{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://crockett.house.gov/media/press-releases/crockett-edwards-moskowitz-introduce-tax-bill-incentivize-businesses-hire", "Crockett, Edwards, Moskowitz Introduce Tax Bill to Incentivize Businesses to Hire Disaster Victims", "2024-12-17", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Jasmine Crockett", "C001130", "crockett.house.gov", "crockett", "https://crockett.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Congresswomen Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11), and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) introduced a bill, the HIRE CREDIT Act, aimed at easing the difficulties faced by victims of federally-designated disasters who are forced to temporarily relocate and find work outside of their community or state. Specifically, this bill would create a new category under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (\u201cWOTC\u201d) for \u201cdisplaced disaster victims\u201d\u2014a class of individuals who have, and will continue to, face significant barriers to employment in the aftermath of federally declared disasters. Businesses that hire individuals who satisfy the requirements of this new category will be eligible to receive a tax credit of up to 40% of up to $6,000 of wages paid to this new employee.\n\n\u201cIn the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, hundreds of thousands of Americans across the Southeast have been displaced \u2013 including 375,000 households in North Carolina alone. As a Texan, I have seen that the pain of being forced to flee your home during a disaster goes far beyond structural damage \u2013 even if you are lucky enough to be able to rebuild, you are still forced to scrape out a living for weeks or even months away from home, often far away from your workplace and without easy access to transportation,\u201d said Rep. Crockett. \u201cOur HIRE CREDIT Act addresses this problem by incentivizing businesses to hire temporarily displaced workers in the communities providing them refuge, easing the burden on disaster victims while simultaneously boosting local economies.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurricane Helene destroyed homes, businesses, and jobs across Western North Carolina. Now, as we look to pick up the pieces, it\u2019s become clear that finding a job to replace the one folks have lost from hurricane damage is historically more difficult to do,\u201d said Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11). \u201cThe HIRE Credit Act will give employers in our mountains a tax credit to hire dislocated hurricane survivors, giving businesses the federal support they need to hire new staff during this difficult time while keeping our people in our mountains.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs Florida\u2019s former emergency management director, I know that one of the biggest challenges faced by communities impacted by hurricanes is finding work when businesses are destroyed or damaged,\u201d said Rep. Moskowitz. \u201cThis commonsense legislation will incentivize companies to hire people whose lives have been upended by disasters. The HIRE CREDIT is a necessary step toward helping these communities get back on their feet, and I\u2019m proud to be supporting it with Congresswoman Crockett.\u201d\n\nWHAT THE HIRE CREDIT DOES\n\nCreates a new eligible class of persons \u201cdisplaced disaster victims\u201d under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (\u201cWOTC\u201d) for part-time employment by an employer.\n\nWOTC is an established tax credit program that provides employers with a federal tax credit available for hiring and employing certain American job seekers who have consistently faced barriers to employment.\n\nTo qualify as a \u201cdisplaced disaster victim\u201d an individual must be certified by the designated local agency as:\n\nHaving a principal residence (as defined in section 1033(h)(4)) in a qualified disaster zone which was rendered uninhabitable as a result of the qualified disaster with respect to such qualified disaster zone,\n\nBeing employed (immediately prior to the incident period with respect to such qualified disaster) at a location in such qualified disaster zone which was rendered inoperable as a result of such qualified disaster, and\n\nBeing in a period of unemployment.\n\nThe term \u201cqualified disaster zones\u201d are areas where:\n\na major disaster was declared by the President, on or after January 1, 2024, under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and\n\nwas determined by the President, on or after January 1, 2024, to warrant individual or individual and public assistance from the Federal Government under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by reason of the qualified disaster with respect to such disaster area.\n\nEmployers will be eligible to receive a tax credit for a certain amount of money based on the wages paid to the employee:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://crockett.house.gov/media/press-releases/crockett-edwards-moskowitz-introduce-tax-bill-incentivize-businesses-hire"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.546164905652404, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}