Dive Brief:
- In a move to stimulate job growth and retraining, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced H.R. 4088, the Career Advancement Through New Skills Act, in Congress this week.
- The bill would offer a tax credit to offset up to $1,250 of training expenses per employee. Qualified expenses would include the cost of training or programming to improve or maintain skills needed by employers.
- The bill is aimed at helping small businesses in particular find the employees they need for well-paid jobs that have gone unfilled, whether due to lack of available training or the ability to upskill staffers.
Dive Insight:
As employers increasingly turn to apprenticeships and training programs to address the skills gap, the timely tax credits could be the additional push small to midsize employers need to make the leap to on-the-job training programs.
Rep. Randy Hultgren of Illinois, said the federal government has an opportunity to help all parties involved. “Let’s help the backbone of our economy — small businesses — create opportunity for their workers in order to grow, he said in a statement. “The federal government can and should be a partner in supporting classes and training offered by companies that can give more stability to their workers and put them in a position to earn more money.”
The bill will need to pass in both the House and the Senate before being presented to Trump to sign into law.
