Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5339 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 6, 2019 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. WITTMAN) 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 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 04:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5339.IH H5339 aiking on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5339 IH 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 23 (e)(3)(A), and 24 ‘‘(II) fees required to obtain or 25 maintain a recognized postsecondary 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5339.IH H5339 aiking on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5339 IH credential (as such term is defined in 1 section 3(52) of the Workforce Inno- 2 vation and Opportunity Act), includ- 3 ing testing and other fees required by 4 the organization issuing the recog- 5 nized postsecondary credential as a 6 condition of maintaining or obtaining 7 the credential. 8 ‘‘(ii) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY 9 CREDENTIAL PROGRAM.—For purposes of 10 this paragraph, the term ‘recognized post- 11 secondary credential program’ means a 12 program to obtain a recognized postsec- 13 ondary credential if such program is in- 14 cluded on a list prepared under section 15 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and 16 Opportunity Act or meets the training or 17 educational prerequisites to qualify an indi- 18 vidual to take an examination developed or 19 administered by an organization widely 20 recognized as providing reputable creden- 21 tials in the occupation, where such exam- 22 ination is required to obtain or maintain a 23 recognized postsecondary credential.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5339.IH H5339 aiking on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5339 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 1 this section shall apply to expenses paid or incurred in 2 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment 3 of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5339.IH H5339 aiking on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS