I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1546 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage a law enforcement 

presence in our schools by allowing full-time, off-duty law enforcement 

officials an exclusion from income for wages received for performing 

services in an elementary or secondary school as a substitute teacher. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Mr. TIBERI (for himself and Mr. KIND) 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 encourage 

a law enforcement presence in our schools by allowing 

full-time, off-duty law enforcement officials an exclusion 

from income for wages received for performing services 

in an elementary or secondary school as a substitute 

teacher. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better Protecting Chil5 dren in Schools Act of 2013’’. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1546 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Off-duty law enforcement officials work in 

4 a number of part-time employment capacities where 

5 they can earn a higher level of income than they 

6 would by substitute teaching at an elementary or 

7 secondary school. 

8 (2) Law enforcement officials act as deterrents 

9 to criminal behavior as well as first responders in 

10 the case of criminal activity. 

11 (3) Past Congresses have worked to increase 

12 the number of law enforcement officials in elemen13 tary and secondary schools to protect students from 

14 possible violent attacks through programs such as 

15 grants for school resource officers. 

16 (4) Providing full-time, on-duty law enforce17 ment officials has proven to be costly to school dis18 tricts. 

19 (5) On any given day in the United States, 

20 more than 270,000 classes are taught by substitute 

21 teachers and many States have reported a shortage 

22 of substitute teachers, including the State of Ohio. 

23 (6) Substitute teaching requirements vary by 

24 State and by school district. 

25 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this Act to— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1546 IH

1 (1) incentivize off-duty law enforcement officials 

2 to choose to substitute teach in elementary and sec3 ondary schools (within the confines of State and 

4 local substitute teaching requirements) by reducing 

5 the difference between the compensation a law en6 forcement official earns from other part-time em7 ployment and the compensation a law enforcement 

8 official earns from substitute teaching; 

9 (2) create a deterrent for criminal behavior in 

10 schools as well as a first response to assist school 

11 administrators and teachers in an instance where 

12 criminal activity occurs at a school; 

13 (3) build on the work of past Congresses to in14 crease the number of law enforcement officials in el15 ementary and secondary schools to protect students 

16 from possible violent attacks; 

17 (4) provide school districts with an additional 

18 cost-effective tool, which is not a mandate, to have 

19 more law enforcement officials in their schools; 

20 (5) provide an additional source of substitute 

21 teachers which may assist with the shortage that 

22 many States are facing; and 

23 (6) only allow law enforcement officials who 

24 meet State and local substitute teaching require25 ments to substitute teach. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1546 IH

1 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHING WAGES 

2 RECEIVED BY FULL-TIME, OFF-DUTY STATE 

3 OR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap5 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

6 items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended 

7 by inserting after section 139D the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 139E. SUBSTITUTE TEACHING WAGES RECEIVED BY 

9 FULL-TIME, OFF-DUTY STATE OR LOCAL LAW 

10 ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. 

11 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of a full-time, off12 duty State or local law enforcement official, gross income 

13 shall not include wages received by such official for pro14 viding services as a substitute teacher in an elementary 

15 or secondary school. 

16 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) FULL-TIME, OFF-DUTY STATE OR LOCAL

18 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.—The term ‘full-time, 

19 off-duty State or local law enforcement official’ 

20 means any police officer (including a highway patrol21 man, sheriff, or sheriff’s deputy) employed by a 

22 State (or the District of Columbia), or a political 

23 subdivision thereof, on a full-time basis with the 

24 power to arrest and who is not acting within their 

25 official employment by the State or political subdivi26 sion. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1546 IH

1 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL.— 

2 The term ‘elementary or secondary school’ means 

3 any school which provides elementary education or 

4 secondary education (kindergarten through grade 

5 12), as determined under State law.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 for such part III is amended by inserting after the item 

8 relating to section 139D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139E. Substitute teaching wages received by full-time, off-duty State or 

local law enforcement officials.’’. 

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

10 this section shall apply to wages received after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act in taxable years ending after 

12 such date. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS