81-407.

Workforce Development Program Cash Fund; created; use; investment; workforce development grant program; Nebraska Workforce Development Board; submit grant proposals; contents; commissioner; powers and duties.

(1) The Workforce Development Program Cash Fund is hereby created. The fund shall consist of transfers authorized by the Legislature.

(2) The Department of Labor shall administer the fund. The fund may be used:

(a) To provide workforce development grants;

(b) To pay the costs of administering the workforce development grant program;

(c) To pay the costs of establishing, assessing, collecting, and maintaining state unemployment insurance tax liability and payments;

(d) To pay unemployment benefits if determined necessary by the Commissioner of Labor;

(e) To provide labor availability, skills gap, and workforce development studies and reports by the Department of Labor; and

(f) For purposes of the Manufacturing Modernization and Workforce Development Pilot Investment Act.

(3) Transfers may be made from the fund to the General Fund or the Nebraska Opportunity Grant Fund at the direction of the Legislature. Any money in the Workforce Development Program Cash Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

(4)(a) As part of the workforce development grant program described in subdivision (2)(a) of this section, the Nebraska Workforce Development Board shall submit grant proposals to the Commissioner of Labor for the commissioner's consideration. The board's proposals shall be submitted by April 30 of each year and shall set forth strategies and initiatives designed to develop the workforce in the state. Each such proposal shall:

(i) Include a description of the purpose of the proposed grant and the desired outcome; and

(ii) Include a method of measuring success for the proposed grant.

(b) The board may submit up to eighteen grant proposals per calendar year.

(c) The commissioner may approve, reject, or modify any grant proposal submitted by the board. In the case of a rejection or modification of any grant proposal, the commissioner shall provide written notice of the decision to the board and include the rationale for the rejection or modification.

(d) The commissioner shall have the discretion to approve up to three grant proposals per calendar year without the prior approval of the board. If the total of the three proposals exceeds twenty-five percent of the unobligated beginning annual balance of the Workforce Development Program Cash Fund, the commissioner shall submit a report detailing the proposals to the board and to the chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the Legislature within ninety days after approving such proposals.

(e) For purposes of this subsection, Nebraska Workforce Development Board means the state workforce development board authorized by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and established in Nebraska.