RAISE Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3264 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. LARSON of Con- necticut, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. KILMER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. TITUS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. CARSON, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. PORTER, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. MENG, Mr. DESAULNIER, and Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3264 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respect, Advancement, 2 and Increasing Support for Educators Act of 2023’’ or 3 the ‘‘RAISE Act of 2023’’. 4 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 5 (a) ALLOWANCE OF TAX CREDIT.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 8 of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B 9 the following new section: 10 ‘‘SEC. 36C. TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 11 ‘‘(a) CREDIT ALLOWED.—In the case of an individual 12 who is an eligible educator during school years ending with 13 or within the taxable year, there shall be allowed as a cred- 14 it against the tax imposed by this chapter an amount 15 equal to the sum of— 16 ‘‘(1) $1,000, plus 17 ‘‘(2) in the case of an eligible educator who is 18 employed at a qualifying school, the applicable 19 amount. 20 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub- 21 section (a), the applicable amount is the amount which 22 bears the same ratio (not to exceed one) to $14,000 23 ($9,000, in the case of any early childhood educator with- 24 out a bachelor’s degree) as— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3264 IH ‘‘(1) the number of percentage points by which 1 the student poverty ratio for such qualifying school 2 exceeds 39 percent, bears to 3 ‘‘(2) 36 percentage points. 4 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE EDUCATOR.—For purposes of this 5 section— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible educator’ 7 means— 8 ‘‘(A) any elementary or secondary teacher, 9 and 10 ‘‘(B) any early childhood educator. 11 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY TEACHER.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘elementary 13 or secondary teacher’ means an individual 14 who— 15 ‘‘(i) is a teacher of record who pro- 16 vides direct classroom teaching (or class- 17 room-type teaching in a nonclassroom set- 18 ting) in a public elementary school or a 19 public secondary school for not less than 20 75 percent of the normal or statutory 21 number of hours of work for a full-time 22 teacher over a complete school year (as de- 23 termined by the State in which the school 24 is located), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3264 IH ‘‘(ii) meets the applicable require- 1 ments for State certification and licensure 2 in the State in which such school is located 3 in the subject area in which the individual 4 is the teacher of record, and 5 ‘‘(iii) has met the requirements of 6 clauses (i) and (ii) for a period of not less 7 than 1 year before the first day of the tax- 8 able year. 9 ‘‘(B) TEACHER OF RECORD.—For pur- 10 poses of subparagraph (A), the term ‘teacher of 11 record’ means a teacher who has been assigned 12 the responsibility for specified pupils’ learning 13 in a grade, subject, or course as reflected on the 14 school’s official record of attendance. 15 ‘‘(3) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR.—The 16 term ‘early childhood educator’ means an individual 17 who— 18 ‘‘(A) has a Child Development Associate 19 credential (or an equivalent credential), or has 20 an associate’s degree or higher, 21 ‘‘(B) meets the applicable requirements for 22 State certification, licensure, or permitting 23 under State law for early childhood education, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3264 IH ‘‘(C) has primary responsibility for the 1 learning and development of children in an 2 early childhood education program (as defined 3 in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) for not less than 75 5 percent of the normal or statutory number of 6 hours of work for a full-time teacher over a 7 complete program year, as determined by the 8 Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 9 ‘‘(D) has met the requirements of subpara- 10 graphs (A), (B), and (C) for a period of not 11 less than 1 year before the first day of the tax- 12 able year. 13 ‘‘(d) QUALIFYING SCHOOL.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 15 school’ means, with respect to any school year— 16 ‘‘(A) a public elementary school or a public 17 secondary school that— 18 ‘‘(i) is served by a local educational 19 agency that is eligible in such year for as- 20 sistance pursuant to part A of title I of the 21 Elementary and Secondary Education Act 22 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), or 23 ‘‘(ii) is served by an educational serv- 24 ice agency, or a location operated by an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3264 IH educational service agency, that is eligible, 1 for the year in which the determination is 2 made, for assistance under part A of title 3 I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 5 seq.), 6 ‘‘(B) an elementary school or secondary 7 school that is funded by the Bureau of Indian 8 Education, or 9 ‘‘(C) an early childhood education program 10 (as defined in section 103 of the Higher Edu- 11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) that 12 serves children who receive, or are eligible for, 13 services for which financial assistance is pro- 14 vided in accordance with the Child Care and 15 Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 16 9857 et seq.) or the child and adult care food 17 program established under section 17 of the 18 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 19 (42 U.S.C. 1766). 20 ‘‘(2) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 21 this subsection, the terms ‘educational service agen- 22 cy’, ‘elementary school’, ‘local educational agency’, 23 ‘secondary school’, and ‘State educational agency’ 24 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3264 IH of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.). 2 ‘‘(e) STUDENT POVERTY RATIO.