To repeal sections 178.892, 178.893, 178.894 and 178.896, RSMo 1994, and sections 178.635 and 178.895, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to Linn State Technical College, and to enact in lieu thereof six new sections relating to the same subject, with a termination date for certain sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

     Section A. Sections 178.892, 178.893, 178.894 and 178.896, RSMo 1994, and sections 178.635 and 178.895, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 178.635, 178.892, 178.893, 178.894, 178.895 and 178.896, to read as follows:

     178.635. 1. The board of regents of Linn State Technical College shall organize in the manner provided by law for the board of curators of the University of Missouri. The powers, duties, authority, responsibilities, privileges, immunities, liabilities and compensation of the board of Linn State Technical College in regard to Linn State Technical College shall be the same as those prescribed by statute for the board of curators of the University of Missouri in regard to the University of Missouri, except that Linn State Technical College shall be operated only as a state technical college. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize Linn State Technical College to become a community college or a university offering four-year or graduate degrees.

     2. All lawful bonded indebtedness incurred by the issuance of revenue bonds, as defined in section 176.010, RSMo, by Linn State Technical College, shall not be deemed to be an indebtedness of the state of Missouri or the board of regents of Linn State Technical College, pursuant to section 176.040, RSMo [after the date upon which the conditions of section 178.631 are met. Such indebtedness shall be retired through tuition revenues].

     178.892. As used in sections 178.892 to 178.896, the following terms mean:

     (1) "Agreement", the agreement, between an employer and a junior college district or state technical college, concerning a project. An agreement may be for a period not to exceed ten years when the program services associated with a project are not in excess of five hundred thousand dollars. For a project where associated program costs are greater than five hundred thousand dollars, the agreement may not exceed a period of eight years. No agreement shall be entered into between an employer and a community college district or state technical college which involves the training of potential employees with the purpose of replacing or supplanting employees engaged in an authorized work stoppage;

     (2) "Board of trustees", the board of trustees of a junior college district and the board of regents of a state technical college;

     (3) "Certificate", industrial new jobs training certificates issued pursuant to section 178.895;

     (4) "Date of commencement of the project", the date of the agreement;

     (5) "Employee", the person employed in a new job;

     (6) "Employer", the person providing new jobs in conjunction with a project;

     (7) "Industry", a business located within the state of Missouri which enters into an agreement with a community college district or state technical college and which is engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for the purpose of manufacturing, processing, or assembling products, conducting research and development, or providing services in interstate commerce, but excluding retail, health, or professional services. "Industry" does not include a business which closes or substantially reduces its operation in one area of the state and relocates substantially the same operation in another area of the state. This does not prohibit a business from expanding its operations in another area of the state provided that existing operations of a similar nature are not closed or substantially reduced;

     (8) "New job", a job in a new or expanding industry not including jobs of recalled workers, or replacement jobs or other jobs that formerly existed in the industry in the state;

     (9) "New jobs credit from withholding", the credit as provided in section 178.894;

     (10) "New jobs training program" or "program", the project or projects established by a community college district or state technical college for the creation of jobs by providing education and training of workers for new jobs for new or expanding industry in the state;

     (11) "Program costs", all necessary and incidental costs of providing program services including payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on certificates, including capitalized interest, issued to finance a project, funding and maintenance of a debt service reserve fund to secure such certificates and wages, salaries and benefits of employees participating in on-the-job training;

     (12) "Program services" includes, but is not limited to, the following:

     (a) New jobs training;

     (b) Adult basic education and job-related instruction;

     (c) Vocational and skill-assessment services and testing;

     (d) Training facilities, equipment, materials, and supplies;

     (e) On-the-job training;

     (f) Administrative expenses equal to fifteen percent of the total training costs;

     (g) Subcontracted services with state institutions of higher education, private colleges or universities, or other federal, state, or local agencies;

     (h) Contracted or professional services; and

     (i) Issuance of certificates;

     (13) "Project", a training arrangement which is the subject of an agreement entered into between the community college district or a state technical college and an employer to provide program services;

     (14) "Total training costs", costs of training, including supplies, wages and benefits of instructors, subcontracted services, on-the-job training, training facilities, equipment, skill assessment and all program services excluding issuance of certificates.

