Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 905 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit certain expenses associated with obtaining or maintaining recognized postsecondary cre- dentials to be treated as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of 529 accounts. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 23, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BRAUN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. MANCHIN) 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 permit certain expenses associated with obtaining or maintaining recognized postsecondary credentials to be treated as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of 529 accounts. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom To Invest 4 in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 905 IS SEC. 2. CERTAIN CAREER TRAINING AND CREDENTIALING 1 EXPENSES TREATED AS QUALIFIED HIGHER 2 EDUCATION EXPENSES FOR PURPOSES OF 3 529 ACCOUNTS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(e)(3) of the Internal 5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 6 the following new subparagraph: 7 ‘‘(C) CERTAIN CAREER TRAINING AND 8 CREDENTIALING EXPENSES.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘quali- 10 fied higher education expenses’ includes— 11 ‘‘(I) tuition, fees, books, supplies, 12 and equipment required for the enroll- 13 ment or attendance of an individual in 14 a recognized postsecondary credential 15 program, or any other expense in- 16 curred in connection with enrollment 17 in or attendance at a recognized post- 18 secondary credential program if such 19 expense would, if incurred in connec- 20 tion with enrollment or attendance at 21 an eligible educational institution, be 22 covered under subparagraph (A), and 23 ‘‘(II) fees required to obtain or 24 maintain a recognized postsecondary 25 credential, including testing and other 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 905 IS fees required by the organization 1 issuing the recognized postsecondary 2 credential as a condition of maintain- 3 ing or obtaining the credential. 4 ‘‘(ii) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY 5 CREDENTIAL PROGRAM.—For purposes of 6 this subparagraph, the term ‘recognized 7 postsecondary credential program’ means a 8 program to obtain a recognized postsec- 9 ondary credential if such program is in- 10 cluded on a list prepared under section 11 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and 12 Opportunity Act or meets the training or 13 educational prerequisites to qualify an indi- 14 vidual to take an examination developed or 15 administered by an organization widely 16 recognized as providing reputable creden- 17 tials in the occupation, where such exam- 18 ination is required to obtain or maintain a 19 recognized postsecondary credential. 20 ‘‘(iii) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY 21 CREDENTIAL.—For purposes of this sub- 22 paragraph, the term ‘recognized postsec- 23 ondary credential’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 905 IS ‘‘(I) a recognized postsecondary 1 credential, as such term is defined in 2 section 3(52) of the Workforce Inno- 3 vation and Opportunity Act (29 4 U.S.C. 3102) (but an industry-recog- 5 nized credential shall be for a pro- 6 gram for which a provider is eligible 7 under section 122 of that Act (29 8 U.S.C. 3152)), including a credential 9 from a certificate or certification pro- 10 gram that is accredited by the Na- 11 tional Commission for Certifying 12 Agencies or the American National 13 Standards Institute, or 14 ‘‘(II) any other postsecondary 15 credential recognized for purposes of 16 this subparagraph under regulations 17 or guidance provided by the Secretary, 18 in consultation with the Secretary of 19 Labor.’’. 20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 21 this section shall apply to expenses paid or incurred in 22 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment 23 of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS