Sponsors (3)
The bill meaningfully expands incentives, scholarships, and research funding to grow the cybersecurity workforce and improve industrial cyber resilience, but does so at fiscal cost and with compliance complexity that may disadvantage smaller firms and leave some workers or borrowers with limited benefit.
Millions of students and tech workers: the bill expands cybersecurity and OT workforce pipelines by combining employer incentives, scholarship increases, and NSF program support so more people can get training, certifications, and job-ready skills.
Employers and trainees: businesses receive a 50% tax credit (up to $5,000 per employee) to reduce net training costs and — separately — firms that claim the credit get a 5% boost in competitive federal contract evaluation for large contracts, improving financial incentives to invest in employee cybersecurity skills.
Tech workers in distressed areas and students with loans: qualifying cybersecurity workers who meet location and payment requirements can receive up to $25,000 in Direct Loan cancellation, making cybersecurity jobs in underserved areas more attractive and easing debt burdens for some borrowers.
Taxpayers and federal budgets: the tax credit, procurement preference, and proposed NSF funding floors reduce federal revenue or require additional appropriations/offsets, increasing pressure on the budget and potentially crowding out other priorities.
Small manufacturers and small businesses: many smaller firms may face higher relative costs (training, upfront cash flow) or be unable to access benefits, and firms that do not claim the tax credit may be disadvantaged when bidding for large federal contracts.
Administrative burden and delays: IRS, Department of Education, NSF, and procurement agencies will face verification and compliance duties (credit eligibility, loan forgiveness proof, procurement documentation), which can delay benefits and raise implementation costs.
Based on analysis of 12 sections of legislative text.
Creates a 50% employer tax credit (max $5,000/employee), loan cancellation up to $25,000 for cyber jobs in distressed areas, expands CyberCorps/NSF support, and gives a procurement score boost to firms using the credit.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Ted Lieu · Last progress March 27, 2025
Creates new federal incentives and programs to grow the domestic cybersecurity workforce tied to industrial and operational technology needs. It establishes a tax credit for employers who pay for employees to earn cybersecurity degrees or industry-recognized certifications, a loan-cancellation benefit for graduates who work in qualifying cybersecurity jobs in economically distressed areas, and strengthens scholarship and federal support for cybersecurity education and training. It also directs a small procurement preference for firms that have claimed the new employer tax credit when competing for large federal contracts. The bill directs the IRS, Department of Education, and NSF-related programs to implement these incentives, links cybersecurity job definitions to the NIST NICE framework, prevents double-dipping across certain benefits, and sets targets or funding guidance for CyberCorps and an NSF cybersecurity education division for FY2026. Key impacts include incentives for employer-paid training, targeted loan relief to send talent to distressed areas, and a federal procurement advantage for participating firms.