[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 70 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5146-S5147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT BILL

 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator 
Faircloth, along with Senators Craig, Reid, Jeffords, Lott, Mack, and 
Hutchinson, as a co-sponsor of S. 50, the Educational Opportunity Tax 
Credit Bill.
  S. 50 will help thousands of folks earn a 2-year college degree 
without creating a new Federal program. S. 50 is simple: it provides 
for a non-refundable tax credit of up to $1,500, depending on the cost 
of attendance, for students attending a 2-year school, full-time or 
part-time. To receive the tax credit students must maintain a minimum 
grade point average as determined by the college.
  Mr. President, this morning I read an Associated Press article with a 
Great Falls byline entitled ``Regents OK $7.6 million increase in 
college tuition, fees.'' The AP reports that tuition rates at 2-year 
and 4-year schools in Montana will rise an average of 6.5 percent, 
climbing to 7.5 percent when student fees are factored in. At Montana's 
colleges of technology, whose students this bill will help, the new 
tuition and fees vary from $1,871 to $2,121, an increase as high as 
11.3 percent. The education and training two-year schools provide is 
more important for our workforce than it has ever been, but it is also 
more expensive than it's ever been. A tax credit is a simple way to put 
a degree within reach of thousands of students.
  There are numerous tax credit proposals out there for 4-year schools, 
and I support some of these proposals. But it is vital that Montanans 
have the specialized training demanded by employers in the technology 
sector--one of the fastest growing sectors in our entire labor force--
and it is our 2-year schools that provide much of that training. This 
tax credit is a jobs credit: a well-trained workforce not only benefits 
existing businesses, but will

[[Page S5147]]

attract new businesses to Montana as well.
  During the just-concluded debate on the fiscal year 1998 budget 
resolution, I was pleased to support a sense of the Senate resolution 
offered by Senator Faircloth which puts the Senate on record as 
supporting a tax credit for the expenses of two-year colleges. As 
debate on the budget continues, I look forward to working with my 
colleagues on enacting this measure.

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