HOUSE BILL 445

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Rodolpho "Rudy" S. Martinez and Nathan P. Small

AN ACT

RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; PROVIDING THAT A COMPANY MAY BENEFIT FROM DEVELOPMENT TRAINING PROGRAM FUNDING IF IT DOES OR WILL FILE A NEW MEXICO TAX RETURN AND PAY TAX OWED TO THE STATE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 21-19-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 299, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-19-7. DEVELOPMENT TRAINING.--

          A. The economic development department shall establish a development training program that provides

quick-response classroom training, in-plant training and skill-enhancement training to furnish qualified [manpower] workforce resources for new or expanding industries, nonretail service sector businesses and film and multimedia production companies in New Mexico that have business or production procedures that require skills unique to those industries. Training shall be custom designed for, and based on the special requirements of, each company or preemployment training program for the film and multimedia industry. The program shall be operated on a statewide basis and shall be designed to assist any area in becoming more competitive economically.

          B. Except as provided in Section 21-19-7.1 NMSA 1978, money appropriated for the purpose of implementing this section may be expended for the benefit of a company located outside New Mexico if the company files a New Mexico tax return and pays any tax owed to the state or if the company, as a result of hiring workers trained in accordance with this section, will file a New Mexico tax return and pay any tax owed to the state.

          [B.] C. There is created the "industrial training board" composed of:

                (1) the director of the economic development division of the economic development department;

                (2) the director of the instructional support and vocational education division of the public education department;

                (3) the director of the governor's office of workforce training and development;

                (4) the executive director of the commission on higher education;

                (5) an employee of the workforce solutions department [of labor];

                (6) one member from organized labor appointed by the governor; and

                (7) one public member from the business community appointed by the governor.

          [C.] D. The industrial training board shall establish policies and promulgate rules for the administration of appropriated funds and shall provide review and oversight to assure that funds expended from the development training fund will generate business activity and give measurable growth to the economic base of New Mexico within the legal limits while preserving the ecological state of New Mexico and its people.

          [D.] E. Subject to the approval of the industrial training board, the economic development division of the economic development department shall:

                (1) administer all funds allocated or appropriated for industrial development training purposes;

                (2) provide designated training services;

                (3) regulate, control and abandon any training program established under the provisions of this section;

                (4) assist companies requesting training in the development of a training proposal to meet the companies' [manpower] workforce needs;

                (5) contract for the implementation of all training programs;

                (6) provide for training by educational institutions or by a company through in-plant training, at that company's request; and

                (7) evaluate training efforts on a basis of performance standards set forth by the industrial training board.

          [E.] F. The instructional support and vocational education division of the public education department shall provide technical assistance to the economic development department concerning the development of agreements, the determination of the most appropriate instructional training to be provided and the review of training program implementation.

          [F.] G. Except as provided in Section 21-19-7.1 NMSA 1978 for film and multimedia production companies and preemployment training programs for that industry, the state shall contract with a company or an educational institution to provide training or instructional services in accordance with the approved training proposal and within the following limitations:

                (1) payment shall not be made for training in excess of one thousand forty hours of training per trainee for the total duration of training;

                (2) training applicants shall have resided within the state for a minimum of one year at any time prior to the commencement of the training program and be of legal status for employment;

                (3) payment for institutional classroom training shall be made pursuant to any accepted training contract for a qualified training program;

                (4) payment shall not be made pursuant to any accepted training contract for rental of facilities unless facilities are not available on site or at the educational institution;

                (5) all applicants shall be eligible under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, and shall not have terminated a public school program within the past three months except by graduation;

                (6) trainees shall be guaranteed full-time employment with the contracted company upon successful completion of the training;

                (7) persons employed to provide the instructional services shall be exempt from the minimum requirements established in the state plan for other state vocational programs;

                (8) payment shall not be made for training programs or production of Indian jewelry or imitation Indian jewelry unless a majority of those involved in the training program or production are of Indian descent; and

                (9) if a company hires twenty or more trainees, payment shall not be made for training in a municipality having a population of more than forty thousand according to the most recent decennial census or a class A county unless the company:

                     (a) offers its employees and their dependents health insurance coverage that is in compliance with the New Mexico Insurance Code; and

                     (b) contributes not less than fifty percent of the premium for the health insurance for those employees who choose to enroll; provided that the fifty percent employer contribution shall not be a requirement for the dependent coverage that is offered."

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