I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1605 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow parents of eligible military dependent children to establish Military Edu- cation Savings Accounts, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. YOHO, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. WALKER, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BUDD, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. LATTA, Mr. POSEY, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. LONG, and Mr. GREEN of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow parents of eligible military dependent children to establish Military Education Savings Ac- counts, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1605 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education Savings Ac- 2 counts for Military Families Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. MILITARY EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS. 4 Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) is amended 6 by inserting after section 7012 the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 7012A. MILITARY EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, in 9 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall carry out 10 a program under which the Secretary of Education shall— 11 ‘‘(1) at the request of a parent of an eligible 12 military dependent child, establish an account on be- 13 half of such child (to be known as a ‘Military Edu- 14 cation Savings Account’) into which the Secretary 15 shall deposit funds in an amount determined under 16 subsection (d); and 17 ‘‘(2) establish a procedure under which the par- 18 ent of the child may use funds in the account to pay 19 for the educational expenses of the child in accord- 20 ance with this section. 21 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate 23 in the program under this section for a school year, 24 a parent of an eligible military dependent child shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1605 IH submit an application to the Secretary in accordance 1 with this subsection. 2 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—In carrying out 3 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 4 ‘‘(A) accept applications on a year-round 5 basis and establish procedures for approving 6 applications in an expeditious manner; and 7 ‘‘(B) create a standardized form that par- 8 ents can use to apply for the program and en- 9 sure that such form is readily available in writ- 10 ten and electronic formats, including on a pub- 11 licly accessible website. 12 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of 13 funds to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 14 approve the application of a parent to establish a 15 Military Education Savings Account if— 16 ‘‘(A) the application is submitted in ac- 17 cordance with the application process estab- 18 lished by the Secretary pursuant to this sub- 19 section; 20 ‘‘(B) the application demonstrates that the 21 child on whose behalf the Military Education 22 Savings Account is to be established is an eligi- 23 ble military dependent child; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1605 IH ‘‘(C) the parent who submits the applica- 1 tion enters into a written agreement with the 2 Secretary under which the parent agrees— 3 ‘‘(i) to provide the child with instruc- 4 tion in, at minimum, the fields of reading, 5 language, mathematics, science, and social 6 studies; 7 ‘‘(ii) to not enroll the child in a public 8 elementary school or a public secondary 9 school, on a full-time basis while partici- 10 pating in the program; 11 ‘‘(iii) to use funds in the Military 12 Education Savings Account only for the 13 purposes authorized under this section; 14 and 15 ‘‘(iv) to comply with all other require- 16 ments of this section. 17 ‘‘(4) RENEWALS.—The Secretary shall establish 18 a process for the automatic renewal of a previously 19 established Military Education Savings Account ex- 20 cept in cases in which— 21 ‘‘(A) the parents of the child on whose be- 22 half the account was established choose not to 23 renew the account; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1605 IH ‘‘(B) the account was used to commit 1 fraud or was otherwise not used in accordance 2 with the requirements of this section. 3 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY IN THE EVENT OF INSUFFICIENT 4 FUNDS.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the funds appropriated 6 to carry out this section are insufficient to enable 7 the Secretary to establish and fully fund a Military 8 Education Savings Account for each eligible child 9 whose parent has an application approved under 10 subsection (b) for a school year, the Secretary 11 shall— 12 ‘‘(A) first renew and fully fund previously 13 established Military Education Savings Ac- 14 counts; and 15 ‘‘(B) if funds remain available after renew- 16 ing all accounts under subparagraph (A), con- 17 duct the lottery described in paragraph (3) to 18 select the children on whose behalf accounts will 19 be established using the remaining funds. 20 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 21 any other provision of law, the Secretary may trans- 22 fer amounts from any account of the Department of 23 Education to renew and fully fund previously estab- 24 lished Military Education Savings Accounts under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1605 IH paragraph (1)(A). The authority to transfer 1 amounts under the preceding sentence shall not be 2 subject to any transfer or reprogramming require- 3 ments under any other provision of law. 4 ‘‘(3) LOTTERY.—The lottery described in this 5 paragraph is a lottery in which— 6 ‘‘(A) siblings of children on whose behalf 7 Military Education Savings Accounts have pre- 8 viously been established have the highest prob- 9 ability of selection; 10 ‘‘(B) children of enlisted members have the 11 next-highest probability of selection after the 12 children described in subparagraph (A); 13 ‘‘(C) children of warrant officers have the 14 next-highest probability of selection after the 15 children described in subparagraph (B); and 16 ‘‘(D) children of commissioned officers 17 have the lowest probability of selection. 18 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT OF DEPOSITS.— 19 ‘‘(1) FIRST YEAR OF PROGRAM.—The amount 20 of funds deposited into each Military Education Sav- 21 ings Account for the first school year for which such 22 accounts are established under this section shall be 23 $6,000 for each eligible military dependant child 24 covered by the account. