BUTLER TWP - U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-3rd, made a stop at Butler County Community College Monday afternoon to discuss legislation geared at helping community colleges.

The congressman explained the Advanced Community Teaching Act, legislation designed to encourage business leaders to teach at community colleges.

English said the legislation is a way to recognize the importance of community colleges' impact on the economy.

"Institutions like Butler County Community College have played a strong role in the future of our communities," he said.

The legislation was introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, R-N.J., as a way to help improve that state's struggling economy. English said New Jersey's economy is comparable to that of Western Pennsylvania.

"(Pascrell) felt very strongly about finding ways to increase the numbers of people willing to teach at community colleges, but he knew he needed some strong backing behind this bill," English said.

So Pascrell asked for English's support. English is on the House Ways and Means Committee.

The legislation would give a $1,000 tax credit to businesses for each employee who voluntarily teaches a semester in his area of expertise at a community college. Each community college could accept up to 20 such volunteers on either a full- or part-time basis, English said.

"Community colleges struggle to find highly-skilled teachers, especially in some of the technology-related areas," English said. "This is a way to help both community colleges and the local business community by providing them with trained workers ready to enter the local work force."

BC3 president Cynthia Azari is pleased to see support for community colleges reaching the federal level.

"The value to the community college is that the business volunteers will bring real world experiences into the classroom," Azari said. "It will benefit our students by bringing community colleges and business and industry together. We gain their expertise and they become familiar with our programs, which could lead to other opportunities such as internships, practicums and even jobs for our students."

BC3 trustee Joan Chew asked English if there was support from other members of Congress for the legislation.

"I feel there is a broad base of support among my colleagues for this," English said. "It's very rare that you have a network come together like this to support legislation."

English also said he has not heard any complaints from existing community college faculty about the program.

"If we were providing the tax credit directly to the individuals who were teaching, then we might be getting more negative feedback," he said.