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘student poverty 4 ratio’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) with respect to any qualifying school 6 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub- 7 section (d)(1), the ratio (expressed as a per- 8 centage) of— 9 ‘‘(i) the total number of children 10 served at such qualifying school meeting at 11 least one measure of poverty described in 12 section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and 13 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 14 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)), to 15 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children 16 served at such qualifying school, and 17 ‘‘(B) with respect to any qualifying school 18 described in subsection (d)(1)(C), the ratio (ex- 19 pressed as a percentage) of— 20 ‘‘(i) the total number of children at- 21 tending such qualifying school who are eli- 22 gible for the Child Care and Development 23 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et 24 seq.) or the child and adult care food pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3264 IH gram established under section 17 of the 1 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1766), to 3 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children at- 4 tending such qualifying school. 5 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF RATIO.—In deter- 6 mining the student poverty ratio with respect to a 7 qualifying school under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec- 8 retary shall use the same measure of poverty as is 9 used for purposes of determining the allocation of 10 funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and 11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 12 et seq.) with respect to the qualifying school. 13 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 15 year beginning after 2024, each of the dollar 16 amounts in subsections (a) and (b) shall be in- 17 creased by an amount equal to— 18 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 19 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter- 20 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 21 year in which the taxable year begins, deter- 22 mined by substituting in subparagraph (A)(ii) 23 thereof ‘calendar year 2023’ for ‘calendar year 24 2016’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3264 IH ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any increase determined 1 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $50, such 2 increase shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 3 $50.’’. 4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 5 (A) The table of sections for subpart C of 6 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In- 7 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in- 8 serting after the item relating to section 36B 9 the following new item: 10 ‘‘Sec. 36C. Teacher tax credit.’’. (B) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 11 amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 12 (C) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 13 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ 14 after ‘‘36B,’’. 15 (b) INFORMATION SHARING.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 17 shall— 18 (A) collect such information as necessary 19 for purposes of determining whether a school is 20 a qualifying school (as defined in section 36C of 21 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added 22 by subsection (a)) and the appropriate amount 23 of tax credit under such section; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3264 IH (B) provide such information to the Sec- 1 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s dele- 2 gate). 3 (2) INFORMATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF 4 EDUCATION.—As a condition of receiving Federal 5 funds and if requested by the Secretary of Edu- 6 cation, each qualifying school shall collect and sub- 7 mit to the Secretary of Education such information 8 as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of Edu- 9 cation to carry out paragraph (1). 10 (c) SUPPLEMENTATION OF FUNDS.— 11 (1) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU- 12 CATION.—A State educational agency or local edu- 13 cational agency (as such terms are defined in section 14 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 15 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.)) shall not re- 16 duce or adjust any teacher pay or teacher loan for- 17 giveness program due to the eligibility of teachers 18 within the jurisdiction of such agency for the tax 19 credit under section 36C of the Internal Revenue 20 Code of 1986. Each State educational agency and 21 local educational agency (as so defined), upon re- 22 quest by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall dem- 23 onstrate that the methodology used to allocate teach- 24 er pay and teacher loan forgiveness (if applicable) to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3264 IH qualifying schools (as defined in section 36C(d) of 1 such Code) ensures that each such school receives 2 the same State and local funds for teacher com- 3 pensation it would receive if the credit under such 4 section 36C had not been enacted. 5 (2) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.—An agen- 6 cy or other entity that funds, licenses, or regulates 7 an early childhood education program (as defined in 8 section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 9 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) shall not reduce or adjust any 10 teacher pay or teacher loan forgiveness program, or 11 permit such a reduction or adjustment in the early 12 childhood education program, due to the eligibility of 13 teachers within the jurisdiction of such agency for 14 the tax credit under section 36C of the Internal Rev- 15 enue Code of 1986. Each such agency or entity, 16 upon request by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 17 demonstrate that the methodology used to allocate 18 teacher pay and teacher loan forgiveness (if applica- 19 ble) to such early childhood education programs en- 20 sures that each such program receives the same 21 State and local funds for teacher compensation it 22 would receive if the credit under such section 36C 23 had not been enacted. 24 (d) EMPLOYER LIMITATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3264.IH H3264 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3264 IH (1) PROHIBITION OF USE IN COLLECTIVE BAR- 1 GAINING.—An employer that engages in collective 2 bargaining with employees who are eligible edu- 3 cators, as defined in section 36C(c) of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986, shall not include the amount 5 of the teacher tax credit under section 36C of such 6 Code in determining the amount of salary or other 7 compensation provided to any employee under the 8 collective bargaining agreement. 9 (2) PROHIBITION OF USE AS PUNISHMENT OR 10 RETRIBUTION.—An employer of an eligible educator, 11 as defined in section 36C of the Internal Revenue 12 Code of 1986, shall not change the work assignment 13 or location of the eligible educator if one of the pri- 14 mary reasons for the change is to [Text truncated for display. 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