A bipartisan bill proposed on May 30 by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) aims to help communities attract workers having the career skills that are most needed in their particular regions.

“A strong workforce is an essential component to the success of our state,” Sen. Capito said. “I’m proud to put forward a bipartisan solution that incentivizes recent graduates to stay in West Virginia and fill vital workforce needs by cutting burdensome taxes.”

The Workforce Development through Post-Graduation Scholarships Act, S. 1757, which Sen. Capito cosponsored alongside bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), would mandate that scholarship recipients of post-graduation grant programs are not required to pay income taxes on awarded funding, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

Post-graduation scholarships are grants that help recent graduates pay down their student debt if they live and work in areas experiencing a shortage of their particular skills, the summary says.

If enacted, S. 1757 also includes language that would mandate that any grant distributed must be directly administered to someone living and working in a community that lacks working-age college graduates, and would give the U.S. Department of Treasury rulemaking authority to create anti-fraud rules, among other provisions, states the summary.

The bill is supported by the Council on Foundations and The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and has been referred to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for consideration. 

Companion legislation was introduced by U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) in the U.S. House, according to the summary.