Last week, Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31) introduced his first bill, which would help small businesses and increase hiring throughout the Inland Empire. The On-the-Job Training Tax Credit of 2015 establishes a temporary tax credit for small businesses to use to help pay for training for new employees.

The bill addresses the skills gap— the disconnect between prospective employees and vacant jobs that demand workers with specific skills—by creating a new tax credit for employers with five hundred or fewer employees to pay for half of the cost for training new hires. It would run from 2015 through 2017, and would cover apprenticeship programs, trainings offered by vocational or technical schools and community colleges, trainings offered by industrial or trade training organizations and labor unions, or industry-sponsored training programs.

Last month, Rep. Aguilar unveiled his Jobs Plan to put Inland Empire residents back to work, which included specific tactics to close the skills gap and increase job training opportunities across San Bernardino County. Beau Yarbrough covered the story, which can be read here or at the Redlands Daily Facts, San Bernardino County Sun, and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.