[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, November 9, 1997

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am very pleased to join my good 
friend and colleague from Connecticut, Mrs. Johnson, in introducing the 
Community Employment Partnership Act of 1997. This bipartisan 
legislation will provide communities across the country with a 
significant new tool in moving millions of Americans from welfare to 
work by establishing tax incentives for not-for-profit employers.
  The central challenge of the new Federal welfare reform law is to 
help millions of public assistance recipients enter the work force. 
However, currently only profit-making employers are provided with the 
tools, principally in the form of the work opportunity tax credit, to 
recruit, hire, and train long-term welfare recipients.
  Across the Nation, not-for-profits such as hospitals, nursing homes, 
universities, and community-based organizations remain a major untapped 
resource for hiring people on welfare. Many not-for-profit employers 
that are in need of entry-level workers are located in cities with high 
concentrations of welfare recipients and easy access to mass transit. 
This helps eliminate one of the major impediments to welfare recipients 
keeping a job: the cost and time of getting to and from work.
  It is clear that if we want to ensure the maximum level of 
participation from all employers in moving people from welfare to work, 
we must pass legislation that expands the work opportunity tax credit 
program to include not-for-profit employers. Our legislation will do 
just that through a graduated tax credit to reduce not-for-profits' 
Federal payroll tax liability. Specifically, this legislation will 
provide a 20-percent tax credit on payroll taxes from the date of hire 
for the first $6,000 in wages for those working 120 to 399 hours each 
calendar year quarter and a 30-percent credit for the first $6,000 in 
wages for people working 400 hours or more.
  I know first-hand that in the New York metropolitan area, including 
hospitals, universities, and other not-for-profits in the welfare-to-
work effort will not only help tens of thousands of welfare recipients 
become self-sufficient, it will also give these institutions the 
financial means to better support their communities and meet their own 
pressing labor needs. That is why the Community Employment Partnership 
Act has been endorsed by the Non-Profit Coordinating Committee of New 
York.
  Mr. Speaker, our legislation is clearly a win-win situation for 
communities across the Nation. I urge my colleagues to join us in this 
effort.

                          ____________________