Expanding Access to Apprenticeships Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1623 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for distributions from 529 accounts for expenses associated with registered apprenticeship programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for distributions from 529 accounts for expenses associated with registered apprenticeship programs. 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 ‘‘Expanding Access to 4 Apprenticeships Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1623.IS S1623 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1623 IS SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTIONS FROM 529S FOR REGISTERED AP- 1 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(e)(3) of the Internal 3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 4 the following new subparagraph: 5 ‘‘(C) CERTAIN EXPENSES ASSOCIATED 6 WITH REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 7 GRAMS.—The term ‘qualified higher education 8 expenses’ shall include expenses for— 9 ‘‘(i) books, supplies, and equipment 10 required for the enrollment or attendance 11 of a designated beneficiary in an appren- 12 ticeship program registered and certified 13 with the Secretary of Labor under section 14 1 of the National Apprenticeship Act (29 15 U.S.C. 50), 16 ‘‘(ii) transportation in connection with 17 such enrollment or attendance, and 18 ‘‘(iii) obtaining an industry certifi- 19 cation (or other credential) in connection 20 with such enrollment or attendance or in 21 connection with the completion of such 22 program.’’. 23 (b) TREATMENT AS ENROLLMENT AT ELIGIBLE 24 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—Subsection (e) of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1623.IS S1623 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1623 IS 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 1 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 2 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF REGISTERED APPREN- 3 TICESHIP PROGRAMS.—Solely for purposes of this 4 section, the term ‘eligible educational institution’ in- 5 cludes an entity operating an apprenticeship pro- 6 gram registered and certified with the Secretary of 7 Labor under section 1 of the National Apprentice- 8 ship Act (29 U.S.C. 50), and an individual partici- 9 pating in such a program shall be treated as enrolled 10 in or attending an eligible educational institution.’’. 11 (c) TREATMENT OF ROOM AND BOARD COSTS FOR 12 PARTICIPANTS IN REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO- 13 GRAMS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 529(e)(3) of the In- 14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 15 end the following new clause: 16 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVID- 17 UALS PARTICIPATING IN REGISTERED AP- 18 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.—In the case of 19 an individual who is enrolled in or attend- 20 ing an apprenticeship program described in 21 subparagraph (C)(i) for any period (and 22 who is not, but for subclause (I), an eligi- 23 ble student (as defined in section 24 25A(b)(3)) for such period)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1623.IS S1623 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1623 IS ‘‘(I) for purposes of clause (i), 1 such individual shall be treated as an 2 eligible student for such period, 3 ‘‘(II) clause (ii) shall not apply, 4 and 5 ‘‘(III) the amount treated as 6 qualified higher education expenses by 7 reason of clause (i) for such period 8 shall not exceed the sum of the 9 monthly housing stipends which would 10 be payable to such designated bene- 11 ficiary for months during such period 12 under section 3313(g)(3)(B)(i) of title 13 38, United States Code, if such bene- 14 ficiary were entitled to educational as- 15 sistance under chapter 33 of such title 16 38. 17 The Secretary shall publish, at the appro- 18 priate time determined by the Secretary, 19 the monthly housing stipend amount de- 20 scribed in subclause (III) with respect to 21 each ZIP code area of the United States.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1623.IS S1623 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1623 IS (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply to distributions paid after Decem- 2 ber 31, 2019. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1623.IS S1623 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS