II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4639 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a refundable tax 

credit for expenses relating to school disruption, to provide a monthly 

payment to families during COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Mr. HAWLEY 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 provide 

a refundable tax credit for expenses relating to school 

disruption, to provide a monthly payment to families 

during COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

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 Dur5 ing COVID Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR COSTS OF EDUCATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 36A. CREDIT FOR COSTS OF EDUCATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in5 dividual with respect to whom there is 1 or more eligible 

6 children for any taxable year, there shall be allowed as 

7 a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle for such 

8 taxable year an amount equal to— 

9 ‘‘(1) $800, multiplied by 

10 ‘‘(2) the number of eligible children with re11 spect to the individual. 

12 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS IN13 COME.—The amount of the credit allowed by subsection 

14 (a) (determined without regard to this subsection) shall 

15 be reduced (but not below zero) by 5 percent of so much 

16 of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income as exceeds— 

17 ‘‘(1) $150,000 in the case of a joint return, 

18 ‘‘(2) $112,500 in the case of a head of house19 hold, and 

20 ‘‘(3) $75,000 in the case of a taxpayer not de21 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2). 

22 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘eligible child’ with 

23 respect to an individual for a taxable year means a quali24 fying child (as defined in section 152(c)) of the individual 

25 who is an elementary or secondary student (including kinVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4639.IS S4639

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1 dergarten), if the school district in which such child re2 sides was closed, in part or in full, or utilizing virtual, 

3 distance, or other alternative education models or a hybrid 

4 of such models and in-person attendance, during any part 

5 of the taxable year due to COVID–19. 

6 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

7 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2021.’’. 

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

9 for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in11 serting after the item relating to section 36 the following 

12 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36A. Credit for costs of education.’’. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

15 amended by inserting ‘‘, 36A’’ after ‘‘36’’. 

16 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

18 December 31, 2019. 

19 SEC. 3. FAMILY EDUCATION ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY EDUCATION AS21 SISTANCE CREDIT.—Subpart C of part IV of subchapter 

22 A of chapter 1 of subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986, as amended by section 2, is further amended by 

24 inserting after section 36B the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 36C. FAMILY EDUCATION ASSISTANCE. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable and not 

3 later than two weeks after the date of the enactment of 

4 this section, the Secretary shall establish a program for 

5 making family education assistance credit payments, in6 cluding electronic payments, on a monthly basis, without 

7 respect to tax liability, for each citizen residing with a de8 pendent qualifying child equal to $1,200 for each eligible 

9 month. 

10 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS

12 INCOME.—The amount of the credit allowed by sub13 section (a) (determined without regard to this sub14 section) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by 5 

15 percent of so much of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross 

16 income as exceeds— 

17 ‘‘(A) $150,000 in the case of a joint re18 turn, 

19 ‘‘(B) $112,500 in the case of a head of 

20 household, and 

21 ‘‘(C) $75,000 in the case of a taxpayer not 

22 described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

23 ‘‘(2) HOUSEHOLD LIMIT.—Family education as24 sistance credit payments may only be claimed by one 

25 member of a household, and only one credit may be 

26 claimed per residence. 


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1 ‘‘(c) QUALIFYING CHILD.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

3 ‘qualifying child’ means a qualifying child of the filer 

4 (as defined in section 152(c)) who has not attained 

5 18 years of age. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN NON-CITI7 ZENS.—The term ‘qualifying child’ shall not include 

8 any individual who would not be a dependent if sub9 paragraph (A) of section 152(b)(3) were applied 

10 without regard to all that follows ‘resident of the 

11 United States’. 

12 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE MONTH.—For purposes of this sec13 tion— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible month’ 

15 means, with respect to a qualifying child, any month 

16 during which— 

17 ‘‘(A) such child is an elementary or sec18 ondary student (including kindergarten), and 

19 ‘‘(B) either— 

20 ‘‘(i) the school district in which such 

21 child resides is closed, in part or in full, or 

22 utilizing virtual, distance, or other alter23 native education models or a hybrid of 

24 such models and in-person attendance, 


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1 during any part of the month due to 

2 COVID–19, or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the parent or guardian of such 

4 child elects not to send the child to school 

5 due to COVID–19. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION AND TERMINATION.—The 

7 term ‘eligible month’ shall include only months be8 ginning after July 31, 2020, and before July 1, 

9 2021. In the case of eligible months occurring before 

10 the establishment of the program described in sub11 section (a), the credit amount attributable to such 

12 months shall be paid to the recipient in combination 

13 with the credit amount for the first eligible month 

14 during which such program is operational. 

15 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION AND VERIFICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The Secretary shall estab17 lish an expedited process by which citizens may 

18 apply for and provide all necessary information to 

19 obtain access to installments of the family education 

20 assistance credit outside the annual tax return proc21 ess utilizing— 

22 ‘‘(A) information from the beneficiary’s 

23 most recent tax return if the beneficiary has 

24 filed previously and such return is for 2018 or 

25 2019, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any additional or alternative informa2 tion submissions deemed necessary by the Sec3 retary to facilitate application, verification of 

4 eligibility for, and prompt delivery of the family 

5 education assistance credit. 

6 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—No credit shall be allowed 

7 under this section to a taxpayer on the basis of a 

8 qualifying child unless the taxpayer has provided the 

9 name and taxpayer identification number of such 

10 qualifying child in a manner deemed appropriate for 

11 the application process by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF FAMILY EDUCATION AS13 SISTANCE CREDITS FOR INCOME TAX PURPOSES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) NONTAXATION OF CREDIT.—Notwith15 standing any other provision of law, no amount 

16 received as a family education assistance credit 

17 shall be treated as income for the purpose of 

18 calculating Federal, State, or local tax liability. 

19 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON TAX LIABILITY.—The tax 

20 liability of a recipient of the family education 

21 assistance credit for a taxable year in which 

22 payments of such credit are received shall be 

23 determined without respect to such credit.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ after 

3 ‘‘36B’’. 

4 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

5 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting before 

7 the item relating to section 37 the following new 

8 item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Family education assistance.’’. 

Æ 


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