[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 166 (Wednesday, October 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S15683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TARGETED JOBS TAX CREDIT

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I want to ruminate for a few minutes about 
the Work Opportunities Tax Credit, now called the WOTC, which is the 
substitute for the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit, which expired at the end 
of last year.
  Mr. President, the TJTC had some problems, but let me tell you, it 
got the job done. It encouraged employers to put kids and young adults 
to work. Youth who probably would not have gotten their first job but 
for TJTC.
  I have a letter, Mr. President, from a good friend of mine in 
Montana. W.E. Hainline operates 4 B'S Restaurants across Montana and 
several other Western states. They serve good food and employ a lot of 
young adults.
  Bill has had a lot of experience in the TJTC area. In fact, the 4 B'S 
is nationally recognized as a leader when it comes to hiring 
disadvantaged and handicapped youth, many of whom had their first job 
with 4 B's.
  Bill can tell you about these kids and how they went on to other jobs 
and to success in many fields. In fact, that is what TJTC was about, 
and what we want to achieve with WOTC--we want to move kids off of the 
streets, off of welfare and we want to keep them out of the criminal 
justice system.
  Bill is concerned, as am I Mr. President, that the WOTC is currently 
contained in the Reconciliation Bill before us, will not do the job. 
Bill notes in his letter that WOTC:

       As written, virtually eliminates most companies from 
     participating in [WOTC] by ignoring the youth group (18 to 24 
     year olds) not located in an empowerment Zone.

  Mr. President, I joined with Senator Moseley-Braun last week in an 
amendment that would have expanded WOTC to create two new categories of 
youths which employers could hire under WOTC: individuals 18 through 24 
receiving or living with families on food stamps; individuals 18 
through 24 who are non-custodial parents of a child residing in a 
family receiving AFDC or successor programs; and individuals 18 through 
24 who are receiving Supplemental Security Income.
  Senator Moseley-Braun and I are working with Joint Tax to find the 
money to include these youths in WOTC.
  Mr. President, as always, Bill Hainline hits the nail on the head. I 
request that his letter to me be printed in the Record. Bill has the 
credentials. He has used the TJTC program. He knows what it takes to 
make it work. I would encourage my colleagues to read their letter and 
to heed what he has to say. Replacing TJTC with WOTC will accomplish 
little if employers, like Bill, do not utilize the WOTC program.
  If that happens, kids are the big losers.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                            Restaurants, Inc.,

                                   Missoula, MT, October 17, 1995.
     Hon. Max Baucus,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC:
       I understand that the Senate Finance Committee is proposing 
     a new TJTC bill, which was similar to the one developed by 
     the House Ways and Means Committee.
       Their bill, as written, virtually eliminates most companies 
     from participating in the new program by ignoring the youth 
     group (18 to 24 year olds) not located in an empowerment 
     zone, not to mention the increased retention period from 120 
     hours to 500 hours.
       Those two changes would preclude most Montana companies 
     from participating in the proposed program as there are no 
     designated empowerment zones in our state that I am aware of, 
     nor would the proposed tax incentive offset the expense of 
     tracking an eligible employee for 400 hours. After all, the 
     objective of the program is to give people on government 
     assistance, job training to take advantage of all employment 
     opportunities. Why should the initial employer train those 
     types of people for other employers to receive the tax 
     credit?
       In my opinion, the proposed bill eliminates all employers, 
     not located in an empowerment zone, from participating in the 
     new program. The cost of identifying new hires eligible under 
     the remaining categories, and the expense of tracking those 
     eligible for 500 hours, would far exceed the tax benefits 
     proposed.
       The only way our company could effectively participate in 
     the new program would be with the inclusion of 18 to 24 year 
     olds that were ``means tested'', and the retention period is 
     lowered to either 200 or 250 hours.
       The above changes to the program would allow all Montana 
     employers to participate equally with large city employers 
     and insure that all people, with employment barriers, have an 
     equal opportunity to seek employment for any profession they 
     choose.
       I would greatly appreciate you informing me if these 
     changes can be effected.
           Sincerely,
                                                    W.E. Hainline,
     President.

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