SCHUMER LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN TO SAVE EXPIRING TAX CREDITS FOR BUSINESSES THAT HIRE VETS - CREDIT IS A PROVEN SUCCESS & GIVES COMPANIES LIKE FOCUSED TECHNOLOGIES UP TO $9,600 PER VET HIRED
In Continued Campaign to Get Vets Back on the Job, Schumer Joins Recently Hired Vets at Focused Technologies, Which Saved $27,000 in the 'Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit' - Critical Credit Is Set To Expire at End of Year
With Over 2,600 Unemployed Veterans in the Cap Region, Schumer to Make Tax Credit Top Priority--Provision is Proven Success & Provides Up to $9,600 Per Vet Hired
Schumer: As More & More Vets Return from Battlefield, They Must Have A Place to Work
Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer toured Focused Technologies in Menands, and revealed his plan to prioritize the extension of The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit, which is a proven success in incentivizing companies to hire veterans and is set to expire at the end of this year. Focused Technologies currently has 104 employees, including 11 veterans. The company has hired six of those employees in the last year, saving them $27,000 with this new tax credit. Schumer applauded Focused Technologies for its efforts to hire veterans and urged other Capital Region businesses to follow suit in hiring these highly skilled workers that often fall through the cracks when returning home to civilian employment. The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit, enacted in November 2011, provides tax credits to businesses of up to $9,600 depending on the length of time a veteran has been unemployed, and if that veteran has a service-connected disability. Schumer vowed to fight to include this critical tax credit in the Senate tax extenders package to be considered in September.
"This vital tax credit is a proven-success in helping businesses hire more veterans, and we cannot allow such a powerful antidote to the economic recession come to an end. The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credit is set to expire at year's end, which would be a devastating blow to the efforts of companies like Focused Technologies that want to get unemployed veterans in the Capital Region back to work," said Schumer. "Renewing the veterans' tax credit isn't just the smart thing to do for companies in the Capital Region and across the country, it's the right thing to do to honor the sacrifices made by our heroes in uniform. Our veterans have spent months and even years of their lives protecting our freedom, and I am going to fight to renew this tax break so that veterans don't spend the same amount of time in the unemployment line."
Schumer was joined by Focused Technologies' CEO Chuck Tobin and the company's veteran workers for his tour of the facility. Schumer was also joined by Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, himself an Iraqi War veteran; Peter Potter, Director of Public Relations for the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center; Bob Becker of the Marine Corps League; Lawrence Wiest of the Tri-County Council of Vietnam Veterans; and Joe Pollicino, Acting Director of Albany County Veterans Service Agency and President of the Tri-County Council of Vietnam Veterans. Schumer stood with these veterans and Capital Region representatives as he launched his plan to extend the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit, which will expire at the end of 2012. In September, the Senate Finance Committee begins consideration of the various tax extenders that will be renewed, and Schumer will fight to ensure that this tax credit is included and extended by December. Currently, Focused Technologies has plans to work further with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire additional veterans, especially if this tax credit continues to make doing so more affordable. However, this company and others in the Capital Region could be forced to change hiring plans in the future if Congress does not act to extend the job-creating incentive for companies.
Focused Technologies, which already has 11 veterans on payroll, six of which were added in the past year, is among New York State's largest private document imaging and management companies. The company has operations in Albany, Menands, Kingston and New York City, and aims to make other companies' electronic document management operations more efficient. Their clients range from Fortune 500 companies to state government agencies. Focused Technologies was founded in 2003 by CEO Chuck Tobin, who strongly believes in promoting from within the company so that those in managerial positions have at one time held the positions that they are asked to oversee. Therefore, veterans hired as a result of the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credit are in a strong position to build careers and grow professionally. CEO Chuck Tobin has highlighted his intention to continue hiring veterans, which demonstrates his satisfaction and highly-positive experience thus far with the veterans that he has added to the payroll. He also noted to Schumer the importance of this tax credit in his hiring decisions past and present.
President Obama signed the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit into law on November 21, 2011 as part of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which contained the series of tax credits for businesses that hire out-of-work veterans. As a result of the tax break, businesses that hire veterans who have been searching for work for at least four weeks, but less than six months, are eligible for a tax credit of up to $2,400 per each veteran hired. Businesses that hire a veteran who has been looking for a job for at least six months would receive a tax credit worth up to $5,600. If a company hires a veteran with a service-connected disability who has been seeking work for at least six months, that business would be eligible for tax credits worth up to $9,600. While tax-exempt organizations save a slightly smaller percentage, a non-profit company can still save up to $6,240 if they hire a disabled veteran who has been unemployed for six months or more.
Schumer pushed to extend the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit in light of disappointing unemployment numbers for veterans, particularly in upstate New York. Albany County alone has 564 unemployed veterans, while the Capital Region has 2,602, according to New York State Department of Labor's most recent data from 2010. According to the state's data, there are 16,846 unemployed veterans in upstate New York as a whole. Unemployment among New York's veteran population, particularly younger veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has remained stubbornly high over the last several years. Last year, the veteran population in the United States consisted of 20.2 million men and 1.8 million women, accounting for about 9.5 percent of the adult population in the country. 2.2 million of those veterans served after September 11, 2011, and two thirds of that total were under 35 years old. Unemployment among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has risen to 12.1 percent nationally, up from 10.6 percent from a year ago. 240,000 young veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed nationwide. An astonishing 21.9 percent of male veterans aged 18-24 who have served since September 11th were unemployed last year, according to data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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