New Collar Jobs Act of 2017
A BILL
To increase cybersecurity education and job growth, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress find the following:
Domestic factory output has increased by 21 percent since June 2009, but manufacturing employment has only increased 5 percent during that time, and has been flat since late 2014.
As manufacturers leverage new technologies from robotics to distributed control systems to create modern factories and industrial plants, different employment requirements have emerged including the need for cybersecurity talent.
Leading cybersecurity experts have reported spike of 250 percent in industrial automation and control system cyber-incidents occurring during the period between 2011 and 2015 and as a result are seeking personnel with knowledge of their industry coupled with knowledge of security technology to prevent their organization from becoming victims of cyber-attacks.
Sec. 3 Employee cybersecurity education
In general— Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“45S. Employee cybersecurity education
“(a) In general—For purposes of section 38, the employee cybersecurity education credit determined under this section for the taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent of the aggregate qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses paid or incurred by the employer during such taxable year.
“(b) Limitation—The amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) for the taxable year with respect to an employee shall not exceed $5,000.
“(c) Qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses—For purposes of this section, the term qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses means amounts paid or incurred for each employee who earns a certificate or degree at the undergraduate or graduate level or industry-recognized certification relating to those specialty areas and work roles that are listed in NCWF Work Roles in the document entitled, “NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF)”, published by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
“(d) Certain rules To apply—Rules similar to the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall apply for purposes of this section.”
Credit made part of general business credit— Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is amended by striking “plus” at the end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (36) and inserting “, plus”, and by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(37) the employee cybersecurity education credit determined under section 45S(a).”
Denial of double benefit— Subsection (a) of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting “45S(a),” after “45P(a),”.
Clerical amendment— The table of sections for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply to individuals commencing apprenticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 4 Student loan repayment for certain cybersecurity employees
Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(r) Loan repayment for cybersecurity workers in economically distressed area
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall cancel the amount described in paragraph (2) of the balance of interest and principal due, in accordance with such paragraph, on any eligible Federal Direct Loan not in default for a borrower who—
“(A) makes 36 consecutive monthly payments on the eligible Federal Direct Loan after the date of the enactment of this section pursuant to any one or a combination of the following—
“(i) payments under an income-based repayment plan under section 493C;
“(ii) payments under a standard repayment plan under subsection (d)(1)(A), based on a 10-year repayment period;
“(iii) monthly payments under a repayment plan under subsection (d)(1) or (g) of not less than the monthly amount calculated under subsection (d)(1)(A), based on a 10-year repayment period; or
“(iv) payments under an income contingent repayment plan under subsection (d)(1)(D); and
“(B) during the period in which the borrower makes each of the 36 consecutive monthly payments described in subparagraph (A), has been employed in a cybersecurity job—
“(i) located in an area that, for at least 12 of such consecutive monthly payments is an economically distressed area; and
“(ii) that requires that the borrower work in the economically distressed area no less than 60 percent of total work hours.
“(2) Cancellation amount—After the conclusion of the employment period described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall cancel the lesser of the following:
“(A) The obligation to repay the balance of principal and interest due as of the time of such cancellation, on the eligible Federal Direct Loans made to the borrower under this part.
“(B) $25,000.
“(3) Ineligibility of double benefits—No borrower may, for the same service, receive a reduction of loan obligations under both this subsection and—
“(A) subsection (m); or
“(B) section 428J, 428K, 428L, or 460.
“(4) Definitions—In this section:
“(A) Cybersecurity job—The term cybersecurity job means—
“(i) a skill role as defined in the NCWF Work Roles by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800–181, or any successor document; or
“(ii) teaching a cybersecurity course for a skill role described in clause (i).
“(B) Economically distressed area—The term economically distressed area means an area that meets one or more criteria under section 301(a) of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3161(a)).”
Sec. 5 CyberCorps scholarship-for-service program
Funding increase— It is the sense of the Congress that the number of scholarships awarded by the National Science Foundation for scholarships awarded under the Federal cyber scholarship-for-service program established by section 302 of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 for fiscal year 2018 and each succeeding fiscal year should be not less than double the number of such scholarships awarded for fiscal year 2017.
Cybersecurity course instruction— Section 302 of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 (15 U.S.C. 7442) is amended—
in subsection (a), by striking “and security managers” and inserting “security managers, and cybersecurity course instructors,”; and
in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following: “Such work may include teaching a cybersecurity course for a skill role as defined in the NCWF Work Roles by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800–181, or any successor document.”.
Elimination of priority for Federal Government employment placements— Section 302(b) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 7442(b)) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by adding “and” at the end;
in paragraph (2), by striking “; and” and inserting a period; and
by striking paragraph (3).
Sec. 6 Increased funding for Advanced Technology Education program
It is the sense of the Congress that the amount expended for the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Division of the Advanced Technological Education program of the National Science Foundation established by section 3(a) of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–476) for fiscal year 2018 should be an amount equal to not less than 110 percent of the amount expended for such division for fiscal year 2017.
Sec. 7 Cybersecurity training incentive for Government contracts
In general— Subpart 15.3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to require, in the evaluation of a competitive proposal received in response to a solicitation for a contract valued in excess of $5,000,000, that the head of an executive agency award a five percent score increase to each competitive proposal submitted by a qualified offeror.
Definitions— In this section:
Executive agency— The term executive agency has the meaning given that term in section 102 of title 40, United States Code.
Qualified offeror— The term qualified offeror means a business that has claimed the employee cybersecurity education credit under section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 3, at least once within the three-year period preceding the date on which the business submits a competitive proposal for a contract valued in excess of $5,000,000.