HOUSE BILL 622
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Ben Lujan
AN ACT
RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; ENACTING THE GREEN JOBS BONDING ACT; PROVIDING FOR GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAMS; CREATING A FUND; PROVIDING PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTING GRANTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FOR GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAMS; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GREEN JOBS REVENUE BONDS; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 8 of this act may be cited as the "Green Jobs Bonding Act".
Section 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Green Jobs Bonding Act:
A. "authority" means the New Mexico finance authority;
B. "bonds" means green jobs revenue bonds;
C. "department" means the higher education department;
D. "fund" means the green jobs bonding fund;
E. "green industries" means industries that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality by reducing waste and pollution or producing sustainable products using sustainable processes and materials and that provide opportunities for advancement along a career track of increasing skills and wages. Green industries include:
(1) energy system retrofits to increase energy efficiency and conservation;
(2) production and distribution of biofuels, including vehicle retrofits for biofuels;
(3) building design and construction that meet the equivalent of best available technology in energy and environmental design standards;
(4) organic and community food production;
(5) manufacture of products from nontoxic, environmentally certified or recycled materials;
(6) manufacture and production of sustainable technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines and fuel cells;
(7) solar technology installation and maintenance;
(8) recycling, green composting and large-scale reuse of construction and demolition materials and debris; and
(9) water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation;
F. "green jobs training programs" means those programs implemented by educational institutions related to training individuals to work in green industries and to ensure appropriate support services are provided;
G. "support services" means those services that provide trainees with the opportunity to participate in green jobs training programs, including:
(1) free child care;
(2) free tuition;
(3) free materials needed for training programs;
(4) counseling and mentoring services;
(5) internships; or
(6) job placement programs; and
H. "target populations" means disadvantaged individuals, including:
(1) low-income individuals;
(2) veterans;
(3) formerly incarcerated, nonviolent offenders;
(4) tribal and rural constituencies;
(5) workers adversely affected by changing national or state energy policy;
(6) at-risk youth;
(7) unemployed youth and adults;
(8) high school dropouts; or
(9) single mothers.
Section 3. [NEW MATERIAL] STATE PLAN FOR GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAMS.--
A. The department shall develop a state plan for the development of green jobs training programs with a focus on rural and tribal communities no later than the end of fiscal year 2010. The plan shall include a schedule for funding and implementation that gives priority to programs directed at target populations. The department shall develop the plan:
(1) for coordination of a state research program with the workforce solutions department in which labor market data shall be collected and analyzed to track workforce trends from renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries and energy-related initiatives;
(2) for a municipal and tribal energy training partnership program in which the department shall award competitive grants to higher education institutions in partnerships with cities, towns, counties and tribes to administer green jobs training programs; and
(3) for a pathways out of poverty program in which the department shall award competitive grants to higher education institutions in partnerships to administer green jobs training programs directed specifically at disadvantaged target populations.
B. The plan shall be followed by interested higher education institutions in New Mexico and institutions shall cooperate with the department in the development and the implementation of the plan.
Section 4. [NEW MATERIAL] GREEN JOBS BONDING FUND--CREATED--PLEDGE OF MONEY IN THE FUND.--
A. The "green jobs bonding fund" is created as a special fund within the authority. The fund shall be administered by the authority as a special account. The fund shall consist of gross receipts tax revenues distributed to the fund by law, money transferred to the fund pursuant to the provisions of the Green Jobs Bonding Act and other transfers and appropriations made to the fund. Earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund. Balances in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall remain in the fund, except as provided in this section.
B. Money in the fund shall be pledged irrevocably by the authority for the payment of principal and interest on all bonds issued pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act. Money in the fund is appropriated to the authority for the purpose of paying debt service, including redemption premiums on the bonds and the expenses incurred in the issuance, payment and administration of the bonds.
C. On the last day of January and July of each year, the authority shall estimate the amount needed to make debt service payments on the bonds issued pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act plus the amount that may be needed for any required reserves, administrative expenses or the obligations coming due during the next twelve months from the fund. The authority shall transfer to the general fund any balance in the fund above the estimated amounts. Amounts transferred to the general fund may be appropriated by the legislature to the department for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of the Green Jobs Bonding Act.
