I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1769

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against

income tax for information technology training expenses, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 9, 2001

Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GORDON, Mr. VITTER,

Mr. COX, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. CANNON,

Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. OSE, and Mrs. KELLY) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a

credit against income tax for information technology

training expenses, 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 ‘‘Technology Education

5 and Training Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAIN2 ING PROGRAM EXPENSES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

5 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 30B. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PRO7 GRAM EXPENSES.

8 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of a taxpayer en9 gaged in a trade or business during the taxable year, there

10 shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by

11 this chapter for such taxable year an amount equal to 100

12 percent of information technology training program ex13 penses of the taxpayer and any employee of the taxpayer

14 paid or incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year.

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of information

17 technology training program expenses with respect

18 to any individual which may be taken into account

19 under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not

20 exceed $1,500.

21 ‘‘(2) INCREASE IN CREDIT AMOUNT FOR PAR22 TICIPATION IN CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND FOR CER23 TAIN INDIVIDUALS.—The dollar amount in para24 graph (1) shall be increased (but not above $2,000)

25 by the amount of information technology training
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1 program expenses paid or incurred by the

2 taxpayer—

3 ‘‘(A) with respect to a program operated—

4 ‘‘(i) in an empowerment zone or en5 terprise community designated under part

6 I of subchapter U or a renewal community

7 designated under part I of subchapter X,

8 ‘‘(ii) in a school district in which at

9 least 50 percent of the students attending

10 schools in such district are eligible for free

11 or reduced-cost lunches under the school

12 lunch program established under the Na13 tional School Lunch Act,

14 ‘‘(iii) in an area designated as a dis15 aster area by the Secretary of Agriculture

16 or by the President under the Disaster Re17 lief and Emergency Assistance Act in the

18 taxable year or the 4 preceding taxable

19 years,

20 ‘‘(iv) in a rural enterprise community

21 designated under section 766 of the Agri22 culture, Rural Development, Food and

23 Drug Administration, and Related Agen24 cies Appropriations Act, 1999,
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1 ‘‘(v) in an area designated by the Sec2 retary of Agriculture as a Rural Economic

3 Area Partnership Zone,

4 ‘‘(vi) in an area over which an Indian

5 tribal government (as defined in section

6 7701(a)(40)) has jurisdiction, or

7 ‘‘(vii) by an employer who has 200 or

8 fewer employees for each business day in

9 each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the

10 current or preceding calendar year, or

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual with a

12 disability.

13 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PRO14 GRAM EXPENSES.—For purposes of this section—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘information

16 technology training program expenses’ means ex17 penses paid or incurred by reason of the participa18 tion of the taxpayer (or any employee of the tax19 payer) in any information technology training pro20 gram if such expenses lead to an industry-accepted

21 information technology certification for the partici22 pant. Such term shall only include includes expenses

23 paid for in connection with course work and certifi24 cation testing which is essential to assessing skill ac25 quisition.
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1 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING

2 PROGRAM.—The term ‘information technology train3 ing program’ means a program for an industry-ac4 cepted information technology certification—

5 ‘‘(A) by any information technology trade

6 association or corporation, and

7 ‘‘(B) which—

8 ‘‘(i) is provided for the employees of

9 such association or corporation, or

10 ‘‘(ii) involves—

11 ‘‘(I) employers, and

12 ‘‘(II) State training programs,

13 school districts, university systems,

14 higher education institutions (as de15 fined in section 101(b) of the Higher

16 Education Act of 1965), or certified

17 commercial information technology

18 training providers.

19 ‘‘(3) CERTIFIED COMMERCIAL INFORMATION

20 TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROVIDER.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘certified

22 commercial information technology training

23 provider’ means a private sector organization

24 providing an information technology training

25 program which leads to an approved informa-
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1 tion technology industry certification for the

2 participants.

3 ‘‘(B) APPROVED INDUSTRY CERTIFI4 CATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), an in5 formation technology industry certification shall

6 be considered approved if such certification is

7 approved by the Secretary, in consultation with

8 the Information Technology Training Certifi9 cation Advisory Board.

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

11 or credit under any other provision of this chapter shall

12 be allowed with respect to information technology training

13 program expenses taken into account for the credit under

14 this section.

15 ‘‘(e) CERTAIN RULES MADE APPLICABLE.—For pur16 poses of this section, rules similar to the rules of section

17 45A(e)(2) and subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 52

18 shall apply.

19 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The

20 credit allowed by subsection (a) for any taxable year shall

21 not exceed the excess (if any) of—

22 ‘‘(1) the regular tax for the taxable year re23 duced by the sum of the credits allowable under the

24 subpart A and the previous sections of this subpart,

25 over
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1 ‘‘(2) the tentative minimum tax for the taxable

2 year.’’.

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

4 for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1

5 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add6 ing at the end the following:

‘‘Sec. 30B. Information technology training program expenses.’’.

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

8 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax9 able years beginning after December 31, 2001.

10 SEC. 3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING CERTIFI11 CATION ADVISORY BOARD.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Infor13 mation Technology Training Certification Advisory Board

14 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Board’’).

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall be composed of

16 not more than 15 members appointed by the Secretary

17 of the Treasury from among individuals—

18 (1) associated with information technology cer19 tification and training associations and businesses;

20 and

21 (2) who are not officers or employees of the

22 Federal Government.

23 (c) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less often

24 than annually.

25 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

2 the Board shall elect a Chairperson from among its

3 members.

4 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson shall be

5 an individual who is a member of an information

6 technology industry trade association.

7 (e) DUTIES.—The Board shall develop a list of infor8 mation technology industry certifications, for approval by

9 the Secretary of the Treasury, that qualify the provider

10 of the certification as a certified commercial information

11 technology training provider under section 30B(c)(3) of

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section

13 (2)(a).

14 (f) SUBMISSION OF LIST.—Not later than October 1,

15 2001, and each year thereafter, the Board shall submit

16 the list required under subsection (e) to the Secretary of

17 the Treasury.

18 (g) BOARD PERSONNEL MATTERS.—

19 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each mem20 ber of the Board shall serve without compensation.

21 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

22 Board shall be allowed travel expenses, including per

23 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for

24 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter

25 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from
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1 their homes or regular places of business in the per2 formance of services for the Board.

3 (h) TERMINATION OF THE BOARD.—Section 14(b) of

4 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall

5 not apply to the Board.

6 SEC. 4. HOPE SCHOLARSHIP AND LIFETIME LEARNING

7 CREDITS INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY TRAINING

8 CENTERS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 25A(f)(2) of the Internal

10 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to eligible educational in11 stitution) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—

13 The term ‘eligible educational institution’ means—

14 ‘‘(A) an institution—

15 ‘‘(i) which is described in section

16 101(b) of the Higher Education Act of

17 1965, and

18 ‘‘(ii) which is eligible to participate in

19 a program under title IV of such Act, or

20 ‘‘(B) a certified commercial information

21 technology training provider (as defined in sec22 tion 30B(c)(3)).’’.

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen24 tence of section 221(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code
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1 of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘section 25A(f)(2)’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘section 25A(f)(2)(A)’’.

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

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

5 December 31, 2001.

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