A-2491

Sponsored by: Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

STATEMENT

The bill establishes a manufacturing machine and metal trade apprenticeship tax credit program under the gross income tax and corporation business tax. The purpose of the program is to encourage manufacturing employers to provide structured training to machine and metal trade apprentices to add more skilled workers to New Jersey’s labor market.

The bill gives manufacturing employers with qualified machine and metal trade apprenticeship programs the lesser of $7,500 per apprentice, or 50 percent of an apprentice’s wages. To qualify for credit, an apprenticeship must employ an unskilled or semi-skilled person in machine tool or metal trades for no less than 1,500 hours in the tax year as part of a term of machine and metal trade training not exceeding four tax years. The machine and metal trade apprenticeship must involve wage progression, defined job training processes, course instruction, and completion resulting in designation as a skilled worker.

The bill schedules the credits for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. The credits are nonrefundable.