Promoting Employment of Skilled Workers and Foster Youth Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3986 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the work oppor- tunity tax credit with respect to workforce development and foster care transition youth, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, and Mr. KILDEE) 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 improve the work opportunity tax credit with respect to workforce development and foster care transition youth, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Employ- 4 ment of Skilled Workers and Foster Youth Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3986 IH SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM LIMITATION ON REPEAT EM- 1 PLOYEES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(i) of the Internal Rev- 3 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 4 following new paragraph: 5 ‘‘(4) EXCLUSION.—Paragraph (2) shall not 6 apply to an individual employed by an employer in 7 any industry described by a North American Indus- 8 try Classification System code beginning with 23, 9 provided that such employer participates in a pro- 10 gram described in subsection (d)(16)(C).’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 13 December 31, 2019. 14 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF QUALIFIED PRE-APPRENTICESHIP 15 GRADUATES AND FOSTER CARE TRANSITION 16 YOUTH FOR PURPOSES OF WORK OPPOR- 17 TUNITY CREDIT. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(d) of the Internal Rev- 19 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 21 end of subparagraph (I), by striking the period at 22 the end of subparagraph (J) and inserting a comma, 23 and by adding at the end the following new subpara- 24 graphs: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3986 IH ‘‘(K) a qualified pre-apprenticeship grad- 1 uate, or 2 ‘‘(L) a qualified foster care transition 3 youth.’’; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraphs: 6 ‘‘(16) QUALIFIED PRE-APPRENTICESHIP GRAD- 7 UATE.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 9 pre-apprenticeship graduate’ means any indi- 10 vidual that has completed a pre-apprenticeship 11 program. 12 ‘‘(B) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 13 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘pre- 14 apprenticeship program’ means with respect to 15 a program, an initiative or set of strategies 16 that— 17 ‘‘(i) is designed to prepare partici- 18 pants to enter an apprenticeship program, 19 ‘‘(ii) is carried out by an sponsor that 20 has a documented partnership with 1 or 21 more sponsors of apprenticeship programs, 22 and 23 ‘‘(iii) includes each of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3986 IH ‘‘(I) Training (including a cur- 1 riculum for the training) and theo- 2 retical education for participants 3 that— 4 ‘‘(aa) is aligned with indus- 5 try standards related to an ap- 6 prenticeship program and re- 7 viewed and approved annually by 8 sponsors of the apprenticeship 9 program within the documented 10 partnership that will prepare par- 11 ticipants by teaching the skills 12 and competencies needed to enter 13 1 or more apprenticeship pro- 14 grams, and 15 ‘‘(bb) does not displace a 16 paid employee. 17 ‘‘(II) A formal agreement with a 18 sponsor of an apprenticeship program 19 that would enable participants who 20 successfully complete the pre-appren- 21 ticeship program— 22 ‘‘(aa) to enter into the ap- 23 prenticeship program if a place 24 in the program is available and if 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3986 IH the participant meets the quali- 1 fications of the apprenticeship 2 program, and 3 ‘‘(bb) to earn credits to- 4 wards the apprenticeship pro- 5 gram. 6 ‘‘(C) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—For 7 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘appren- 8 ticeship program’ means an apprenticeship pro- 9 gram— 10 ‘‘(i) registered under the Act of Au- 11 gust 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 12 ‘National Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 13 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) that complies with the require- 16 ments of subpart A of part 29 of title 29, 17 Code of Federal Regulations, and part 30 18 of such title (as in effect on September 30, 19 2020). 20 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE FOR APPLICATION TO 21 WAGES PAID.—For purposes of applying this 22 section to wages paid or incurred to a qualified 23 pre-apprenticeship graduate described in sub- 24 paragraph (A), an employer may not claim the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3986 IH work opportunity tax credit with respect to such 1 pre-apprenticeship graduate unless such em- 2 ployer— 3 ‘‘(i) participates in an apprenticeship 4 program described in subparagraph (C), 5 and 6 ‘‘(ii) hires such pre-apprenticeship 7 graduate for participation in such pro- 8 gram. 9 ‘‘(17) QUALIFIED FOSTER CARE TRANSITION 10 YOUTH.—The term ‘qualified foster care transition 11 youth’ means any individual who is certified by the 12 designated local agency as— 13 ‘‘(A) not having attained age 27 as of the 14 hiring date, and 15 ‘‘(B) having been in foster care (within the 16 meaning of section 477 of the Social Security 17 Act (42 U.S.C. 677)), after attaining the age 18 specified in subsection (a)(7) of such section.’’. 19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who 21 begin work for the employer after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3986.IH H3986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS