RAISE Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1584 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a refundable tax credit for certain teachers as a supplement to State efforts to provide teachers with a livable wage, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) 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 provide a refundable tax credit for certain teachers as a supple- ment to State efforts to provide teachers with a livable wage, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respect, Advancement, 4 and Increasing Support for Educators Act of 2023’’ or 5 the ‘‘RAISE Act of 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 7 (a) ALLOWANCE OF TAX CREDIT.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1584 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 1 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 2 of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B 3 the following new section: 4 ‘‘SEC. 36C. TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 5 ‘‘(a) CREDIT ALLOWED.—In the case of an individual 6 who is an eligible educator during school years ending with 7 or within the taxable year, there shall be allowed as a cred- 8 it against the tax imposed by this chapter an amount 9 equal to the sum of— 10 ‘‘(1) $1,000, plus 11 ‘‘(2) in the case of an eligible educator who is 12 employed at a qualifying school, the applicable 13 amount. 14 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub- 15 section (a), the applicable amount is the amount which 16 bears the same ratio (not to exceed one) to $14,000 17 ($9,000, in the case of any early childhood educator with- 18 out a bachelor’s degree) as— 19 ‘‘(1) the number of percentage points by which 20 the student poverty ratio for such qualifying school 21 exceeds 39 percent, bears to 22 ‘‘(2) 36 percentage points. 23 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE EDUCATOR.—For purposes of this 24 section— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1584 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible educator’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(A) any elementary or secondary teacher, 3 and 4 ‘‘(B) any early childhood educator. 5 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY TEACHER.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘elementary 7 or secondary teacher’ means an individual 8 who— 9 ‘‘(i) is a teacher of record who pro- 10 vides direct classroom teaching (or class- 11 room-type teaching in a nonclassroom set- 12 ting) in a public elementary school or a 13 public secondary school for not less than 14 75 percent of the normal or statutory 15 number of hours of work for a full-time 16 teacher over a complete school year (as de- 17 termined by the State in which the school 18 is located), 19 ‘‘(ii) meets the applicable require- 20 ments for State certification and licensure 21 in the State in which such school is located 22 in the subject area in which the individual 23 is the teacher of record, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1584 IS ‘‘(iii) has met the requirements of 1 clauses (i) and (ii) for a period of not less 2 than 1 year before the first day of the tax- 3 able year. 4 ‘‘(B) TEACHER OF RECORD.—For pur- 5 poses of subparagraph (A), the term ‘teacher of 6 record’ means a teacher who has been assigned 7 the responsibility for specified pupils’ learning 8 in a grade, subject, or course as reflected on the 9 school’s official record of attendance. 10 ‘‘(3) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR.—The 11 term ‘early childhood educator’ means an individual 12 who— 13 ‘‘(A) has a Child Development Associate 14 credential (or an equivalent credential), or has 15 an associate’s degree or higher, 16 ‘‘(B) meets the applicable requirements for 17 State certification, licensure, or permitting 18 under State law for early childhood education, 19 ‘‘(C) has primary responsibility for the 20 learning and development of children in an 21 early childhood education program (as defined 22 in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) for not less than 75 24 percent of the normal or statutory number of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1584 IS hours of work for a full-time teacher over a 1 complete program year, as determined by the 2 Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 3 ‘‘(D) has met the requirements of subpara- 4 graphs (A), (B), and (C) for a period of not 5 less than 1 year before the first day of the tax- 6 able year. 7 ‘‘(d) QUALIFYING SCHOOL.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 9 school’ means, with respect to any school year— 10 ‘‘(A) a public elementary school or a public 11 secondary school that— 12 ‘‘(i) is served by a local educational 13 agency that is eligible in such year for as- 14 sistance pursuant to part A of title I of the 15 Elementary and Secondary Education Act 16 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), or 17 ‘‘(ii) is served by an educational serv- 18 ice agency, or a location operated by an 19 educational service agency, that is eligible, 20 for the year in which the determination is 21 made, for assistance under part A of title 22 I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 24 seq.), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1584 IS ‘‘(B) an elementary school or secondary 1 school that is funded by the Bureau of Indian 2 Education, or 3 ‘‘(C) an early childhood education program 4 (as defined in section 103 of the Higher Edu- 5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) that 6 serves children who receive, or are eligible for, 7 services for which financial assistance is pro- 8 vided in accordance with the Child Care and 9 Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 10 9857 et seq.) or the child and adult care food 11 program established under section 17 of the 12 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 13 (42 U.S.C. 1766). 14 ‘‘(2) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 15 this subsection, the terms ‘educational service agen- 16 cy’, ‘elementary school’, ‘local educational agency’, 17 ‘secondary school’, and ‘State educational agency’ 18 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 19 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.). 21 ‘‘(e) STUDENT POVERTY RATIO.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘student poverty 23 ratio’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1584 IS ‘‘(A) with respect to any qualifying school 1 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub- 2 section (d)(1), the ratio (expressed as a per- 3 centage) of— 4 ‘‘(i) the total number of children 5 served at such qualifying school meeting at 6 least one measure of poverty described in 7 section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and 8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 9 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)), to 10 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children 11 served at such qualifying school, and 12 ‘‘(B) with respect to any qualifying school 13 described in subsection (d)(1)(C), the ratio (ex- 14 pressed as a percentage) of— 15 ‘‘(i) the total number of children at- 16 tending such qualifying school who are eli- 17 gible for the Child Care and Development 18 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et 19 seq.) or the child and adult care food pro- 20 gram established under section 17 of the 21 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 22 Act (42 U.S.C. 1766), to 23 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children at- 24 tending such qualifying school. