II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1124

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the 2-percent

floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions for qualified professional development expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 26, 1999

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. COVERDELL) 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 eliminate

the 2-percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions

for qualified professional development expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT TO 1986 CODE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Teacher Professional Development Act’’.

6 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other7 wise expressly provided, whenever in this title an amend8 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
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1 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

2 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi3 sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

4 SEC. 2. 2-PERCENT FLOOR ON MISCELLANEOUS ITEMIZED

5 DEDUCTIONS NOT TO APPLY TO QUALIFIED

6 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES OF

7 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

8 TEACHERS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 67(b) (defining miscella10 neous itemized deductions) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’

11 at the end of paragraph (11), by striking the period at

12 the end of paragraph (12) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by

13 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(13) any deduction allowable for the qualified

15 professional development expenses of an eligible

16 teacher.’’

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 67 (relating to 2-percent

18 floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions) is amended by

19 adding at the end the following new subsection:

20 ‘‘(g) QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EX21 PENSES OF ELIGIBLE TEACHERS.—For purposes of sub22 section (b)(13)—

23 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

24 EXPENSES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified

2 professional development expenses’ means

3 expenses—

4 ‘‘(i) for tuition, fees, books, supplies,

5 equipment, and transportation required for

6 the enrollment or attendance of an indi7 vidual in a qualified course of instruction,

8 and

9 ‘‘(ii) with respect to which a deduction

10 is allowable under section 162 (determined

11 without regard to this section).

12 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED COURSE OF INSTRUC13 TION.—The term ‘qualified course of instruc14 tion’ means a course of instruction which—

15 ‘‘(i) is—

16 ‘‘(I) at an institution of higher

17 education (as defined in section 481

18 of the Higher Education Act of 1965

19 (20 U.S.C. 1088), as in effect on the

20 date of the enactment of this sub21 section), or

22 ‘‘(II) a professional conference,

23 and

24 ‘‘(ii) is part of a program of profes25 sional development which is approved and
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1 certified by the appropriate local edu2 cational agency as furthering the individ3 ual’s teaching skills.

4 ‘‘(C) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

5 ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning given

6 such term by section 14101 of the Elementary and

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965, as so in effect.

8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible

10 teacher’ means an individual who is a kinder11 garten through grade 12 teacher in an elemen12 tary or secondary school.

13 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY

14 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘elementary school’ and

15 ‘secondary school’ have the meanings given

16 such terms by section 14101 of the Elementary

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

18 U.S.C. 8801), as so in effect.’’

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

21 December 31, 1998.

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