On July 17, 2009, House Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) introduced House Bill 3249, which was referred to several House committees for consideration. Four days later, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced Senate Bill 1478, which was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Both bills are entitled the “Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Act of 2009” and include identical substantive provisions. Through these bills, the Congressional sponsors seek to provide recent immigrants with access to English language classes that would ultimately assist their integration into American society. The bills would facilitate this goal by providing tax incentives to employers for facilitating English language courses to their employees. Employers would be eligible to claim an amount equal to 20 percent of the cost of an English language course, up to $1,000 for each full-time employee, as a business tax credit applied to their federal tax liability. Further, those employers that make “extraordinary efforts in assisting their employees” to learn English would be eligible to receive the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting United States Citizenship. The bills, if passed, would make the tax credit effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009 and would contain a sunset provision eliminating the tax credit for expenses paid and incurred after December 31, 2014. As of July 28, 2009, Rep. Honda’s bill had garnered five additional sponsors, while Sen. Gillibrand’s bill had garnered two additional sponsors. This Act has been added to our Watch List.