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1605 IH ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—The amount of 1 funds deposited into each Military Education Sav- 2 ings Account for any school year after the year de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1), shall be the amount deter- 4 mined under this subsection for the previous school 5 year increased by a percentage equal to the percent- 6 age increase in the Chained Consumer Price Index 7 for All Urban Consumers (as published by the Bu- 8 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 9 Labor) over the period of such previous school year. 10 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds deposited into a Mili- 11 tary Education Savings Account for a school year may be 12 used by the parent of an eligible military dependent child 13 to make payments to a qualified educational service pro- 14 vider that is approved by the Secretary under subsection 15 (f)(1) for— 16 ‘‘(1) costs of attendance at a private elementary 17 school or secondary school recognized by the State, 18 which may include a private school that has a reli- 19 gious mission; 20 ‘‘(2) private online learning programs; 21 ‘‘(3) private tutoring; 22 ‘‘(4) services provided by a public elementary 23 school or secondary school attended by the child on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1605 IH a less than full-time basis, including individual class- 1 es and extracurricular activities and programs; 2 ‘‘(5) textbooks, curriculum programs, or other 3 instructional materials, including any supplemental 4 materials required by a curriculum program, private 5 school, private online learning program, or a public 6 school, or any parent directed curriculum associated 7 with K–12 education; 8 ‘‘(6) computer hardware or other technological 9 devices that are used to help meet a student’s edu- 10 cational needs, except that such hardware or devices 11 may not be purchased by a parent more than once 12 in an 18-month period; 13 ‘‘(7) educational software and applications; 14 ‘‘(8) uniforms purchased from or through a pri- 15 vate school recognized by the State; 16 ‘‘(9) fees for nationally standardized assessment 17 exams, advanced placement exams, any exams re- 18 lated to college or university admission, or tuition or 19 fees for preparatory courses for such exams; 20 ‘‘(10) fees for summer education programs and 21 specialized after-school education programs (but not 22 including after-school childcare); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1605 IH ‘‘(11) educational services and therapies, in- 1 cluding occupational, behavioral, physical, speech- 2 language, and audiology therapies; 3 ‘‘(12) fees for transportation paid to a fee-for- 4 service transportation provider for the student to 5 travel to and from the facilities of a qualified edu- 6 cational service provider; 7 ‘‘(13) costs of attendance at an institution of 8 higher education; 9 ‘‘(14) costs associated with an apprenticeship or 10 other vocational training program; 11 ‘‘(15) fees for state-recognized industry certifi- 12 cation exams, and tuition or fees for preparatory 13 courses for such exams; 14 ‘‘(16) contributions to a college savings ac- 15 count, which may include contributions to a qualified 16 tuition program (as defined in section 529(b)(1)(A) 17 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) or other pre- 18 paid tuition plan offered by a State; or 19 ‘‘(17) any other educational expenses approved 20 by the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL 22 SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 23 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION AND APPROVAL.—The Sec- 24 retary shall establish and maintain a registry of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1605 IH qualified educational service providers that are ap- 1 proved to receive payments from a Military Edu- 2 cation Savings Account. The Secretary shall approve 3 a qualified educational service provider to receive 4 such payments if the provider demonstrates to the 5 Secretary that it is licensed in the State in which it 6 operates to provide one or more of the services for 7 which funds may be expended under subsection (e). 8 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE MARKET- 9 PLACE.—As a condition of receiving funds from a 10 Military Education Savings Account, a qualified edu- 11 cational service provider shall make its services 12 available for purchase through the online market- 13 place described in subsection (g). 14 ‘‘(3) SURETY BOND.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 16 require each qualified educational service pro- 17 vider that receives $100,000 or more in funds 18 from Military Education Savings Accounts in a 19 school year to post a surety bond, in an amount 20 determined by the Secretary, for such school 21 year. 22 ‘‘(B) RETENTION.—The Secretary shall 23 prescribe the circumstances under which a sur- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1605 IH ety bond under subparagraph (A) may be re- 1 tained by the Secretary. 2 ‘‘(g) ONLINE MARKETPLACE.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 4 enter into a contract with a private-sector entity 5 under which the entity shall— 6 ‘‘(A) establish and operate an online mar- 7 ketplace that enables the holder of a Military 8 Education Savings Account to make direct pur- 9 chases from qualified educational service pro- 10 viders using funds from such account; 11 ‘‘(B) ensure that each qualified educational 12 service provider on the registry maintained by 13 the Secretary under subsection (f)(1) has made 14 its services available for purchase through the 15 online marketplace; 16 ‘‘(C) ensure that all purchases made 17 through the online marketplace are for services 18 that are allowable uses of funds under sub- 19 section (e); and 20 ‘‘(D) develop and make available a stand- 21 ardized expense report form, in electronic and 22 hard copy formats, to be used by parents for re- 23 porting expenses in accordance with subsection 24 (h)(3). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1605 IH ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 1 this subsection shall be construed to require the 2 holder of a Military Education Savings Account to 3 make purchases using the online marketplace de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1). 5 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER SCHEDULE.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 7 the Secretary shall make quarterly transfers of the 8 amount calculated pursuant to subsection (d) for de- 9 posit into the account of each qualified student, ex- 10 cept that the Secretary may make transfers accord- 11 i [Text truncated for display. 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