45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; ADDING A PROVISION TO THE WORK-STUDY ACT TO PERMIT AN ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION TO TRANSFER A PART OF ITS WORK-STUDY FUNDS TO ITS STATE STUDENT INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM; AMENDING THE WORK-STUDY ACT TO UPDATE ITS PROVISIONS.

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

Section 1. Section 21-21B-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1982, Chapter 88, Section 1) is amended to read:

"21-21B-1. SHORT TITLE.--[This act] Chapter 21, Article 21B NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Work-Study Act"."

Section 2. Section 21-21B-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1982, Chapter 88, Section 2) is amended to read:

"21-21B-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Work-Study Act:

A. ["board"] "commission" means the [board of educational finance] commission on higher education; and

B. "institution" means any state post-secondary educational institution and any private nonprofit post-secondary educational institution within New Mexico."

Section 3. Section 21-21B-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1982, Chapter 88, Section 4) is amended to read:

"21-21B-4. FUND--ALLOCATION.--Funds appropriated to the work-study fund shall be allocated by the [board] commission to eligible institutions for their use in employing eligible students."

Section 4. Section 21-21B-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1982, Chapter 88, Section 5) is amended to read:

"21-21B-5. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.--The [board] commission shall assure that expenditures from the work-study fund are apportioned equitably among eligible institutions."

Section 5. Section 21-21B-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1982, Chapter 88, Section 6) is amended to read:

"21-21B-6. PROGRAM--DESCRIPTION.--Any student who is eligible under Section [7 of the Work-Study Act] 21-21B-7 NMSA 1978 may apply for work-study employment, but the [board must] commission shall expend at least one-third of the money from the work-study fund in any one academic year for applicants chosen on the basis of monetary need criteria set by the [board] commission. The institution [which] that the student attends shall arrange employment. Employment is limited to post-secondary nonprofit institutions, state political subdivisions, state agencies and nonprofit organizations [which] that are approved by the [board] commission. The employer [must] shall pay at least twenty percent of the salary and benefits of the student."

Section 6. A new section of Chapter 21, Article 21B NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM STATE WORK-STUDY ALLOCATION TO STATE STUDENT INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.--If an eligible institution receives both work-study funds and state student incentive grant funds, it may transfer up to twenty-five percent of the work-study funds to the state student incentive grant program for expenditure in accordance with requirements of that program. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance of work-study funds transferred shall revert to the work-study fund at the end of the fiscal year. An institution making a transfer and expending work-study funds as permitted in this section shall report to the commission the detailed student-level expenditures of the transferred funds at the end of the fiscal year in which funds were expended."