Training Day

Technology Retraining and Investment Now Act of 2004 (otherwise know as TRAIN). For background on the mechanics of this legislation, you can also read this story .

Basically, the bill lets you write off up to 50 percent of the cost of being trained on new technology, up to $4,000 per year per person (or $5,000 in some cases). And the money can be used proactively, before a person actually loses his or her job because it has been sent somewhere else.

"At the end of the day, the employers and employees know best where to spend," says Martin Bean, COO of New Horizons Computer Learning Centers and chair of the public policy committee for the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

The proposed legislation has the strong bipartisan support and the backing of more than 10 trade associations, including CompTIA, which issued this press release about it a couple of months ago.

I'm not one to get all that political, but I guess the reason I like this bill is because it puts the onus on both employees and employers to boost the skill levels of their workforces proactively. Right now, it sits before the Ways and Means Committee. If you have your own comments to contribute, you can "Write Your Rep" by visiting this site.