By Carlie Christensen
Senior members of the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees have introduced bipartisan legislation to help make the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) permanent. On April 2, 2019, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced Senate Bill 978. [caption id="attachment_16844" align="alignright" width="150"] Sen. Rob Portman[/caption] “Our economy is creating jobs and increasing wages, and that’s good news, but we have much more work ahead to help those individuals who are in the shadows and struggling to find meaningful employment,” said Senator Portman. “Encouraging employers to hire those who have the most trouble finding work is good policy, and that’s why we should make the Work Opportunity Tax Credit permanent.” Then on April 11, 2019, House Ways & Means Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Mike Thompson (D-CA), along with Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Tom Reed (R-NY) and Tom Rice (R-SC), introduced House Bill 2213. [caption id="attachment_16847" align="alignleft" width="150"] Chairman Mike Thompson[/caption] “For more than two decades, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit has proven to be highly effective in ensuring individuals on public assistance can make the transition to private sector jobs. In fact, since the program’s enactment, thirteen million people have benefitted, in turn reducing federal and state government spending,” said Chairman Thompson. “The tax credit is set to expire at the end of this year and I’m proud to introduce my bill to permanently extend this bipartisan, cost-effective program.” These bills will be considered as Congress works to address WOTC before the end of 2019. Bicameral introduction of these bills is an important step that demonstrates the existing broad, bipartisan support for the program. Since introduction in 1996, WOTC has gone into hiatus a number of times. Currently, WOTC is authorized through December 31, 2019.
To encourage the continuation of this federal tax credit, through NEON, we have engaged with a number of stakeholders including:
They have seen firsthand the value WOTC brings to communities around the nation. In fact, these organizations, including NEON, recently sent a letter to Congress expressing support for WOTC permanency. We are excited to continue to champion this impactful program.
WOTC not only helps support your community, but also offers employers tax credits up to $9,600 per eligible employee. However, some companies don’t know how to get started. To help, we recently held a WOTC webinar to answer common questions, such as...
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