HB3437 Summary

• Creates the Investing in Illinois Works Tax Credit Act allowing owners/operators of high-hazard facilities to claim $2,500 per qualifying employee (adjusted for inflation) who graduated from the Illinois Works Preapprenticeship Program or a federally-registered apprenticeship program, with a maximum of $20,000,000 in annual credits awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Establishes the Access to Apprenticeship Act prohibiting preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs from requiring union member recommendations or other person recommendations as a condition of acceptance, though intent-to-hire letters from signatory contractors are permitted.

• Enacts the Illinois Hazardous Materials Workforce Training Act requiring owners/operators at high-hazard facilities to use a skilled and trained workforce (registered apprentices or skilled journeypersons meeting prevailing wage standards) for construction work, with escalating requirements that 45% of journeypersons be apprenticeship graduates by July 1, 2022, increasing to 80% by July 1, 2024.

• Mandates annual reporting on apprenticeship participation and diversity metrics broken down by race, gender, jurisdiction, age, and veteran status, with penalties up to $10,000 per violation for non-compliance and potential one-year prohibitions from operating at high-hazard facilities.

• Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to allow employers to claim credits under the Investing in Illinois Works Tax Credit Act against withholding tax payments, with carryforward provisions for five years.