II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2455

To enhance Department of Education efforts to facilitate the involvement

of small business owners in State and local initiatives to improve education.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 25, 2000

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

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To enhance Department of Education efforts to facilitate

the involvement of small business owners in State and

local initiatives to improve education.

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 ‘‘Small Business Em5 ployment and Education Enhancement Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 (1) The authorizations of most programs pro8 viding Federal aid to elementary and secondary edu9 cation, and support for educational research, statis10 tics, and assessment activities, including programs
2

•S 2455 IS

1 under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

2 of 1965 (ESEA), the Goals 2000: Educate America

3 Act (Goals 2000), the Educational Research, Devel4 opment, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of

5 1994 (ERDDIA), and the National Education Sta6 tistics Act of 1994 (NESA), are scheduled to expire

7 during the 106th Congress.

8 (2) The reauthorization of the Elementary and

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965 is likely to occur

10 during the 106th Congress.

11 (3) The programs authorized under the Ele12 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the

13 Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the Educational

14 Research, Development, Dissemination, and Im15 provement Act of 1994, and the National Education

16 Statistics Act of 1994, constitute the majority of

17 Federal grants for elementary and secondary edu18 cation.

19 (4) The business community, and small busi20 nesses in particular, have an important stake in the

21 education of our Nation’s youth.

22 (5) One of the most fundamental needs that

23 any growing business will ever face is the need for

24 employees with basic skills.
3

•S 2455 IS

1 (6) Concerns have been expressed by the small

2 business community that students are not grad3 uating with adequate basic skills in reading, writing,

4 mathematics, and science that allow the students to

5 succeed in today’s workplace or become the entre6 preneurs of tomorrow.

7 (7) A 1999 American Management Association

8 survey on workplace testing found that—

9 (A) approximately 36 percent of employees

10 tested for basic skills (reading, writing and

11 mathematics) were found to be deficient;

12 (B) small businesses had deficiency rates

13 well above the national average; and

14 (C) 60 percent of American Management

15 Association member companies reported that

16 the availability of skilled manpower was scarce,

17 and 67 percent believe that the shortages will

18 continue.

19 (8) A 1999 National Federation of Independent

20 Business report found that 18 percent of the mem21 bers reported finding qualified labor is the most im22 portant problem facing their business.

23 (9) A 1999 poll of the United States Chambers

24 of Commerce found that 83 percent of the members

25 reported the ability (or lack thereof) to get qualified
4

•S 2455 IS

1 workers is among the members’ biggest concerns,

2 and 53 percent of the members said education is the

3 single most pressing public policy issue for the mem4 bers.

5 (10) The growth of high-skilled jobs is out6 pacing growth in all other fields.

7 (11) Small business is the driving force behind

8 our Nation’s economy.

9 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

10 It is the sense of Congress that—

11 (1) locally-driven initiatives to improve edu12 cation are crucial;

13 (2) the views of small business should be taken

14 into account in the debate over education;

15 (3) in order to create jobs, our Nation must en16 courage small business expansion and foster small

17 business entrepreneurship and job creation, and edu18 cation initiatives are key to this effort;

19 (4) the Department of Education should facili20 tate the sharing of ideas and best practices at the

21 State and local level, particularly with respect to

22 partnerships between small businesses and school

23 systems; and

24 (5) when and where Department of Education

25 approval of a program or proposal is required, the
5

•S 2455 IS

1 Department of Education should expedite approval

2 of such programs or proposals.

3 SEC. 4. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND SHARING.

4 The Secretary of Education shall disseminate infor5 mation and facilitate the sharing of information designed

6 to assist small businesses in working with school systems

7 to improve the education system through publication of

8 guidance materials, best practices, checklists, and other

9 formats on the World Wide Web, in Department of Edu10 cation publications and articles, in letters, through links

11 to other related World Wide Web sites, through public

12 service announcements, and through other means at the

13 Department’s disposal.

14 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE

15 FOR INFORMATION.

16 The Secretary of Education shall establish a central17 ized database of materials to act as a clearinghouse for

18 information on successful initiatives and best practices re19 garding the involvement of small businesses in education.

20 The clearinghouse shall receive, collect, process, assemble,

21 and disseminate reliable information, including innovative,

22 successful activities with a proven track record at the

23 State and local level.
6

•S 2455 IS

1 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS EDUCATION.

2 Title II of the Department of Education Organization

3 Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by adding at

4 the end the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 220. OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS EDUCATION.

6 ‘‘(a) There shall be in the Department an Office of

7 Small Business Education (hereafter in this section re8 ferred to as the ‘Office’), to be administered by the Direc9 tor of Small Business Education. The Director of Small

10 Business Education shall report directly to the Secretary

11 and shall perform such additional functions as the Sec12 retary may prescribe.

