II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2124 

To establish a Federal tax credit approximation matching program for State 

new jobs training tax credits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2015 

Ms. STABENOW introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To establish a Federal tax credit approximation matching 

program for State new jobs training tax credits, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Skills for New 

5 Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL MATCHING PAYMENTS FOR STATE NEW 

7 JOBS TRAINING TAX CREDITS. 

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.—Subject to 

9 subsection (h), the Secretary of the Treasury shall, on a 

10 quarterly basis, make a payment to each eligible commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:29 Oct 06, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2124.IS S2124

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1 nity college in an amount equal to the aggregate new job 

2 tax withholding matches for all eligible trainees with re3 spect to such eligible community college for such quarter. 

4 (b) NEW JOB TAX WITHHOLDING MATCH.—In the 

5 case of any quarter, the new job tax withholding match 

6 with respect to any eligible trainee is an amount equal to 

7 the amounts remitted as described in subsection (d)(1)(A) 

8 during such quarter with respect to such trainee by a par9 ticipating employer. 

10 (c) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—For purposes 

11 of this section, the term ‘‘eligible community college’’ 

12 means a public institution of higher education, as defined 

13 in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 1001)— 

15 (1) at which the majority of degrees awarded, 

16 for any academic year, are 2-year associate’s degrees 

17 that are acceptable for full credit toward a bacca18 laureate degree, 

19 (2) that is located in a State that has a State 

20 new jobs training tax credit program in effect, and 

21 (3) that participates in such program by having 

22 in effect a contract that meets the requirements of 

23 subsection (d)(2). 

24 (d) STATE NEW JOBS TRAINING TAX CREDIT PRO25 GRAM.— 


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1 (1) PROGRAMS DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

2 this section, the term ‘‘State new jobs training tax 

3 credit program’’ means a program established by a 

4 State government that provides that, if an eligible 

5 community college and an employer sign a contract 

6 that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) with 

7 respect to an eligible trainee— 

8 (A) the State income taxes withheld by the 

9 employer on behalf of the eligible trainee, once 

10 employed by the employer, to the extent they do 

11 not exceed the cost of qualified training speci12 fied in such contract, will not be remitted to the 

13 State in payment of income taxes, but will be 

14 remitted to the eligible community college, 

15 (B) the amounts so remitted will be treat16 ed in the hands of the eligible community col17 lege as payment for education provided by such 

18 community college, and 

19 (C) for purposes of determining the State 

20 income tax liability of the eligible trainee, the 

21 amounts so remitted will be treated as if they 

22 had been remitted to the State in payment of 

23 income taxes owed by the eligible trainee. 

24 (2) QUALIFIED CONTRACT.—A contract meets 

25 the requirements of this paragraph if— 


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1 (A) the contract is between an eligible 

2 community college located in the State that has 

3 the program described in paragraph (1) and an 

4 employer with at least 1 job site located in such 

5 State, 

6 (B) the contract meets all applicable re7 quirements under such State program, 

8 (C) the contract provides that— 

9 (i) the eligible community college will 

10 directly provide qualified training to indi11 viduals designated by the employer or will 

12 contract with a provider of qualified train13 ing to provide such training to such indi14 viduals, 

15 (ii) the eligible community college will 

16 not charge tuition or fees to such individ17 uals, 

18 (iii) the employer will hire such indi19 viduals for full-time employment at a job 

20 site located within the State, 

21 (iv) such individuals will be paid by 

22 the employer a wage that is not less than 

23 the greater of— 

24 (I) 175 percent of the Federal 

25 minimum wage, or 


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1 (II) the amount specified under 

2 the State program, and 

3 (v) as provided under the State pro4 gram, the employer will remit the State in5 come taxes withheld by the employer on 

6 behalf of the individual to the community 

7 college in payment for the training, to the 

8 extent such taxes do not exceed the cost 

9 described in subparagraph (D), 

10 (D) the contract specifies the entire cost of 

11 the qualified training (including all costs for 

12 equipment or instructional materials) that will 

13 be provided to each individual, and 

14 (E) the cost and terms specified under 

15 subparagraph (D) are reasonable by market 

16 standards. 

