§1876. Louisiana Educational Workforce Training Fund; purpose; program administration

A. There is hereby created in the state treasury, as a special fund, the "Louisiana Educational Workforce Training Fund", hereinafter referred to as the "fund".

B.(1) The purpose of the fund shall be to provide funding for degree and certificate production through workforce training programs offered by Louisiana's public two-year, community, and technical colleges.

(2) The fund shall be used to prepare Louisiana citizens, particularly those who are underemployed or have no postsecondary training or credentials, in high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand career fields.

C. After compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, monies received from public or private grants, federal appropriation, or state appropriation shall be deposited into the fund. Monies in the fund shall be invested in the same manner as monies in the general fund. Interest earned on investment of monies in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund, following compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana.

D.(1) Subject to an annual appropriation by the legislature, monies in the fund shall be appropriated to the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges to be used for workforce training programs to prepare individuals for high-demand careers as defined by the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council. Distribution of the monies in the fund shall be based on an outcome-based distribution model. The distribution model shall allocate funds based on short-term, high-demand workforce training completer programs that lead to industry-based certifications or other credentials of value to employers.

(2) Funding shall be distributed by the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges only upon receipt of certification that a match of not less than twenty percent of the amount of funding to be distributed has been guaranteed by a private entity. The certification shall detail the type of private match to be provided, which may include but is not limited to: cash; in-kind donations of technology, personnel, construction materials, facility modification, or corporeal property; internships; scholarships; sponsorship of staff or faculty; or faculty endowment.

(3) The use of private matching funds shall comply with expressed donor intent. Any private matching funds shall remain with the institution as provided for by the donor.

(4) Any funds distributed to an institution that remain unexpended or unencumbered at the end of the fiscal year shall be available for use in the subsequent fiscal year by the institution pursuant to its implementation plan.

E. The fund is in addition to, and separate from, any monies appropriated or allocated to any postsecondary education management board. Allocations from this fund shall not be included in the Board of Regents' funding formula calculation, nor shall it supplant any state general fund allocation provided to institutions. The availability of the fund shall not in any way substitute, limit, or otherwise affect the allocation of any funds otherwise available to those institutions under state or federal laws.

F. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section and pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 23:34 and 1514, all federal-appropriated Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding shall be excluded from the Louisiana Educational Workforce Training Fund and shall be exclusively administered by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

G. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section and pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 23:1514, 1291.1, and R.S. 1377, all state-appropriated Incumbent Working Training Account funds, workers' compensation funds, and Workers' Compensation Second Injury Fund funds shall be excluded from the Louisiana Educational Workforce Training Fund and shall be exclusively administered by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

H. The Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges shall, not less than sixty days before the legislature convenes for each regular session, submit an annual report to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education. The report shall include, at a minimum, information on any and all private matches provided for in Subsection D of this Section, training programs funded, the number of students enrolled, the number and type of credentials awarded, and the number and amount of scholarships.

Acts 2017, No. 379, §1, eff. June 23, 2017.