New bill would reward companies for training and hiring the human workforce behind AI

SARATOGA, Calif. (KGO) -- A new federal proposal aims to expand workforce training partnerships between employers and colleges as artificial intelligence reshapes the job market.

Congressman Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, says the answer is not to resist technological change but to better prepare workers for it.

At West Valley College in Saratoga, student Gabriel Huerta said a tuition-free mechatronics program helped put him on a new career path.

"That decision completely changed my career trajectory," he said.

Now, Huerta works as an instrumentation and controls technician at Santa Clara Valley Water, crediting the program with helping him transition from the audio industry into a stable, high-paying technical career.

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His experience is part of a broader California-NVIDIA collaboration launched in summer 2024 to bring AI-related curriculum, training and career pathways to community colleges across the state.

Liccardo wants to expand that model nationwide through legislation he calls the Supporting Knowledge Through Industry-Led Learning, or SKILL, Act.

According to a one-page summary of the proposal, the bill is designed to encourage employers to invest directly in workforce development programs, particularly at public colleges, universities and community colleges.

"Jobs will continue to exist, they will simply be different," Liccardo said.

He said employers and educators should work together to ensure workers are prepared for a rapidly changing economy.

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"The two can co-create curricula that can help adults who may be dislocated by a rapidly changing economy, or helping students who are coming into the workforce for the first time be able to manage a transition where we know the technology is shifting the ground underneath their feet," Liccardo said.

Under the proposal, employers that help support qualifying workforce training programs would receive a $2,500 tax credit for each student who completes a program and an additional $2,500 credit if they hire a graduate.

Louis Stewart, NVIDIA's head of ecosystem development, said building workforce pipelines before workers are displaced is critical.

"That's why the right workforce model starts before disruption, not after it," Stewart said.

Stewart said the country's ability to remain a leader in artificial intelligence depends on investing in people.

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"What we realize is that for AI leadership, it depends on building the human layer," Stewart said.

Bradley Davis, chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District, said successful workforce programs are built through cooperation between employers and educators.

"These are the pipelines to real careers, and they exist because industry and education chose to build them together," Davis said.

Supporters of the proposal argue America's AI competitiveness depends not only on advances in technology, but also on training workers with the skills needed to use it.

The bill would create $500 million annually in tax credits for eligible workforce development partnerships.