SB 974 Summary

• Establishes Career Pathways Investment Credit for business entities providing career technical education partnerships with schools, effective for calendar years beginning January 1, 2011, with annual allocations of $78 million (2011) and $100 million (2012 and thereafter).

• Superintendent of Public Instruction reserves and allocates career pathways credits to qualified applicants based on priority criteria including unemployment rates, graduation rates, private funding matches, and postsecondary articulation.

• Expands definition of "qualified employee" for enterprise zone hiring credit to include ex-offenders (individuals convicted of felonies or misdemeanors punishable by incarceration, or charged and placed on probation without conviction) and removes residency requirements.

• Requires taxpayers to obtain employee certification within 42 days of hire (previously 28 days) and establishes a Career Pathways Investment Credit Fee Account to fund administrative costs.

• Makes conforming changes to Personal Income Tax Law and Corporation Tax Law to implement the new credit provisions and modernize existing enterprise zone hiring credit requirements.