D. Upon payment or defeasance of all principal, interest and other expenses or obligations related to the bonds, the authority shall certify to the higher education department, the department of finance and administration and the secretary of taxation and revenue that all obligations for the bonds issued pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act have been discharged and shall direct that distributions cease to the fund pursuant to that act and the Tax Administration Act.
E. The bonds issued pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act shall be payable solely from the fund or such other special funds that may be provided by law and do not create an obligation or indebtedness of the state within the meaning of any constitutional provision. A breach of any contractual obligation incurred pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act shall not impose a pecuniary liability or a charge upon the general credit or taxing power of the state, and the bonds are not general obligations for which the state's full faith and credit is pledged.
F. The state does hereby pledge that the fund shall be used only for the purposes specified in this section and pledged first to pay the debt service on the bonds issued pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act. The state further pledges that any law authorizing the distribution of taxes or other revenues to the fund or authorizing expenditures from the fund shall not be amended or repealed or otherwise modified so as to impair the bonds to which the fund is dedicated as provided in this section.
Section 5. [NEW MATERIAL] GREEN JOBS BONDS AUTHORIZED--CONDITIONS--PROCEDURE.--
A. The authority is authorized to issue and sell from time to time revenue bonds, known as "green jobs bonds", in an amount outstanding at any one time not to exceed twenty million dollars ($20,000,000), payable solely from the fund, in compliance with the Green Jobs Bonding Act and the New Mexico Finance Authority Act for the purpose of funding green jobs training programs when the department has certified the need for the bonds.
B. The net proceeds from the bonds are appropriated to the department for the purpose of making grants for the administration of green jobs training programs pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act.
C. Each series of bonds shall be issued pursuant to the provisions of the New Mexico Finance Authority Act, except as otherwise provided in the Green Jobs Bonding Act.
Section 6. [NEW MATERIAL] GREEN JOBS BONDING ACT IS FULL AUTHORITY FOR ISSUANCE OF BONDS--BONDS ARE LEGAL INVESTMENTS.--
A. The Green Jobs Bonding Act and the New Mexico Finance Authority Act shall, without reference to any other act of the legislature, be full authority for the issuance and sale of bonds, which bonds shall have all the qualities of investment securities under the Uniform Commercial Code and shall not be invalid for any irregularity or defect or be contestable in the hands of bona fide purchasers or holders thereof for value.
B. Bonds are legal investments for any person or board charged with the investment of any public funds and are acceptable as security for any deposit of public money.
Section 7. [NEW MATERIAL] BONDS TAX EXEMPT.--All bonds shall be exempt from taxation by the state or any of its political subdivisions.
Section 8. [NEW MATERIAL] ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.--No later than December 1 of each year, the department shall report to the legislature and to the governor on its activities during the previous fiscal year in administering the provisions of the Green Jobs Bonding Act. The report shall include:
A. details concerning all grants made for the administration of green jobs training programs;
B. details concerning all expenditures made in administering the provisions of the Green Jobs Bonding Act;
C. a list of all higher education institutions in which green jobs training programs were developed and funded;
D. an analysis of whether the green jobs training programs have been cost-effective;
E. a report showing progress made in complying with the state plan developed pursuant to Section 3 of the Green Jobs Bonding Act, and, if in noncompliance, a plan for achieving compliance in the future;
F. a summary of activities being conducted during the present fiscal year; and
G. any additional information that will assist the legislature and the governor in evaluating the program.
Section 9. A new section of the Tax Administration Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DISTRIBUTION--GREEN JOBS BONDING FUND--GROSS RECEIPTS TAX.--A distribution pursuant to Section 7-1-6.1 NMSA 1978 shall be made to the green jobs bonding fund from the net receipts attributable to the gross receipts tax imposed by the Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act in an amount necessary to make the required bond debt service payments pursuant to the Green Jobs Bonding Act as determined by the New Mexico finance authority. The distribution shall be made:
A. after the required distribution pursuant to Section 7-1-6.4 NMSA 1978;
B. contemporaneously with other distributions of net receipts attributable to the gross receipts tax for payment of debt service on outstanding bonds or to a fund dedicated for that purpose; and
C. prior to any other distribution of net receipts attributable to the gross receipts tax."
Section 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2009.
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