Sponsors (3)
Introduced June 10, 2025 by Jake Ellzey · Last progress June 10, 2025
The bill provides a modest, targeted tax incentive to encourage employers to hire and formally employ apprentices (including extra support for veterans) and adds reporting and a fiscal cap for transparency — but it creates eligibility limits, administrative compliance costs, and funding uncertainty that may exclude or deter some employers and workers.
Employers who hire qualified apprentices can claim a targeted tax credit (typically $3,000 per apprentice, higher amounts — e.g., $6,000 — for qualifying recently separated veterans/military-connected hires), lowering employers' net cost to hire and train.
The credit increases incentives for businesses to hire and train workers in infrastructure-related occupations, likely expanding registered apprenticeship opportunities and on‑the‑job training for young adults and construction workers.
The program encourages hiring as formal W‑2 employees (not 1099 contractors) and strengthens apprenticeship program reporting/data, which can improve worker protections, oversight, and data accuracy about apprenticeship outcomes.
The $5 billion aggregate cap means the credit can be exhausted; once funds run out, later hires won’t qualify, creating timing uncertainty for employers planning hires.
Eligibility exclusions — e.g., excluding apprentices hired more than 90 days before enrollment and excluding 1099 contractors — will leave out some common hiring arrangements and reduce who can benefit.
Employers face added administrative burdens (obtaining certificates, DOL reporting updates, verifying W‑2 status) to claim the credit, increasing compliance time and costs, especially for small firms.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a business tax credit—$3,000 per new apprentice ($6,000 for qualifying veterans/reservists/military spouses)—for employers enrolling new hires in registered apprenticeship programs in designated infrastructure occupations.
Creates a new employer tax credit for hiring and enrolling new workers in registered apprenticeship programs for infrastructure-related occupations. The credit pays $3,000 per eligible apprentice (and $6,000 for recently separated veterans, National Guard or reserve members, or military spouses) for specified taxable years and is claimed as a business tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code. Defines who counts as an "apprenticeship employee," limits eligibility to new hires enrolled under a written apprenticeship agreement (excludes many independent contractors and hires enrolled long after hiring), requires the Department of Labor to identify eligible infrastructure occupations (with an initial list for tax years beginning in 2026), and sets the time period during which the credit can be claimed for each apprentice.