Rep Sewell Introduces Workforce Development Amendment to Tax Bill

Mr.. Chairman, I'm offering an amendment that would provide incentives for the development of competitive skills and training for American workers. My amendment provides employers that are providing apprenticeship with a 50% tax credit on the first $2,000 of wages for each apprentice and to encourage employers to not just train American workers but to hire American workers. My amendment offers employers a 40% tax credit on the first $6,000 of wages to the worker that has completed the apprenticeship training. This amendment is the same as HR 1190 the Workforce Development Tax Credit Act Which has bipartisan support? Even as we have emerged from this recession Wages for American workers have been slow to recover. At the same time there has been a dramatic decline of middle skill hiring in our economy and employers are reporting that they're having trouble finding the right skills. Employers say that applicants lack the technical competency and the experience that they are looking for According to the Manufacturing Institute the skills shortage is expected to cause 2 million of the 3.5 million manufacturing jobs expected to go unfilled in the next decade. According to the annual talent shortage survey by the Manpower Group employers say that the hardest skills to find are in the skilled trade. Moreover under today's tax bill we are considering the repeal of the employer tuition assistance and the repeal of this student loan interest deductibility only exacerbates the skills gap. While our training needs needs have gone up our investment in skill training and vocational education has lagged behind and on-the-job training investments by employers have decreased. Small businesses have especially had a difficult time affording the cost of training. From the vantage point of our workers we need to be proactive and Intentional about our efforts to provide better skills and access to experience for the market demands. This is the type of access that will lead to better jobs and right and rising wages. Mr.. Chairman my amendment is a type of bipartisan incentive that the tax code needs to lower the costs of training for employers and encourage the type of investment in human capital that is desperately needed in our workforce Left unaddressed unfulfilled middle skill jobs will go to other workers in other countries because we have fallen behind in our investment in the preparation and development of our workers. Middle-skill jobs pay good wages that pave the way for the middle class and the health of the middle class is fundamental to our productivity and competitiveness. Studies suggests that for every $1 spent on apprenticeships employers may get an average of $1.47 back in increased productivity. reduced waste and greater frontline innovation. Given the fact that we live in an age of globalization and technical change every day that we are not investing in American skills and American workers is a day that we're getting further behind. Supporting apprenticeship programs should not be a partisan issue. The future of work is leaving so many underserved communities behind we all could benefit from promoting apprenticeship programs. Mr. Chairman, there are a great many provisions in this base text that help corporate America and the owners of capital. There are a great many provisions that encourage the investment in technological innovation, machinery and fiscal capital in this bill. My amendment asked to balance these investments with the investment in human capital. I asked my colleagues to support this amendment to help bring a brighter future for the American workers by helping them acquire the skills they need to climb up the ladder of success. I yield back the balance of my time.