     178.893. A community college district or a state technical college, with the approval of the department of economic development in consultation with the office of administration, may enter into an agreement to establish a project and provide program services to an employer. As soon as possible after initial contact between a community college district or a state technical college and a potential employer regarding the possibility of entering into an agreement, the district or college shall inform the division of job development and training of the department of economic development and the office of administration about the potential project. The division of job development and training shall evaluate the proposed project within the overall job training efforts of the state to ensure that the project will not duplicate other job training programs. The department of economic development shall have fourteen days from receipt of the application to approve or disapprove projects. If no response is received by the community college or the state technical college within fourteen days the projects are approved. Any project that is disapproved must be in writing stating the reasons for the disapproval. If an agreement is entered into, the district and the employer shall notify the department of revenue within fifteen calendar days. An agreement may provide, but is not limited to:

     (1) Payment of program costs, including deferred costs, which may be paid from one or a combination of the following sources:

     (a) Funds appropriated by the general assembly from the Missouri junior college job training program fund and disbursed by the division of job development and training in respect of new jobs credit from withholding to be received or derived from new employment resulting from the project;

     (b) Tuition, student fees, or special charges fixed by the board of trustees to defray program costs in whole or in part;

     (c) Guarantee of payments to be received under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision;

     (2) Payment of program costs shall not be deferred for a period longer than ten years if program costs do not exceed five hundred thousand dollars, or eight years if program costs exceed five hundred thousand dollars from the date of commencement of the project;

     (3) Costs of on-the-job training for employees, shall include wages or salaries of participating employees. Payments for on-the-job training shall not exceed the average of fifty percent of the total percent of the total wages paid by the employer to each participant during the period of training. Payment for on-the-job training may continue for up to six months after the placement of the participant in the new job;

     (4) A provision which fixes the minimum amount of new jobs credit from withholding, or tuition and fee payments which shall be paid for program costs;

     (5) Any payment required to be made by an employer is a lien upon the employer's business property until paid and has equal precedence with ordinary taxes and shall not be divested by a judicial sale. Property subject to the lien may be sold for sums due and delinquent at a tax sale, with the same forfeitures, penalties, and consequences as for the nonpayment of ordinary taxes. The purchasers at tax sale obtain the property subject to the remaining payments.

     178.894. If an agreement provides that all or part of program costs are to be met by receipt of new jobs credit from withholding, such new jobs credit from withholding shall be determined and paid as follows:

     (1) New jobs credit from withholding shall be based upon the wages paid to the employees in the new jobs;

     (2) A portion of the total payments made by the employer pursuant to section 143.221, RSMo, shall be designated as the new jobs credit from withholding. Such portion shall be an amount equal to two and one-half percent of the gross wages paid by the employer for each of the first one hundred jobs included in the project and one and one-half percent of the gross wages paid by the employer for each of the remaining jobs included in the project. If business or employment conditions cause the amount of the new jobs credit from withholding to be less than the amount projected in the agreement for any time period, then other withholding tax paid by the employer pursuant to section 143.221, RSMo, shall be credited to the Missouri junior college job training fund by the amount of such difference. The employer shall remit the amount of the new jobs credit to the department of revenue in the manner prescribed in section 178.896. When all program costs, including the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the certificates have been paid, the employer credits shall cease;

     (3) The community college district or the state technical college participating in a project shall establish a special fund for and in the name of the project. All funds appropriated by the general assembly from the Missouri community college job training program fund and disbursed by the division of job development and training for the project and other amounts received by the district or college in respect of the project and required by the agreement to be used to pay program costs for the project shall be deposited in the special fund. Amounts held in the special fund may be used and disbursed by the district or college only to pay program costs for the project. The special fund may be divided into such accounts and subaccounts as shall be provided in the agreement, and amounts held therein may be invested in investments which are legal for the investment of the district's other funds;

     (4) Any disbursement in respect of a project received from the division of job development and training under the provisions of sections 178.892 to 178.896 and the special fund into which it is paid may be irrevocably pledged by a junior college district or a state technical college for the payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the certificate issued by a junior college district or a state technical college to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, the project;

     (5) The employer shall certify to the department of revenue that the credit from withholding is in accordance with an agreement and shall provide other information the department may require;

     (6) An employee participating in a project will receive full credit for the amount designated as a new jobs credit from withholding and withheld as provided in section 143.221, RSMo;

     (7) If an agreement provides that all or part of program costs are to be met by receipt of new jobs credit from withholding, the provisions of this subsection shall also apply to any successor to the original employer until such time as the principal and interest on the certificates have been paid.

