II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3949 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit kindergarten through 

grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account during 

the Coronavirus Emergency Period. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. LEE, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. 

SCOTT of Florida) 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 permit 

kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to 

be paid from a 529 account during the Coronavirus 

Emergency Period. 

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 ‘‘Helping Parents Edu5 cate Children During the Coronavirus Pandemic’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. 529 ACCOUNT FUNDING FOR HOMESCHOOL AND AD2 DITIONAL ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EX3 PENSES DURING THE CORONAVIRUS EMER4 GENCY PERIOD. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(c)(7) of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(7) TREATMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SEC8 ONDARY TUITION.—Any reference in this section to 

9 the term ‘qualified higher education expense’ shall 

10 include a reference to the following expenses in con11 nection with enrollment or attendance at, or for stu12 dents enrolled at or attending, an elementary or sec13 ondary public, private, or religious school: 

14 ‘‘(A) Tuition. 

15 ‘‘(B) Curriculum and curricular materials. 

16 ‘‘(C) Books or other instructional mate17 rials. 

18 ‘‘(D) Online educational materials. 

19 ‘‘(E) Tuition for tutoring or educational 

20 classes outside of the home, including at a tu21 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc22 tor is not related to the student and— 

23 ‘‘(i) is licensed as a teacher in any 

24 State, 

25 ‘‘(ii) has taught at an eligible edu26 cational institution, or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 

2 relevant subject. 

3 ‘‘(F) Fees for a nationally standardized 

4 norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced 

5 placement examination, or any examinations re6 lated to college or university admission. 

7 ‘‘(G) Fees for dual enrollment in an insti8 tution of higher education. 

9 ‘‘(H) Educational therapies for students 

10 with disabilities provided by a licensed or ac11 credited practitioner or provider, including oc12 cupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-lan13 guage therapies. 

14 Such term shall include, from the period beginning 

15 on March 13, 2020, and ending on the date on 

16 which the national emergency declared by the Presi17 dent under section 201 of the National Emergencies 

18 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) related to the 

19 coronavirus (as defined in section 506 of the 

20 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple21 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 

22 123)) has ended, expenses for the purposes de23 scribed in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and 

24 (H) in connection with a homeschool (whether treat25 ed as a homeschool or a private school for purposes 


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1 of applicable State law) or with a parent or guardian 

2 educating a child at home due to school closure be3 cause of the coronavirus (as so defined).’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 this section shall apply to distributions made after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 3. ROLLOVERS FROM CERTAIN RETIREMENT PLANS. 

8 In the case of a distribution from an eligible retire9 ment plan described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 

10 402(c)(8)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 after 

11 February 29, 2020, and before January 1, 2021— 

12 (1) section 72(t) of such Code shall not apply 

13 to such distribution; 

14 (2) such distribution shall be treated as meeting 

15 the requirements of section 401(k)(2)(B)(i), if appli16 cable; and 

17 (3) such distribution shall be treated as having 

18 been contributed in a direct trustee-to-trustee trans19 fer within 60 days of the distribution for purposes 

20 of section 401(a)(31) or 408(d)(3), whichever is ap21 plicable, if 

22 within 60 days of such distribution, an amount equal to 

23 the amount of such distribution is contributed to a qualiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949

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1 fied tuition program under section 529 of the Internal 

2 Revenue Code of 1986. 

Æ 


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