Student Empowerment Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 621 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 16, 2019 Mr. SMITH of Missouri (for himself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. ESTES, and Mr. KING of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account. 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 ‘‘Student Empowerment 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H621.IH H621 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 621 IH SEC. 2. 529 ACCOUNT FUNDING FOR HOMESCHOOL AND AD- 1 DITIONAL ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EX- 2 PENSES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(c)(7) of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(7) TREATMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SEC- 6 ONDARY TUITION.—Any reference in this section to 7 the term ‘qualified higher education expense’ shall 8 include a reference to the following expenses in con- 9 nection with enrollment or attendance at, or for stu- 10 dents enrolled at or attending, an elementary or sec- 11 ondary public, private, or religious school: 12 ‘‘(A) Tuition. 13 ‘‘(B) Curriculum and curricular materials. 14 ‘‘(C) Books or other instructional mate- 15 rials. 16 ‘‘(D) Online educational materials. 17 ‘‘(E) Tuition for tutoring or educational 18 classes outside of the home, including at a tu- 19 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc- 20 tor is not related to the student and— 21 ‘‘(i) is licensed as a teacher in any 22 State, 23 ‘‘(ii) has taught at an eligible edu- 24 cational institution, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H621.IH H621 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 621 IH ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 1 relevant subject. 2 ‘‘(F) Fees for a nationally standardized 3 norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced 4 placement examination, or any examinations re- 5 lated to college or university admission. 6 ‘‘(G) Fees for dual enrollment in an insti- 7 tution of higher education. 8 ‘‘(H) Educational therapies for students 9 with disabilities provided by a licensed or ac- 10 credited practitioner or provider, including oc- 11 cupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-lan- 12 guage therapies. 13 Such term shall include expenses for the purposes 14 described in subparagraphs (A) through (H) in con- 15 nection with a homeschool (whether treated as a 16 homeschool or a private school for purposes of appli- 17 cable State law).’’. 18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 19 this section shall apply to distributions made after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H621.IH H621 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS