We received word this evening that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp has agreed to hold hearings in April to explore the tax extenders, including WOTC. The purpose of this hearing is to consider which of the tax extenders should be renewed.
As reported today by WOTC Coalition President Paul Suplizio, the hearing will be held before the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, which is chaired by Congressman Pat Tiberi, Republican from Ohio.
Also, a new jobs bill was introduced by Senate Democrats today. S 2237, the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012 proposes to (a) provide an income tax credit on new payroll stemming from increased wages or new jobs and (b) to extend the 100 % depreciation deduction for qualifying property. Read the Senate Fact Sheet here.
This new bill does not include WOTC, or any other tax extenders; however, according to Paul Suplizio of the WOTC Coalition,

“WOTC would be a good fit to this bill because it represents 1.1 million jobs for workers with the highest unemployment rates!”

“People may say WOTC is no different from any other extender, but the point is WOTC IS DIFFERENT and Congress recognized this when it enacted WOTC alone four years ago.

“We have employers spending money on outreach to targeted workers and not being able to claim their tax credits, and we have the historical record that total WOTC job placements are cut in half when a hiatus occurs! These points are worth making when you talk to senators about S. 2237 which likely will not come up until the Senate returns on April 16 after Easter recess.”

It may be a few weeks before the opportunity materializes.  If you support the continuance of the WOTC program, prepare now to encourage your Senators with this information.