HELENA — Business and labor groups and others united last week behind a bill to give employers a tax credit of up to $1,000 for each apprentice enrolled in a program registered with the state.

A number of people testified before the House Taxation Committee in favor House Bill 277, by Rep. Christy Clark, R-Choteau, on behalf of the Bullock administration. No one opposed the bill.

It would give employers a state tax credit of up to $1,000 for up to four years for each employee who is in the Montana Registered Apprenticeship Program run by the state Department of Labor and Industry. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes.

The tax credit, which may be against an individual income tax or corporate income tax, would cost the general fund about $800,000 in fiscal year 2017 and $900,000 the next year, the governor’s budget office estimated. Backers argued it would pay great dividends.

“The more we have, the better off we are,” Clark said. “It may cost us $1,000 in a tax credit, but look what we are getting — a workforce.”

Pam Bucy, state commissioner of labor and industry, said Montana faces an aging workforce, with 27 percent of workers — or 137,000 — aged 55 years or older and approaching retirement age. The number of workers from ages 16 to 24 totals only 113,000.

“Retraining needs to occur quickly — and if at all possible, on the job --because every worker will be needed to fill business demand,” Bucy said.

She said the department is proud of its Registered Apprenticeship Program, which began in 1941 and which the federal government has recognized since 1977.

To qualify for the tax credit, employers would have to have their apprentices registered in the Registered Apprenticeship Program with the state department. Last year, 30 percent of the jobs posted in Montana were “apprentice-able” occupations, she said, with the model working for occupations in every industry and community.

More than 1,000 different jobs are considered “apprenctice-able” and it grows daily, said Darrell Holzer, director of Apprenticeship & Training at the department.

Apprenticeships in the program are full-time employees from the start. As several people said, “They earn while they learn” and never have any student debt.

From 2000 to 2014, the weighted annual average apprentice wage increased from $29,600 in the year before they entered training to $40,450 annually for the four years of training, an increase of 37 percent.

Bucy said the department estimates that if HB 277 passes, the apprenticeship program will nearly double in enrollment in 10 years. It would generate between $10.3 million and $22.4 million of increased economic output in 2015 and between 88 and 192 jobs earning between $3.1 million and $6.9 million will be created or supported in 2015.

Endorsing the program were representatives of the Montana Independent Electrical Contractors Association, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 233, Montana Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, NorthWestern Energy, a deputy commissioner of higher education, Montana Organizing Project, Montana Associated Students, Montana Contractors Association, and the Boilermakers Union.

Margaret Morgan of the Independent Electrical Contractors said it costs businesses a great deal to train an apprentice, including their cost to attend school or online classes, and the labor costs of on-the-job training. She said the bill would provide needed incentives.

“We don’t see this as a cost; we see this as an investment for the state of Montana,” said John Forkan of the Montana Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters.

John Quant said he previously owned a small plumbing shop in Seattle and found it hard to find workers.

“It’s a huge liability to take on apprenticeships,” he said. “This will help workers.”

The House Taxation Committee took no immediate action on the bill.