13 ‘‘(b) The Director of Small Business Education,

14 through the Office, shall—

15 ‘‘(1) review the needs of small businesses and

16 the contributions the small business community may

17 make with respect to efforts to improve education;

18 ‘‘(2) promote efforts to address the needs of

19 small businesses though education programs;

20 ‘‘(3) work to remove impediments to partner21 ships between school systems and small businesses;

22 and

23 ‘‘(4) propose solutions to education-related

24 problems facing small businesses.’’.
7

•S 2455 IS

1 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

3 Small Business Education shall provide technical assist4 ance to small businesses, small business organizations,

5 school systems, and communities working cooperatively to

6 improve education outcomes.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

9 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001 and

10 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.

11 SEC. 8. TAX CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED EDUCATION OPPOR12 TUNITY EXPENSES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub14 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

15 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by

16 adding at the end the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 45D. SMALL BUSINESS EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY

18 CREDIT.

19 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38,

20 in the case of a small business, the small business edu21 cation opportunity credit determined under this section for

22 the taxable year is an amount equal to 15 percent of quali23 fied education opportunity credit expenses paid or in24 curred by the taxpayer during the taxable year.

25 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY EX26 PENSES.—For purposes of this section—
8

•S 2455 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified edu2 cation opportunity expenses’ means an amounts paid

3 or incurred in connection with an eligible work study

4 program, including—

5 ‘‘(A) administrative expenses of the tax6 payer, and

7 ‘‘(B) remuneration paid to participants in

8 such program for services performed by such

9 participant.

10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE WORK STUDY PROGRAM.—The

11 term ‘eligible work study program’ means a written

12 program—

13 ‘‘(A) approved by the appropriate State

14 educational agency, and

15 ‘‘(B) involving a partnership with a sec16 ondary school to provide work study and intern17 ship opportunities for eligible individuals

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible

19 individual’ means an individual who is—

20 ‘‘(A) a full-time student in a secondary

21 school, or

22 ‘‘(B) a full-time teacher in a secondary

23 school.

24 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not

25 include—
9

•S 2455 IS

1 ‘‘(A) expenses for which any other Federal

2 or State credit or payment is made, or

3 ‘‘(B) expenses paid or incurred for a pro4 fessional conference or for an orientation pro5 gram.

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS; SPECIAL RULES.—

7 ‘‘(1) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—For purposes of

8 this section, the term ‘secondary school’ has the

9 meaning given such term by section 14101 of the

10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

11 (20 U.S.C. 8801), as in effect on the date of enact12 ment of this section.

13 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.—Rules similar to the

14 rules of subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 52

15 shall apply for purposes of this section.

16 ‘‘(3) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treat17 ed as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b)

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

19 shall be treated as one person for purposes of sub20 section (a).

21 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction

22 or credit shall be allowed under this chapter (other than

23 a credit under this section) for any amount taken into ac24 count in determining the credit under this section.’’.
10

•S 2455 IS

1 (b) LIMITATION ON CARRYBACK.—Section 39(d) of

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to transition

3 rules) is amended by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(9) NO CARRYBACK OF SMALL BUSINESS EDU6 CATION OPPORTUNITY CREDIT BEFORE EFFECTIVE

7 DATE.—No portion of the unused business credit for

8 any taxable year which is attributable to the small

9 business education opportunity credit determined

10 under section 45D may be carried to a taxable year

11 ending before the date of the enactment of section

12 45D.’’.

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 38(b) of

14 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to general

15 business credit) is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end

16 of paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end of

17 paragraph (12) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at

18 the end the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(13) the small business education opportunity

20 credit determined under section 45D(a).’’.

21 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

22 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1

23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in24 serting after the item relating to section 45C the following

25 new item:

‘‘Sec. 45D. Small business education opportunity credit.’’.
11

•S 2455 IS

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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

3 December 31, 2000.

4 SEC. 9. STUDY AND REPORT.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu7 cation shall conduct a study and submit to Congress a

8 report regarding the challenges facing small businesses in

9 obtaining workers with adequate skills.

10 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include the fol11 lowing:

12 (1) Information on the shortage, if any, of

13 workers with adequate skills in the small business

14 sector.

15 (2) An assessment of the impact on small busi16 ness of the shortage, if any.

17 (3) The costs to small businesses associated

18 with the shortage, if any.

19 (4) The recommendations of the Secretary, if

20 any, on how to address the challenges facing small

21 businesses due to the shortage, if any, of workers

22 with adequate skills.

Æ