Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that allows businesses to receive tax credits when they partner with schools to create comprehensive educational programs.

Highlights:

-Requires high school pathways programs to include core academics approved by the Board of Education which shall, among other things, integrate key academic concepts and skills and work-based learning opportunities (Sec.1). -Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a procedure for applicants to file a written application for the reservation of the tax credit, establish deadlines, decide on the maximum amount of funding to allocate, and determine the allocation dates (Sec. 1). -Specifies that first priority in allocating tax credits go to applicants with an unemployment rate higher than the statewide unemployment rate that go into a partnership with a school in a community that has a lower graduation rate than the statewide high school graduation rate (Sec. 1). -Establishes that the career pathway program will be judged by the completion rates, graduation rates, percentage of students with industry certification, percentage of students transitioning into secondary education, and student's employment and earnings after high school (Sec. 1). -Requires the department to certify to each applicant the amount of the career pathways credit ceiling allocated to it for the calendar year (Sec. 1). -Requires a credit against the "net tax" to a taxpayer who employs a qualified employee in an enterprise zone during the taxable year of an amount equal to (Sec. 2 & 5):

-50% of qualified wages in the first year of employment, -40% of qualified wages in the second year of employment, -30% of qualified wages in the third year of employment, -20% of qualified wages in the fourth year of employment, and -10% of qualified wages in the fifth year of employment.

-Specifies that the aggregate amount of credit that may be allocated in any calendar year must equal $78 million for 2011 and $100 million for 2012 and each year thereafter as adjusted by the Franchise Tax Board to reflect the rate of inflation (Sec. 3 & 4). -Expands the definition of a "qualified employee" to include those employees who, immediately preceding commencement of employment with the employer, were ex-offenders, meaning they were convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony (Sec. 5). -Requires priority for employment be provided to an individual who is enrolled in a qualified program under the federal Workforce Investment Act or the California Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act or who is eligible as a member of a targeted group under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (Sec. 5). -Establishes that the application for tax credit certification must be submitted within 28 days of the commencement date of employment for the employee (Sec. 5). -Requires this act to go into effect immediately (Sec. 6).

Full Bill Text