This article was in Wednesday’s (June 28th, 2017) Herald and News

Written By: Stephen Floyd, H&N Staff Reporter 

SALEM — A tax incentive bill to benefit businesses in Klamath County passed the House of Representatives Tuesday with overwhelming support and is on its way to the senate.

House Bill 3206 was approved 58 to 1, opposed only by Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland).

Sponsors of the bill expect the Senate will also approve HB 3206 prior to the closure of the legislative session July 10.

Introduced March 1 by Rep. E. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath Falls) and Rep. Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte), HB 3206 will give a tax credit to businesses who establish employee training through Klamath Community College equal to 12 percent of program expenses. It is estimated $50,000 in credits will be given through the program.

HB 3206 originally included tax credits for businesses that hire Oregon Tech graduates, who deal in computer hardware and software, cyber security, and those that located in rehabilitated buildings, among other credits. These provisions were removed in order to move the bill through the House Revenue Committee and sponsors expect to propose adding back these deleted credits in the future.

In a statement Tuesday, Reschke said HB3206 encourages local businesses to invest in their workforce and should lead to an increase in the accessibility of local family-wage jobs.

“I am particularly excited about what this bill could mean for the future of the tech industry in our community,” he said.

Klamath County Commissioner Kelley Minty Morris also said passage of the bill shows the Klamath Basin is “open for business” to tech developers.

“This bill further demonstrates what we’ve been saying, Klamath County is perfectly poised for growth in the tech sectors,” she said.

HB 3206 is scheduled for its first reading in the Senate Wednesday.

To read this article and others on the Herald and News website, please refer to the following link:

Tech Hills Passes House, on to Senate (Herald and News)