     178.895. 1. To provide funds for the present payment of the costs of new jobs training programs, a community college district or a state technical college may borrow money and issue and sell certificates payable from a sufficient portion of the future receipts of payments authorized by the agreement including disbursements from the Missouri community college job training program to the special fund established by the district or the college for each project. The total amount of outstanding certificates sold by all junior college districts and the state technical college shall not exceed twenty million dollars, unless an increased amount is authorized in writing by a majority of members of the Missouri job training joint legislative oversight committee. The certificates shall be marketed through financial institutions authorized to do business in Missouri. The receipts shall be pledged to the payment of principal of and interest on the certificates. Certificates may be sold at public sale or at private sale at par, premium, or discount of not less than ninety-five percent of the par value thereof, at the discretion of the board of trustees, and may bear interest at such rate or rates as the board of trustees shall determine, notwithstanding the provisions of section 108.170, RSMo, to the contrary. However, chapter 176, RSMo, does not apply to the issuance of these certificates. Certificates may be issued with respect to a single project or multiple projects and may contain terms or conditions as the board of trustees may provide by resolution authorizing the issuance of the certificates.

     2. Certificates issued to refund other certificates may be sold at public sale or at private sale as provided in this section with the proceeds from the sale to be used for the payment of the certificates being refunded. The refunding certificates may be exchanged in payment and discharge of the certificates being refunded, in installments at different times or an entire issue or series at one time. Refunding certificates may be sold or exchanged at any time on, before, or after the maturity of the outstanding certificates to be refunded. They may be issued for the purpose of refunding a like, greater, or lesser principal amount of certificates and may bear a higher, lower, or equivalent rate of interest than the certificates being renewed or refunded.

     3. Before certificates are issued, the board of trustees shall publish once a notice of its intention to issue the certificates, stating the amount, the purpose, and the project or projects for which the certificates are to be issued. A person may, within fifteen days after the publication of the notice, by action in the circuit court of a county in the district, appeal the decision of the board of trustees to issue the certificates. The action of the board of trustees in determining to issue the certificates is final and conclusive unless the circuit court finds that the board of trustees has exceeded its legal authority. An action shall not be brought which questions the legality of the certificates, the power of the board of trustees to issue the certificates, the effectiveness of any proceedings relating to the authorization of the project, or the authorization and issuance of the certificates from and after fifteen days from the publication of the notice of intention to issue.

     4. The board of trustees shall determine if revenues provided in the agreement are sufficient to secure the faithful performance of obligations in the agreement.

     5. Certificates issued under this section shall not be deemed to be an indebtedness of the state [or], the community college district, the state technical college or of any other political subdivision of the state and the principal and interest on such certificates shall be payable only from the sources provided in subdivision (1) of section 178.893 which are pledged in the agreement.

     6. The department of economic development shall coordinate the new jobs training program, and may promulgate rules that districts and the state technical college will use in developing projects with new and expanding industrial new jobs training proposals which shall include rules providing for the coordination of such proposals with the service delivery areas established in the state to administer federal funds pursuant to the federal Job Training Partnership Act. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of sections 178.892 to 178.896 shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.

     7. [No] A community college district [may] and the state technical college shall not sell certificates as described in this section after July 1, 1998.

     178.896. 1. There is hereby established within the state treasury a special fund, to be known as the "Missouri Community College Job Training Program Fund", to be administered by the division of job development and training. The department of revenue shall credit to the community college job training program fund, as received, all new jobs credit from withholding remitted by employers pursuant to section 178.894. The fund shall also consist of any gifts, contributions, grants or bequests received from federal, private or other sources. The general assembly, however, shall not provide for any transfer of general revenue funds into the community college job training program fund. Moneys in the Missouri community college job training program fund shall be disbursed to the division of job development and training pursuant to regular appropriations by the general assembly. The division shall disburse such appropriated funds in a timely manner into the special funds established by community college districts and the state technical college for projects, which funds shall be used to pay program costs, including the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on certificates issued by the district to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, a project. Such disbursements by the division of job development and training shall be made to the special fund for each project in the same proportion as the new jobs credit from withholding remitted by the employer participating in such project bears to the total new jobs credit from withholding remitted by all employers participating in projects during the period for which the disbursement is made. Moneys for new jobs training programs established under the provisions of sections 178.892 to 178.896 shall be obtained from appropriations made by the general assembly from the Missouri community college job training program fund. All moneys remaining in the Missouri community college job training program fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not lapse to the general revenue fund, as provided in section 33.080, RSMo, but shall remain in the Missouri community college job training program fund.

     2. The department of revenue shall develop such forms as are necessary to demonstrate accurately each employer's new jobs credit from withholding paid into the Missouri community college job training program fund. The new jobs credit from withholding shall be accounted as separate from the normal withholding tax paid to the department of revenue by the employer. Reimbursements made by all employers to the Missouri community college job training program fund shall be no less than all allocations made by the division of job development and training to all community college districts for all projects. The employer shall remit the amount of the new job credit to the department of revenue in the same manner as provided in sections 143.191 to 143.265, RSMo.

     3. Sections 178.892 to 178.896 shall expire July 1, 2008.