17 (3) QUALIFIED TRAINING.—For purposes of 

18 this section, the term ‘‘qualified training’’ means 

19 education or training which, if completed, will pro20 vide the individual with— 

21 (A) education or skills necessary to per22 form the job for which such individual will be 

23 employed, 

24 (B) education or skills necessary to obtain 

25 a license required under Federal, State, or local 


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1 governmental regulation for the employment of 

2 the individual in the job for which such indi3 vidual will be employed, 

4 (C) a certificate or credential which is re5 quired under Federal, State, or local govern6 mental regulation for the employment of the in7 dividual in the job for which such individual will 

8 be employed, or 

9 (D) a certificate or credential aligned with 

10 national or regionally recognized industry 

11 standards determined appropriate by the State. 

12 (4) JOB MUST BE NEW JOB.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State program will 

14 not be treated as a State new jobs training tax 

15 credit program for purposes of this subsection 

16 unless the program provides that, in order to be 

17 eligible to participate, the employer must show 

18 with respect to each eligible trainee that such 

19 eligible trainee is hired for a job that— 

20 (i) is a new job (which, for purposes 

21 of this paragraph, may include a new posi22 tion within an existing job category), and 

23 not a job of a recalled worker, a replace24 ment job, or any other job that existed in 


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1 the employer’s business within the 1-year 

2 period preceding the date of hire, 

3 (ii) is not a job that existed in a busi4 ness operation or substantially similar 

5 business operation of the employer for6 merly located in another location which 

7 was closed or substantially reduced by the 

8 employer, and 

9 (iii) results in a net increase in em10 ployment for the employer. 

11 (B) ONLY U.S. EMPLOYEES TAKEN INTO

12 ACCOUNT.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

13 only employees at job sites located in the 

14 United States (including the possessions of the 

15 United States) shall be taken into account. 

16 (5) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treated 

17 as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of 

18 section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, shall be 

20 treated as a single employer for purposes of this sec21 tion. 

22 (6) COOPERATION WITH LOCAL WORKFORCE IN23 VESTMENT BOARDS.—An employer or eligible com24 munity college participating in a State new jobs 

25 training tax credit program may work with local 


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1 workforce development boards established under sec2 tion 107 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor3 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3122) in searching for individ4 uals to hire and train through such program. 

5 (e) ELIGIBLE TRAINEE.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, the term ‘‘eligible trainee’’ means an individual— 

7 (1) who received qualified training through an 

8 eligible community college pursuant to a contract 

9 that meets the requirements of subsection (d)(2), 

10 under a State new jobs training tax credit program, 

11 and 

12 (2) who is employed on a full-time basis, during 

13 the quarter for which payment is made under sub14 section (a), by the employer who was a party to such 

15 contract— 

16 (A) at a job site located in the same State 

17 as the eligible community college, 

18 (B) at a wage that meets the requirements 

19 of subsection (d)(2)(C)(iv), 

20 (C) in a job that meets the new job re21 quirement of subsection (d)(4), and 

22 (D) in a job for which such qualified train23 ing is required, either by law or regulation or 

24 by the inherent requirements of the job. 


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1 (f) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any sums in the Treas2 ury not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated on 

3 an ongoing basis such sums as are necessary to carry out 

4 this section. 

5 (g) REMISSION OF STATE INCOME TAX

6 WITHHOLDINGS NOT TREATED AS PAYMENTS FOR

7 TRAINING OR EDUCATION.—In the case of an employer, 

8 the amount of withheld State income tax which is remitted 

9 by the employer to an eligible community college as de10 scribed in subsection (d)(1)(A) shall not be treated as an 

11 amount paid or incurred by the employer for purposes of 

12 any credit or deduction available under the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986 to such employer, but shall be treated 

14 as if such amount had been remitted to the State in pay15 ment of income taxes owed by the employee. 

16 (h) TAX TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS WITH RESPECT

17 TO ELIGIBLE TRAINEE.—In the case of an eligible trainee, 

18 neither— 

19 (1) the amount of any withheld State income 

20 tax which is remitted by an employer to an eligible 

21 community college as described in subsection 

22 (d)(1)(A), nor 

23 (2) the amount of any payment made under 

24 subsection (a), 


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1 shall be treated for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code 

2 of 1986 as income of the eligible trainee. For purposes 

3 of determining the deduction under section 164(a)(3) of 

4 such Code, amounts described in paragraph (1) shall be 

5 treated as amounts paid for State income taxes by the eli6 gible trainee. 

Æ 


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