When Congress passed tax reform late last year, it cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. While the 35 percent corporate tax was too high compared with other countries, I voted against the tax bill, in part, because it did little to incentivize businesses to invest in worker training and skills development. Currently, more than 6 million jobs remain unfilled in our country because our workers lack the skills required to fill them. With the advance of automation and artificial intelligence, millions of existing jobs could be replaced by robots or AI in the coming decades. Nothing in the tax bill passed by Congress addresses these great challenges to our country’s future.

Specifically, the Republican tax law fails to recognize that training and re-training workers for jobs of our 21st century economy requires bringing business owners, educators, and workforce development leaders to the table together. I strongly believe there’s a smarter way to ensure that future tax reform benefits American workers while making American businesses more competitive. That’s why my colleagues and I on the New Economy Task Force have just introduced the Investing in American Workers Act. Our bill would establish a targeted tax incentive for small and mid-sized businesses that invest in training their workers to improve skills, increase productivity, and raise wages.

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Workforce investment is crucial to the success of the millions of small- and mid-sized businesses that keep the American economy running and allows workers to earn higher wages and build job-security. Under our bill, the types of training that would qualify for the 20 percent investment tax credit include apprenticeship programs, classes conducted through career and technical education programs, and programs operated by an employer through a trade association, industry partnership or labor organization.

In writing our legislation, we were careful to include safeguards to ensure that the investment credit couldn’t be used for executive bonuses or to pad bottom lines through accounting tricks. The credit would be restricted to training for “non-highly compensated employees,” defined as those with an annual income of less than $82,000. It would apply only toward a company’s increase in spending on workforce training compared to its spending in preceding years. The maximum credit amount would be $250,000 per year, meaning it would be a 20 percent credit on a company’s first $1.25 million in workforce training investments.

Unlike the tax bill enacted last year, the Investing in American Workers Act is guaranteed to benefit both businesses and workers. The credit will incentivize companies to invest more in developing their workforce, helping small and mid-sized companies to increase efficiency and better compete in the global economy. At the same time, the credit will allow more American workers to obtain in-demand skills, higher wages and long-term job security.

With a growing “skills gap” plaguing U.S. employers, and automation threatening workers’ jobs, it is imperative that Congress adopt tax policies that strengthen our businesses while preparing workers for the family-sustaining jobs of the future. Last year’s tax bill failed to ensure such investments. By incentivizing investments in workforce training and development, the Investing in American Workers Act will help our economy by preparing businesses and workers for the economy of the future.