There is created the "public works apprentice and training fund" in the workforce solutions department. Money in the fund shall be distributed in the following manner:

1. A. no more than fifteen percent of the funds may be used by the workforce solutions department to hire staff to administer the funds collected by the department; and
2. B. the remainder of the funds shall be used for approved apprentice and training programs in New Mexico. The workforce solutions department shall develop an annual budget and, subject to appropriation by the legislature in the general appropriation act, shall disburse funds to approved apprentice and training programs in New Mexico, taking into account participant contact hours of classroom instruction and on-the-job training for the preceding year, to be not less than ninety percent of one hundred forty-four contact hours of classroom instruction per participant per school year and not less than one thousand hours of on-the-job training per twelve-month period; provided that funds shall not be distributed to programs not in compliance with their approved standards. Notwithstanding any language in the general appropriation act that otherwise limits budget adjustments, if the fund balance available for disbursement to approved programs exceeds the amount appropriated, pursuant to Sections 6-3-23 through 6-3-25 NMSA 1978, the workforce solutions department may request budget increases up to the excess fund balance for distribution to the programs.

History: Laws 1992, ch. 74, § 5; 2005, ch. 95, § 1; 2024, ch. 5, § 4.

ANNOTATIONS

The 2024 amendment, effective May 15, 2024, transferred the administration of the public works apprentice and training fund from the labor and industrial division of the labor department to the workforce solutions department, and provided that funds in the public works apprentice and training fund shall not be distributed to programs that are not in compliance with their approved standards; substituted "workforce solutions" for "labor and industrial division of the labor" throughout the section; in the introductory paragraph, deleted "Contributions into the fund shall be provided under the provisions of Section 13-4D-4 NMSA 1978. Funds contributed under the provisions of the Public Works Apprentice and Training Act" and added "Money in the fund"; in Subsection A, after "collected by the" deleted "division" and added "department"; and in Subsection B after "period", added "provided that funds shall not be distributed to programs not in compliance with their approved standards".

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided in Subsection B that disbursement of funds is subject to appropriation by the legislature in the general appropriation act and that notwithstanding the general appropriation act that limits budget adjustment, if the fund balance available for disbursement exceeds the amount appropriated the labor department may request budget increases up to the excess fund balance for distribution.