WASHINGTON, DC — EMPLOYERS IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY would receive a work opportunity tax credit for hiring veterans if a new bill from Rep. Yvette D. Clarke becomes law.
Clarke, a Democrat representing an area stretching from Crown Heights to Gerritsen Beach, on Wednesday introduced the Incentives for our Nation’s Veterans in Energy Sustainability Technologies Act. Also called the INVEST Act, this bill would expand the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for employers who hire veterans who have completed a free vocational training program that the Department of Veterans Affairs offers — specifically, it would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide this tax credit with respect to the hiring of veterans in the field of renewable energy.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2021 there are almost 400,000 unemployed veterans in the United States. Clarke believes this legislation would simultaneously address the veteran unemployment crisis and advance the United States’ fight against the climate crisis.
“At a time when hundreds of thousands of veterans confront unemployment while scores of green-collar jobs remain unfilled, my INVEST Act is a meaningful opportunity to provide the boost our clean energy economy needs and the action America’s veterans deserve,” Clarke said.
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