II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1276 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the work opportunity 

credit for certain youth employees. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2023 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify 

the work opportunity credit for certain youth employees. 

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 ‘‘Helping to Encourage 

5 Real Opportunities (HERO) for Youth Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF WORK OPPOR7 TUNITY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN YOUTH EM8 PLOYEES. 

9 (a) EXPANSION OF CREDIT FOR SUMMER YOUTH.— 


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2 

•S 1276 IS

1 (1) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR YEAR-ROUND EM2 PLOYMENT.—Section 51(d)(7)(A) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking clauses (i) and (iii) and re5 designating clauses (ii) and (iv) as clauses (i) 

6 and (ii), respectively; 

7 (B) in clause (i) (as so redesignated), by 

8 striking ‘‘(or if later, on May 1 of the calendar 

9 year involved),’’; 

10 (C) by striking the period at the end of 

11 clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and inserting ‘‘, 

12 and’’; and 

13 (D) adding at the end the following new 

14 clause: 

15 ‘‘(iii) who will be employed for not 

16 more than 20 hours per week during any 

17 period between September 16 and April 30 

18 in which such individual is regularly at19 tending any secondary school.’’. 

20 (2) INCREASE IN CREDIT AMOUNT.—Section 

21 51(d)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

22 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and by re23 designating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B). 

24 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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3 

•S 1276 IS

1 (A) Subparagraph (F) of section 51(d)(1) 

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘summer’’. 

4 (B) Paragraph (7) of section 51(d) of such 

5 Code is amended— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘summer’’ each place it 

7 appears in subparagraphs (A); 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (B), as redesig9 nated by paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub10 paragraph (A)(iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub11 paragraph (A)(ii)’’; and 

12 (iii) by striking ‘‘SUMMER’’ in the 

13 heading thereof. 

14 (b) CREDIT FOR DISCONNECTED YOUTH.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

16 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara18 graph (I), by striking the period at the end of sub19 paragraph (J) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding 

20 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(K) an disconnected youth.’’. 

22 (2) DISCONNECTED YOUTH.—Paragraph (14) 

23 of section 51(d) of such Code is amended to read as 

24 follows: 


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•S 1276 IS

1 ‘‘(14) DISCONNECTED YOUTH.—The term ‘dis2 connected youth’ means any individual who— 

3 ‘‘(A)(i) is certified by the designated local 

4 agency as having attained age 16 but not age 

5 25 on the hiring date, and 

6 ‘‘(ii) has self-certified (on a form pre7 scribed by the Secretary) that such individual— 

8 ‘‘(I) has not regularly attended any 

9 secondary, technical, or post-secondary 

10 school during the 6-month period pre11 ceding the hiring date, 

12 ‘‘(II) has not been regularly employed 

13 during such 6-month period, and 

14 ‘‘(III) is not readily employable by 

15 reason of lacking a sufficient number of 

16 basic skills, or 

17 ‘‘(B) is certified by the designated local 

18 agency as— 

19 ‘‘(i) having attained age 16 but not 

20 age 21 on the hiring date, and 

21 ‘‘(ii) an eligible foster child (as de22 fined in section 152(f)(1)(C)) who was in 

23 foster care during the 12-month period 

24 ending on the hiring date.’’. 


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•S 1276 IS

1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 

3 the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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