I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1662
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit
against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprentice-
ship programs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Ms. B
UDZINSKI(for herself, Mr. CAREY, Ms. HOYLEof Oregon, and Mr.
K
RISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow em-
ployers a credit against income tax for employees who
participate in qualified apprenticeship programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Leveraging and Ener-4
gizing America’s Apprenticeship Programs Act’’ or the 5
‘‘LEAP Act’’. 6
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SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALI-1
FIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-3
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 4
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 5
section: 6
‘‘SEC. 45BB. EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALIFIED AP-7
PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 8
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 9
apprenticeship credit determined under this section for the 10
taxable year is an amount equal to $1,500 for each of the 11
apprenticeship employees of the employer that exceeds the 12
applicable apprenticeship level (as determined under sub-13
section (d)) during such taxable year. 14
‘‘(b) L
IMITATION ONNUMBER OFYEARSWITHRE-15
SPECT TOWHICHCREDITMAYBETAKENINTOAC-16
COUNT.—The apprenticeship credit shall not be allowed 17
for more than 2 taxable years with respect to any appren-18
ticeship employee. 19
‘‘(c) A
PPRENTICESHIPEMPLOYEE.—For purposes of 20
this section— 21
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘apprenticeship 22
employee’ means any employee who is— 23
‘‘(A) employed by the employer in an offi-24
cially recognized apprenticeable occupation, as 25
determined by the Office of Apprenticeship of 26
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the Employment and Training Administration 1
of the Department of Labor, and 2
‘‘(B) currently enrolled in an apprentice-3
ship program. 4
‘‘(2) A
PPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM .—The term 5
‘apprenticeship program’ means a registered appren-6
ticeship program defined in section 3131(e)(3)(B). 7
‘‘(d) A
PPLICABLEAPPRENTICESHIPLEVEL.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-9
tion, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 10
equal to the amount equal to 80 percent of the aver-11
age number of such apprenticeship employees of the 12
employer for the 3 taxable years preceding the tax-13
able year for which the credit is being determined, 14
rounded to the next lower whole number. 15
‘‘(2) F
IRST YEAR OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP 16
PROGRAMS.—In the case of an employer which did 17
not have any apprenticeship employees during any 18
taxable year in the 3 taxable years preceding the 19
taxable year for which the credit is being deter-20
mined, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 21
equal to zero. 22
‘‘(e) E
XCLUSION FORCERTAININDUSTRIES.— 23
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—No credit may be allowed 24
under this section with respect to an individual em-25
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ployed by an employer in any sector described in the 1
North American Industry Classification System code 2
beginning with 23 unless— 3
‘‘(A) such individual is a pre-apprentice-4
ship graduate currently enrolled in an appren-5
ticeship program, and 6
‘‘(B) such employer participates in or 7
sponsors an apprenticeship program. 8
‘‘(2) P
RE-APPRENTICESHIP GRADUATE .—For 9
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘pre-appren-10
ticeship graduate’ means any individual who has 11
completed a pre-apprenticeship program. 12
‘‘(3) P
RE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM .—For 13
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘pre-appren-14
ticeship program’ means a program that— 15
‘‘(A) is designed to prepare participants to 16
enter an apprenticeship program, 17
‘‘(B) is carried out by a sponsor that has 18
a documented partnership with 1 or more spon-19
sors of apprenticeship programs, and 20
‘‘(C) includes each of the following: 21
‘‘(i) Training (including a curriculum 22
for the training) and theoretical education 23
for participants that— 24
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‘‘(I) is aligned with industry 1
standards related to an apprenticeship 2
program and reviewed and approved 3
annually by sponsors of the appren-4
ticeship program within the docu-5
mented partnership that will prepare 6
participants by teaching the skills and 7
competencies needed to enter 1 or 8
more apprenticeship programs, and 9
‘‘(II) does not displace a paid 10
employee. 11
‘‘(ii) A formal agreement with a spon-12
sor of an apprenticeship program that will 13
facilitate or expedite entry of pre-appren-14
ticeship graduates into the apprenticeship 15
program, provided that a place in the ap-16
prenticeship program is available and that 17
the pre-apprenticeship graduate meets the 18
qualifications of such program. 19
‘‘(f) C
OORDINATIONWITHOTHERCREDITS.—The 20
amount of credit otherwise allowable under sections 45A, 21
51(a), and 1396(a) with respect to any employee shall be 22
reduced by the credit allowed by this section with respect 23
to such employee. 24
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‘‘(g) CERTAINRULESTOAPPLY.—Rules similar to 1
the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall 2
apply for purposes of this section.’’. 3
(b) C
REDITMADEPART OFGENERALBUSINESS 4
C
REDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 5
amended by striking the period at the end of paragraph 6
(40) and inserting a comma, by striking the period at the 7
end of paragraph (41) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add-8
ing at the end the following new paragraph: 9
‘‘(42) the apprenticeship credit determined 10
under section 45BB(a).’’. 11
(c) D
ENIAL OFDOUBLEBENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 12
of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 13
‘‘45BB(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 14
(d) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 15
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 16
of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol-17
lowing new item: 18
‘‘Sec. 45BB. Employees participating in qualified apprenticeship programs.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 19
this section shall apply to individuals commencing appren-20
ticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this 21
Act. 22
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENT PRINTING COSTS. 23
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 24
of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 25
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Budget shall coordinate with the heads of Federal depart-1
ments and independent agencies to— 2
(1) determine which Government publications 3
could be available on Government websites and no 4
longer printed and to devise a strategy to reduce 5
overall Government printing costs over the 10-year 6
period beginning with fiscal year 2026, except that 7
the Director shall ensure that essential printed docu-8
ments prepared for social security recipients, Medi-9
care beneficiaries, and other populations in areas 10
with limited internet access or use continue to re-11
main available; 12
(2) establish government-wide Federal guide-13
lines on employee printing; and 14
(3) issue guidelines requiring every department, 15
agency, commission, or office to list at a prominent 16
place near the beginning of each publication distrib-17
uted to the public and issued or paid for by the Fed-18
eral Government— 19
(A) the name of the issuing agency, de-20
partment, commission, or office; 21
(B) the total number of copies of the docu-22
ment printed; 23
(C) the collective cost of producing and 24
printing all of the copies of the document; and 25
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(D) the name of the entity publishing the 1
document. 2
Æ
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