Kent Conrad: “I submit an amendment to S. 1133, the Parent and Student Savings Account Plus Act. The amendment that I am offering…”

“I submit an amendment to S. 1133, the Parent and Student Savings Account Plus Act. The amendment that I am offering today would extend tax credits to businesses that train workers in information technology skills. The credit would be equal to twenty percent of the information training expenses provided by a company; however, these expenses could not exceed $6,000 in a taxable year. The percentage of the credit would increase by five percent to twenty five percent for a business that operates a training program in an empowerment zone or enterprise community, a school district where fifty percent of students are eligible for the school lunch program, or in an area designated by the President or Secretary of Agriculture as a disaster zone. This amendment would be paid for by reducing the top of the phase-out range of the education IRA to $90,000 for joint filers and $75,000 for individuals. The intent of my amendment is to encourage businesses to retrain current employees who may be about to be discharged, to retrain unemployed workers, and to encourage businesses to enter into partnerships with schools, job training programs or universities to train students and workers in computer and information technology skills.”