Kent Conrad: “this amendment, I believe, addresses a critical national need. The Commerce Department tells us we have a shortage of…”

“this amendment, I believe, addresses a critical national need. The Commerce Department tells us we have a shortage of information technology workers of 34,000 and that that will grow by 130,000 a year every year for the next 10 years. This amendment seeks to deal with that situation by providing for a tax credit of 20 percent, up to a limit of $6,000 per worker per year. This means that the Federal Government would be in partnership with businesses training high-technology workers. The company would have to put up 80 percent of the cost, the Federal Government, through a tax credit, 20 percent. This is a reasonable response to a critical national need. This amendment is cosponsored by Senator Reid of Nevada, Senator Robb of Virginia, and Senator Abraham of Michigan. It is endorsed by the Information Technology Association of America, the Software Information Industry Association, the American Society for Training and Development, Cisco Systems, EDS, Intel, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and many others.”