To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 529 plans.
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on February 20, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
This bill makes changes to the rules for qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans).
(Sec. 2) The Internal Revenue Code is amended to allow payments from 529 plans for the purchase of computer or peripheral equipment, computer software, or Internet access and related services to be used primarily by a 529 plan beneficiary while enrolled in an eligible educational institution.
(Sec. 3) The requirement that distributions from a 529 plan be aggregated for purposes of determining the amount includible in a taxpayer's income is eliminated.
(Sec. 4) Students who receive a refund from an eligible educational institution can recontribute such refund to a 529 plan without tax consequences if the recontribution is made not later than 60 days after the date of such refund and does not exceed the refunded amount.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on February 25, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 16, 2015: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced it on January 26, 2015, and 38 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 8 Democrats, 30 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 26, 2015, 4245 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4165 days ago, on April 16, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers