Apr. 19, 2021
HARRISBURG – A bill to boost the Commonwealth’s workforce development efforts was approved by the House Education Committee today, said Rep. Clint Owlett (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter), prime sponsor of the measure.
“Pre-pandemic, there were an estimated 200,000 unfilled skilled jobs here in the Commonwealth – good-paying, family-sustaining jobs that sat open simply because there was no one available with the skills to do the work,” Owlett said. “We have the jobs and we have some very talented and hard-working students. We simply need to bring the two together, and that’s what this bill is designed to do.”
View Rep. Owlett’s comments during the committee meeting here.
House Bill 602 would establish the Career and Technical Education Investment Incentive Program. It would encourage a strong working relationship between employers and educators by providing tax credits to job creators that invest in career and technical education (CTE) programs. The funding could be used for career and technical education scholarships or the purchase of industry standard equipment at Career and Technical Centers or CTE programming offered by individual school districts.
“So many of our young people end up leaving the state because they can’t find jobs, but at the same time, I have employers telling me that if they just had the workforce, they could grow,” Owlett said. “We need to match our students with the jobs of today and tomorrow so they can stay in Pennsylvania if they choose. But no matter where they end up, this initiative would help set them up for success.”
The proposal is modeled after the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program.
House Bill 602 is part of a package of bills known as the Commonwealth’s COVID Comeback, a pro-jobs, pro-families and pro-growth initiative aimed at not only restoring but improving the statewide economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representative Clint Owlett
68th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Patricia Hippler
717.772.9846
phippler@pahousegop.com
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