LEAP Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1774 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprentice- ship programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow em- ployers a credit against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprenticeship programs. 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 ‘‘Leveraging and Ener- 4 gizing America’s Apprenticeship Programs Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘LEAP Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1774 IH SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALI- 1 FIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub- 3 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 4 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 5 section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 45T. EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALIFIED AP- 7 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 9 apprenticeship credit determined under this section for the 10 taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of the applica- 11 ble credit amounts (as determined under subsection (b)) 12 for each of the apprenticeship employees of the employer 13 that exceeds the applicable apprenticeship level (as deter- 14 mined under subsection (e)) during such taxable year. 15 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 16 of subsection (a), the applicable credit amount for each 17 apprenticeship employee for each taxable year is equal 18 to— 19 ‘‘(1) in the case of an apprenticeship employee 20 who has not attained 25 years of age at the close 21 of the taxable year, $1,500, or 22 ‘‘(2) in the case of an apprenticeship employee 23 who has attained 25 years of age at the close of the 24 taxable year, $1,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1774 IH ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF YEARS WHICH 1 CREDIT MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The appren- 2 ticeship credit shall not be allowed for more than 2 taxable 3 years with respect to any apprenticeship employee. 4 ‘‘(d) APPRENTICESHIP EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of 5 this section, the term ‘apprenticeship employee’ means any 6 employee who is employed by the employer— 7 ‘‘(1) in an officially recognized apprenticeable 8 occupation, as determined by the Office of Appren- 9 ticeship of the Employment and Training Adminis- 10 tration of the Department of Labor, and 11 ‘‘(2) pursuant to an apprentice agreement reg- 12 istered with— 13 ‘‘(A) the Office of Apprenticeship of the 14 Employment and Training Administration of 15 the Department of Labor, or 16 ‘‘(B) a State apprenticeship agency. 17 ‘‘(e) APPLICABLE APPRENTICESHIP LEVEL.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 19 tion, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 20 equal to— 21 ‘‘(A) in the case of any apprenticeship em- 22 ployees described in subsection (b)(1), the 23 amount equal to 80 percent of the average 24 number of such apprenticeship employees of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1774 IH employer for the 3 taxable years preceding the 1 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 2 mined, rounded to the next lower whole num- 3 ber; and 4 ‘‘(B) in the case of any apprenticeship em- 5 ployees described in subsection (b)(2), the 6 amount equal to 80 percent of the average 7 number of such apprenticeship employees of the 8 employer for the 3 taxable years preceding the 9 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 10 mined, rounded to the next lower whole num- 11 ber. 12 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP 13 PROGRAMS.—In the case of an employer which did 14 not have any apprenticeship employees during any 15 taxable year in the 3 taxable years preceding the 16 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 17 mined, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 18 equal to zero. 19 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The 20 amount of credit otherwise allowable under sections 45A, 21 51(a), and 1396(a) with respect to any employee shall be 22 reduced by the credit allowed by this section with respect 23 to such employee. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1774 IH ‘‘(g) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar to 1 the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall 2 apply for purposes of this section.’’. 3 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 4 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 5 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (31), 6 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (32) and 7 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 8 new paragraph: 9 ‘‘(33) the apprenticeship credit determined 10 under section 45T(a).’’. 11 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 12 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 13 ‘‘45T(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 14 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 15 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 16 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing new item: 18 ‘‘Sec. 45T. Employees participating in qualified apprenticeship programs.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 19 this section shall apply to individuals commencing appren- 20 ticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this 21 Act. 22 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENT PRINTING COSTS. 23 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 24 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1774 IH Budget shall coordinate with the heads of Federal depart- 1 ments and independent agencies to— 2 (1) determine which Government publications 3 could be available on Government websites and no 4 longer printed and to devise a strategy to reduce 5 overall Government printing costs over the 10-year 6 period beginning with fiscal year 2019, except that 7 the Director shall ensure that essential printed docu- 8 ments prepared for social security recipients, Medi- 9 care beneficiaries, and other populations in areas 10 with limited Internet access or use continue to re- 11 main available; 12 (2) establish Government-wide Federal guide- 13 lines on employee printing; and 14 (3) issue guidelines requiring every department, 15 agency, commission, or office to list at a prominent 16 place near the beginning of each publication distrib- 17 uted to the public and issued or paid for by the Fed- 18 eral Government— 19 (A) the name of the issuing agency, de- 20 partment, commission, or office; 21 (B) the total number of copies of the docu- 22 ment printed; 23 (C) the collective cost of producing and 24 printing all of the copies of the document; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1774 IH (D) the name of the entity publishing the 1 document. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1774.IH H1774 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS