Bills to aid in the cooperation between business and education sectors to help build and improve student skills moved through state House committees last week and are now before the full House says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)
House Bill 1725 would establish the CareerBound program, which would join local workforce investment boards, businesses and schools in an effort to develop innovative school-to-work pilot programs. The seven pilot CareerBound programs would be eligible to compete for more than $10 million in funding from a one-time issuance of tax credits for contributing businesses.
House Bill 1878 would create the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Strategy, or “PA WInS,” which would offer a tax credit as an incentive to businesses to organize and collaborate with each other to address similar personnel and training issues. This would be coordinated through the Department of Labor and Industry.