II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1550 

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

credit for certain youth employees, and to extend empowerment zones. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2019 

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, 

and to extend empowerment zones. 

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 At-Risk Youth Act of 

6 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF WORK OPPOR8 TUNITY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN YOUTH EM9 PLOYEES. 

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


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•S 1550 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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•S 1550 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 AT-RISK 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 at-risk youth.’’. 

22 (2) AT-RISK YOUTH.—Paragraph (14) of sec23 tion 51(d) of such Code is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


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•S 1550 IS

1 ‘‘(14) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘at-risk 

2 youth’ means any individual who is certified by the 

3 designated local agency— 

4 ‘‘(A) as— 

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

6 age 25 on the hiring date, 

7 ‘‘(ii) as not regularly attending any 

8 secondary, technical, or post-secondary 

9 school during the 6-month period pre10 ceding the hiring date, 

11 ‘‘(iii) as not regularly employed dur12 ing such 6-month period, and 

13 ‘‘(iv) as not readily employable by rea14 son of lacking a sufficient number of basic 

15 skills, or 

16 ‘‘(B) as— 

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

18 age 21 on the hiring date, and 

19 ‘‘(ii) an eligible foster child (as de20 fined in section 152(f)(1)(C)) who was in 

21 foster care during the 12-month period 

22 ending on the hiring date.’’. 

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

24 this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 

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


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•S 1550 IS

1 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF EMPOWERMENT ZONES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1391(d)(1)(A)(i) of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘December 31, 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 

5 2020’’. 

6 (b) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TERMINATION DATES

7 SPECIFIED IN NOMINATIONS.—In the case of a designa8 tion of an empowerment zone the nomination for which 

9 included a termination date which is contemporaneous 

10 with the date specified in subparagraph (A)(i) of section 

11 1391(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as in 

12 effect before the enactment of this Act), subparagraph (B) 

13 of such section shall not apply with respect to such des14 ignation if, after the date of the enactment of this section, 

15 the entity which made such nomination amends the nomi16 nation to provide for a new termination date in such man17 ner as the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s 

18 designee) may provide. 

Æ 


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