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1584 IS ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF RATIO.—In deter- 1 mining the student poverty ratio with respect to a 2 qualifying school under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec- 3 retary shall use the same measure of poverty as is 4 used for purposes of determining the allocation of 5 funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and 6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 7 et seq.) with respect to the qualifying school. 8 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 10 year beginning after 2024, each of the dollar 11 amounts in subsections (a) and (b) shall be in- 12 creased by an amount equal to— 13 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 14 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter- 15 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 16 year in which the taxable year begins, deter- 17 mined by substituting in subparagraph (A)(ii) 18 thereof ‘calendar year 2023’ for ‘calendar year 19 2016’. 20 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any increase determined 21 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $50, such 22 increase shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 23 $50.’’. 24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1584 IS (A) The table of sections for subpart C of 1 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In- 2 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in- 3 serting after the item relating to section 36B 4 the following new item: 5 ‘‘Sec. 36C. Teacher tax credit.’’. (B) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 6 amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 7 (C) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 8 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ 9 after ‘‘36B,’’. 10 (b) INFORMATION SHARING.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 12 shall— 13 (A) collect such information as necessary 14 for purposes of determining whether a school is 15 a qualifying school (as defined in section 36C of 16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added 17 by subsection (a)) and the appropriate amount 18 of tax credit under such section; and 19 (B) provide such information to the Sec- 20 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s dele- 21 gate). 22 (2) INFORMATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF 23 EDUCATION.—As a condition of receiving Federal 24 funds and if requested by the Secretary of Edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1584 IS cation, each qualifying school shall collect and sub- 1 mit to the Secretary of Education such information 2 as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of Edu- 3 cation to carry out paragraph (1). 4 (c) SUPPLEMENTATION OF FUNDS.— 5 (1) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU- 6 CATION.—A State educational agency or local edu- 7 cational agency (as such terms are defined in section 8 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.)) shall not re- 10 duce or adjust any teacher pay or teacher loan for- 11 giveness program due to the eligibility of teachers 12 within the jurisdiction of such agency for the tax 13 credit under section 36C of the Internal Revenue 14 Code of 1986. Each State educational agency and 15 local educational agency (as so defined), upon re- 16 quest by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall dem- 17 onstrate that the methodology used to allocate teach- 18 er pay and teacher loan forgiveness (if applicable) to 19 qualifying schools (as defined in section 36C(d) of 20 such Code) ensures that each such school receives 21 the same State and local funds for teacher com- 22 pensation it would receive if the credit under such 23 section 36C had not been enacted. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1584 IS (2) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.—An agen- 1 cy or other entity that funds, licenses, or regulates 2 an early childhood education program (as defined in 3 section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 4 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) shall not reduce or adjust any 5 teacher pay or teacher loan forgiveness program, or 6 permit such a reduction or adjustment in the early 7 childhood education program, due to the eligibility of 8 teachers within the jurisdiction of such agency for 9 the tax credit under section 36C of the Internal Rev- 10 enue Code of 1986. Each such agency or entity, 11 upon request by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 12 demonstrate that the methodology used to allocate 13 teacher pay and teacher loan forgiveness (if applica- 14 ble) to such early childhood education programs en- 15 sures that each such program receives the same 16 State and local funds for teacher compensation it 17 would receive if the credit under such section 36C 18 had not been enacted. 19 (d) EMPLOYER LIMITATIONS.— 20 (1) PROHIBITION OF USE IN COLLECTIVE BAR- 21 GAINING.—An employer that engages in collective 22 bargaining with employees who are eligible edu- 23 cators, as defined in section 36C(c) of the Internal 24 Revenue Code of 1986, shall not include the amount 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1584.IS S1584 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1584 IS of the teacher tax credit under section 36C of such 1 Code in determining the amount of salary or other 2 compensation provided to any employee under the 3 collective bargaining agreement. 4 (2) PROHIBITION OF USE AS PUNISHMENT OR 5 RETRIBUTION.—An employer of an eligible educator, 6 as defined in section 36C of the Internal Revenue 7 Code of 1986, shall not change the work assignment 8 or location of the eligible educator if one of the pri- 9 mary reasons for the change is to— 10 (A) prevent the eligible educator from re- 11 ceiving a teacher tax credit under section 36C 12 of such Code; or 13 (B) reduce the amount of the teacher tax 14 credit that the eligible educator will receive. 15 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding any 16 other provision of law, the Federal Labor Relations 17 Authority shall have the authority to investigate and 18 enforce any alleged violation of this section in the 19 same manner, and subject to the same procedures, 20 as would apply to an allegation of an unfair labor 21 practice [Text truncated for display. 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