P.  "Pre-apprentice graduate" means an individual who successfully completed a pre-apprenticeship training program and is readily available to enter an apprenticeship training program or has been accepted into an apprenticeship training program, including individuals who are completing the first or second year of apprenticeship training.

                     Q.  "Pre-apprenticeship training program" means an education-based apprenticeship preparation program that is formally recognized by the Washington state Apprenticeship and Training Council and endorsed by one or more registered apprenticeship sponsors, with a focus on educating and training students to meet or exceed minimum qualifications for entry into an apprenticeship training program.

                     R.  "Preferred entry" means a program provided as part of a project labor agreement or a community workforce agreement that allows pre-apprentice graduates and Helmets to Hardhats veterans, entry into an apprenticeship training program ahead of other applicants.

                     S.  "Priority hire program" means a program implemented by King County that prioritizes the recruitment and placement of priority hire workers for training and employment in the construction trades on covered projects.

                     T.  "Priority hire worker" means an individual prioritized for recruitment, training and employment opportunities because the individual is a resident in an economically distressed area.

                     U.  "Project labor agreement" means an executed agreement between the executive or designee, on behalf of the county, and one or more labor unions that represent workers who typically perform on county public works projects, that provides standards for work hours, wages, working conditions, safety conditions, union representation, apprenticeship requirements, and settlement of disputes procedures.

                     V.  "Resident" means a person who provides evidence to the satisfaction of the manager demonstrating that the person lives at a particular address.

                     W.  "Small contractor and supplier" means a contractor that meets the eligibility criteria for King County's small contractor and supplier program under K.C.C. chapter 2.97 and is certified as a small contractor and supplier company in the online directory maintained by the business development and contract compliance section of the division.

                     X.  "Union" means a representative labor organization whose members collectively bargain with employers to set the wages and working conditions in their respective trade or covered scope of work.

                     Y.  "Women-owned or minority-owned business" means a business that has been certified by the state of Washington to be at least fifty-one-percent owned by either women or minority group members.  For the purposes of this subsection, "minority"

means African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, or Native American.