HB 274 Tax Credits for Employing a Homeless Person

 From kuer 90.1 FM: Salt Lake County Democrat Brian King crafted the bill that would give businesses a tax credit of between five hundred and two thousand dollars for hiring an individual who is homeless. King said the legislation is designed to help some live more stable lives.

"What this is doing is giving individuals and a group of individuals who are struggling to be contributing citizens an opportunity to join our ranks as contributors," said King.

During the House Revenue and Taxation committee hearing on Wednesday, infamous Eagle Forum lobbyist Gayle Ruzicka spoke out against the bill: "I think this idea of creating an unfair advantage" — giving a tax credit for hiring a homeless individual instead of hiring someone else also in need of a job — "over a period of time [could make] the people you didn’t hire end up homeless."

I tend to agree with Linda Hilton, project director for the Coalition of Religious Communities, who said the tax credits would help give homeless individuals equal footing — not an advantage — when they apply for jobs.

The bill passed in the House today on a vote of 41-32. It now heads to the Senate for consideration. This bill is King's second attempt at implementing this tax credit. He sponsored the bill in the 2012 legislative session, where it was passed in the House but killed in the Senate. Contact your Senator to show your support for this bill.

Yeas - 41

Anderson, Jerry	Arent, P.	Barlow, S.	Briscoe, J.	Brown, D.
Chavez-Houck, R.	Christensen, L.	Cosgrove, T.	Cox, S.	Cunningham, R.
Draxler, J.	Duckworth, S.	Dunnigan, J.	Edwards, R.	Eliason, S.
Fisher, Janice	Froerer, G.	Gibson, F.	Handy, S.	Hemingway, L.
Hutchings, E.	King, B.	McIff, K.	McKell, M.	Menlove, R.
Moss, C.	Nielson, J.	Noel, M.	Perry, L.	Peterson, J.
Pitcher, D.	Poulson, M.	Powell, K.	Ray, P.	Redd, E.
Romero, A.	Seelig, J.	Snow, V. L.	Tanner, E.	Westwood, J.
Wheatley, M.

Nays - 33

Anderegg, J.	Anderson, Johnny	Barrus, R.	Bird, J.	Christofferson, K.
Dee, B.	Greene, B.	Greenwood, R.	Grover, K.	Hall, C.
Hughes, G.	Ipson, D.	Ivory, K.	Kennedy, M.	Knotwell, J.
Last, B.	Layton, D.	Lifferth, D.	Lockhart, R.	Mathis, J.
McCay, D.	Nelson, M.	Oda, C.	Peterson, V.	Roberts, M.
Sagers, D.	Sanpei, D.	Stanard, J.	Stratton, K.	Webb, R. C.
Wilcox, R.	Wiley, L.	Wilson, B.

Absent or not voting - 1

Brown, M.