S. 1210Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Helping to Encourage Real Opportunities (HERO) for Youth Act of 2025

Introduced March 31, 2025

AI-Generated Summary

Updated November 24, 2025 at 1:30 AM UTC

The HERO for Youth Act of 2025 changes the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit to cover more young workers. It lets employers claim the credit for year‑round part‑time jobs for students and raises the credit amount. It also creates a new credit for "disconnected" youth and certain foster‑care teens who are not in school or regularly employed. The changes apply to hires made after the law is enacted.

Key Provisions

  • Expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit so that employers can claim it for youth who work up to 20 hours per week between September 16 and April 30 while regularly attending secondary school, not just for summer jobs.
  • Increases the amount of the credit (the bill removes the old lower‑credit subparagraph and makes the higher‑credit subparagraph the default).
  • Adds a new credit for "disconnected youth"—individuals aged 16‑25 who are not in school, not regularly employed, and lack basic skills, as certified by a local agency, and also for eligible foster‑care youth aged 16‑21.
  • Defines the criteria for a disconnected youth and sets the credit to apply to employees hired after the law takes effect.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S1926)

March 31, 2025

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

March 31, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S1926)

March 31, 2025

Floor Debate

4 members

What members said about S. 1210 on the floor

2 Republicans2 Democrats
Alex Padilla
Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Mar 31, 2025

Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park Act. This bill would establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement…

Chuck Grassley
Sen. Chuck GrassleyR-IA · Mar 31, 2025

Mr. President, today, 20 of my colleagues and I will introduce legislation to stop the abuse of universal injunctions that we are seeing all across the country--all of this to stop the Trump agenda.…

John Thune
Sen. John ThuneR-SD · Mar 31, 2025

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Richard J. Durbin
Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · Mar 31, 2025

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Richard J. Durbin
Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · Mar 31, 2025

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

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Introduced in SenateIssued March 31, 2025

II

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1210

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 31, 2025

Mr. Durbin (for himself and Ms. Duckworth) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the work opportunity credit for certain youth employees.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Helping to Encourage Real Opportunities (HERO) for Youth Act of 2025.

2.

Modification and extension of work opportunity credit for certain youth employees

(a)

Expansion of credit for summer youth

(1)

Credit allowed for year-round employment

Section 51(d)(7)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(A)

by striking clauses (i) and (iii) and redesignating clauses (ii) and (iv) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;

(B)

in clause (i) (as so redesignated), by striking (or if later, on May 1 of the calendar year involved),;

(C)

by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and inserting , and; and

(D)

adding at the end the following new clause:

(iii)

who will be employed for not more than 20 hours per week during any period between September 16 and April 30 in which such individual is regularly attending any secondary school.

.

(2)

Increase in credit amount

Section 51(d)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B).

(3)

Conforming amendments

(A)

Subparagraph (F) of section 51(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking summer.

(B)

Paragraph (7) of section 51(d) of such Code is amended—

(i)

by striking summer each place it appears in subparagraphs (A);

(ii)

in subparagraph (B), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph (A)(iv) and inserting subparagraph (A)(ii); and

(iii)

by striking summer in the heading thereof.

(b)

Credit for disconnected youth

(1)

In general

Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking or at the end of subparagraph (I), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (J) and inserting , or , and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

(K)

an disconnected youth.

.

(2)

Disconnected youth

Paragraph (14) of section 51(d) of such Code is amended to read as follows:

(14)

Disconnected youth

The term disconnected youth means any individual who—

(A)
(i)

is certified by the designated local agency as having attained age 16 but not age 25 on the hiring date, and

(ii)

has self-certified (on a form prescribed by the Secretary) that such individual—

(I)

has not regularly attended any secondary, technical, or post-secondary school during the 6-month period preceding the hiring date,

(II)

has not been regularly employed during such 6-month period, and

(III)

is not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of basic skills, or

(B)

is certified by the designated local agency as—

(i)

having attained age 16 but not age 21 on the hiring date, and

(ii)

an eligible foster child (as defined in section 152(f)(1)(C)) who was in foster care during the 12-month period ending on the hiring date.

.

(c)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act.