SENATE LABOR COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3593

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 2, 2026

      The Senate Labor Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3593.

      This bill, titled the “New Jersey Works Act,” incentivizes businesses to establish pre-employment and work readiness training programs which recruit, prepare, and educate individuals for in-demand jobs with long-term career potential in a labor demand occupation.  Under the bill, a business may receive a credit against the corporation business tax or gross income tax for 100 percent of the financial assistance provided to support a qualified pre-employment and work readiness training program approved by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (department).  Businesses engaged in a construction trade are excluded from participating in the bill’s training programs.

      The bill authorizes the award of $2 million in tax credits per State fiscal year to taxpayers that have established an approved pre-employment and work readiness training program with an institution of higher education, a comprehensive high school, a vocational school, or a nonprofit organization. 

      The bill requires an educational institution or nonprofit organization which enters an agreement with a business entity to establish a training program to submit a proposed pre-employment and work readiness and training plan to the department for approval.  Each pre-employment and work readiness training program must offer no less than 12 weeks of paid training, at the minimum wage for each participant, and include, but not be limited to, instruction and training in the following areas:  basic math and English literacy, communication skills, critical thinking, leadership, life skills, and job readiness skills training, such as conflict management, finance concepts, resume preparation, problem solving, self-awareness, and management, and any other training deemed necessary by the department.  A single pre-employment training plan may be submitted by multiple educational institutions or nonprofit organizations, but the plan must designate one entity as the lead organization with responsibility for the plan.

      Under the bill, program participants are required to be at least 16 years old.  An educational institution or nonprofit organization may not determine a trainee’s eligibility for participation in the training program based on the trainee’s possession of either a high school diploma or a high school equivalency.  Each program would offer trainees employment with a business entity which has provided funding for a qualified pre-employment and work readiness training program.

      The bill requires the department to review each proposed pre-employment and work readiness training plan to make an initial determination of whether the proposed training program qualifies for financial assistance based on whether the program:

      1. consists of pre-employment and work readiness training activities to benefit low- and moderate-income households and persons in need of mid-career skills training or vocational retraining; and

      2. is reasonably designed to accomplish its intended purpose and further the purposes of the proposed training plan.

      Additionally, the educational institution or nonprofit organization would be required to demonstrate that it has the capacity to implement the plan, ensure that financial assistance will be expended exclusively to implement the plan, and provide documentation of its completion rates.

      If the department makes an initial determination that a proposed plan qualifies under the program guidelines, the department would refer the proposal to the Director of the Division of Taxation for final approval, and the director would notify the department of a final approval.

      The bill requires the Department of State to conduct a study of the efficacy of the training programs and tax credits following two years from the date of enactment of the bill and report the findings to the Governor and the Legislature.