Bill Text: NJ S500 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides a STEM graduate retention tax credit for certain employers who pay certain employees' education loan debt.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee [S500 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S500-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator THOMAS H. KEAN, JR.
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Provides a STEM graduate retention tax credit for certain employers who pay certain employees' education loan debt.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act providing a STEM graduate retention tax credit for certain employer payments, supplementing P.L.1945, c.162 (C.5410A-1 et seq.) and Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.l.1945, c.162 (C54:10A-5) for the privilege period in an amount equal to the taxpayer's payments for the privilege period of qualified STEM employee education loan debt paid by the taxpayer as part of the remuneration for the full-time employment of the qualified employee by the taxpayer during the calendar year ending in the taxpayer's privilege period, not to exceed $5,000 per qualified STEM employee per calendar year of employment.
b. As used in this section:
"Qualified employee" means an employee who is:
a qualified STEM baccalaureate;
a resident of this State; and
employed, fulltime, at a regular work location in this State.
Qualifed STEM baccalaureate" means an individual who has graduated with a baccalaureate degree from a public institution of higher education located in this State in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), has an outstanding balance with a state or federal qualified education loan program and is not in default on a qualified education loan, and been certified by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority as a candidate for a qualified employee.
2. a. A taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed pursuant to the "New Jersey Gross Ta1x Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., for the taxable year in an amount equal to the taxpayer's payments for the taxable year of qualified STEM employee education loan debt paid by the taxpayer as part of the remuneration for the full-time employment of the qualified STEM employee by the taxpayer during the calendar year ending in the taxpayer's taxable year, not to exceed $5,000 per qualified STEM employee per calendar year of employment.
b. As used in this section:
"Qualified STEM employee" means an employee who is:
a qualified STEM baccalaureate;
a resident of this State; and
employed, fulltime, at a regular work location in this State.
Qualifed STEM baccalaureate" means an individual who has graduated with a baccalaureate degree from a public institution of higher education located in this State in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), has an outstanding balance with a state or federal qualified education loan program and is not in default on a qualified education loan, and been certified by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority worthwhile candidates for a qualified employee.
3. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority shall provide for the establishment of a STEM baccalaureate recruitment program to identify and certify qualified STEM baccalaureates located in this State. Under the program, the authority shall identify graduates with degrees in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields whose talents and dedication indicate that they will be long-term contributors to the local economy.
4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections 1 and 2 shall apply to loan debt paid on and after the January 1 next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides STEM graduate retention tax credits under the corporation business tax and the gross income tax for certain employers who pay certain employee's education loan debt. Employer's may receive the credit for paying up to $5,000 per year for each employee who graduated from a New Jersey public institutions of higher Education, holds a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), and lives and works in this State.
As the New Jersey Business & Industry Association has recently reported in one of its outmigration studies, of all the age groups in New Jersey that experienced a net loss in population from 2007 to 2014, the highest rate was among people between the ages of 18 and 34. That brain drain hurts the overall New Jersey economy and makes it harder for the State to attract the type of companies that rely on young, skilled workers.
This bill aims to retain STEM graduates from New Jersey public institutions of higher Education, degree holders in in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics, in this State. The bill directs the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to recruit and certify STEM graduates whose talents and dedication indicate that they will be long-term contributors to the local economy.
This bill encourages their retention in New Jersey employment by providing their employers with corporation business tax and gross income tax credits for helping them retire their tuition debt.
