[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 10, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1088-E1089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECRUITING SKILLED TECHNOLOGY WORKERS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JON CHRISTENSEN

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 10, 1998

  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce new 
legislation that will help cure a problem that is widespread across our 
nation. I speak of the difficulties that American businesses are faced 
with in recruiting skilled, information technology (IT) workers. In my 
district of Omaha, Nebraska, we recently lost a company due to the fact 
that they could not recruit enough information technology workers to 
fill key positions.
  As the turn of the century quickly approaches and technology 
throughout the world continues to progress at a rapid pace, the need 
for skilled, information technology workers grows as well. A study 
released by the Department of Commerce, entitled ``America's New 
Deficit: The Shortage of Information Technology Workers,'' made light 
of the desperate need for new information technology workers. As a 
result of this report, the Information Technology Association of 
America (ITAA) released a study conducted by Virginia Tech--``Help 
Wanted 1998: A Call for Collaborative Action for the New Millennium.'' 
This study estimated that 346,000 information technology positions were 
currently vacant in three core information technology occupational 
clusters (programmers, systems analysts, and computer scientists/
engineers). In addition, there were 129,000 vacancies in 5,874 
information technology companies and 217,000 vacancies in 97,733 
noninformation technology corporations with more than 100 employees. 
Moreover, the need for information technology workers will only get 
worse as technology continues to progress while the pool of skilled 
workers continues to decrease.
  In response to these concerns, I would like to introduce legislation 
today that would create a tax credit for employers who provide 
technological training for their employees. I am confident that this 
legislation will encourage employers to make an investment in the 
future of their employees and our nation.
  The credit would be an amount equal to 20 percent of information 
technology training program expenses; however, not to exceed $6,000 per 
trainee in a taxable year. The value of the credit would increase by 5 
percentage points if the IT training program is operated in an 
empowerment zone or enterprise community, in a school district in which 
at least 50 percent of the students in the district participate in the 
school lunch program, or in an area designated as a disaster zone by 
the President or Secretary of Agriculture.
  Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying that I encourage all members 
of this chamber to consider cosponsoring this piece of legislation

[[Page E1089]]

and I insert the text of this legislation for printing in the Record.

                                 H.R.--

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. CREDIT FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM 
                   EXPENSES.

       (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of 
     chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
     business related credits) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new section:

     ``SEC. 45D. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM EXPENSES.

       ``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of section 38, in the 
     case of an employer, the information technology training 
     program credit determined under this section is an amount 
     equal to 20 percent of information technology training 
     program expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the 
     taxable year.
       ``(b) Additional Credit Percentage for Certain Programs.--
     The percentage under subsection (a) shall be increased by 5 
     percentage points for information technology training program 
     expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer with respect to a 
     program operated in--
       ``(1) an empowerment zone or enterprise community 
     designated under part I of subchapter U,
       ``(2) a school district in which at least 50 percent of the 
     students attending schools in such district are eligible for 
     free or reduced-cost lunches under the school lunch program 
     established under the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1751 et seq.), or
       ``(3) an area designated as a disaster area by the 
     Secretary of Agriculture or by the President under the Robert 
     T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
     U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) in the taxable year or the 4 preceding 
     taxable years.
       ``(c) Limitation.--The amount of information technology 
     training program expenses with respect to an employee which 
     may be taken into account under subsection (a) for the 
     taxable year shall not exceed $6,000.
       ``(d) Information Technology Training Program Expenses.--
     For purposes of this section--
       ``(1) In general.--The term `information technology 
     training program expenses' means expenses paid or incurred by 
     reason of the participation of the employer in any 
     information technology training program.
       ``(2) Information technology training program.--The term 
     `information technology training program' means a program--
       ``(A) for the training of computer programmers, systems 
     analysts, and computer scientists or engineers (as such 
     occupations are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics),
       ``(B) involving a partnership of--
       ``(i) employers, and
       ``(ii) State training programs, school districts, or 
     university systems, and
       ``(C) at least 50 percent of the costs of which is paid or 
     incurred by the employers.
       ``(e) Denial of Double Benefit.--No deduction or credit 
     under any other provision of this chapter shall be allowed 
     with respect to information technology training program 
     expenses (determined without regard to the limitation under 
     subsection (c)).
       ``(f) Allocations.--For purposes of this section, rules 
     similar to the rules of section 41(f)(2) shall apply.''
       (b) Credit To Be Part of General Business Credit.--Section 
     38(b) of such Code (relating to current year business credit) 
     is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (11), 
     by striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and 
     inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the end the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(13) the information technology training program credit 
     determined under section 45D.''
       (c) No Carrybacks.--Subsection (d) of section 39 of such 
     Code (relating to carryback and carryforward of unused 
     credits) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(9) No carryback of section 45D credit before effective 
     date.--No portion of the unused business credit for any 
     taxable year which is attributable to the information 
     technology training program credit determined under section 
     45D may be carried back to a taxable year ending before the 
     date of the enactment of section 45D.''
       (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart 
     D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new item:
       ``Sec. 45D. Information technology training program 
           expenses.''
       (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act in taxable years ending after such 
     date.

     

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