(a) In evaluating the applications submitted under § 11-1504 of this subtitle and selecting eligible employers to receive a matching grant under the Program, the Division shall secure matching cash contributions or other consideration for training programs during the immediately following calendar year in an amount at least equal in value to the amount requested from the Program.

(b) (1) The Division may not award a matching grant that exceeds $50,000 each year to an eligible employer.

(2) If the Division received applications for matching grants totaling more than the amount of funds appropriated for the Program for a fiscal year, the Division shall award the grants on a pro rata basis.

(c) A matching grant awarded under the Program shall be valid for 1 calendar year.

(d) An eligible employer receiving a matching grant under the Program shall use the grant to supplement, and not supplant, the amount of funds that, in the absence of the grant, would be available to pay for the training programs to be attended by health care workers during the immediately following calendar year.

(e) An eligible employer receiving a grant under the Program shall:

(1) provide to each health care worker who is considering enrolling in a training program information relating to the wage increase required to be provided under item (2) of this subsection to health care workers on completion of a training program; and

(2) provide a wage increase that is commensurate with current labor market trends to a health care worker who completes and receives a certification for a training program for which a grant has been awarded under the Program.

(f) (1) If an eligible employer and an employee organization or union bargain collectively to create a training and upgrading fund that provides educational and job training programs and benefits health care workers, any grant money for an employee who is a member of a bargaining unit awarded to the employer under the Program shall pass through the fund.

(2) The training and upgrading fund shall report to the Division, in the manner specified by the Division, when grant money is expended by the training and upgrading fund.