Masonry Magazine January 2001 Page. 19
SWEA can put people who need training in direct contact with employers who can train them and provide a good paycheck thereafter.
Though it is always a major fight to pass a new tax credit, the outlook for SWEA in 2001 is one of cautious optimism.
SWEA can help develop the stable, local resident middle class needed to settle blighted neighborhoods. Many apprentices will go on to start their own small businesses. Think of SWEA as a highly efficient jobs program for people who have slipped through he cracks in education, but still want to obtain high-paying jobs.
Conversely, labor union interests have stated objections to the bill. A unit of the AFL-CIO Washington DC office sent a letter to the Hill opposing SWEA, based on costs and a lack of quality standards. In the realm of criticism, I consider the letter to present minimal opposition. The standards issue can and will be addressed by language I have drafted.
Note: While AFL-CIO officially opposes SWEA, their witness at the SWEA hearing earlier this year requested that if the bill passes, that the bill be EXPANDED to cover apprenticeships up to five years. The current bill is limited to four years.
Actually, labor unions should support the bill. SWEA is labor-neutral. Nothing in SWEA alters, supplants or detracts from existing union training programs in any way. In fact, unions will benefit in terms of increased membership. Multi-employer training sites (mostly union-based) will be eligible for the credit.
2001: THE 107th CONGRESS
Though it is always a major fight to pass a new tax credit, the outlook for SWEA in 2001 is one of cautious optimism. We have cultivated strong co-sponsorships from key Members of Congress on the House Ways and Means Committee. We expect the incoming Chairman to have a much more favorable view of targeted tax credits than his predecessor. We expect a general tax reform bill that could provide a vehicle for SWEA as an amendment. We retain all the positive elements of SWEA without having negotiated away any important provisions most importantly, the size of the tax credit.
We can never predict a specific outcome, but we enter the next year and the next Congress in good shape to get SWEA through Congress and on the way to the President's desk.
Randall G. Pence, Esq. of Capitol Hill Advocates, Inc. is a Washington lobbyist representing business clients on legislative and regulatory policies affecting construction, construction products, and housing.
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MASONRY-JANUARY, 2001 19