I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3542 

To provide support for pre-kindergarten education through an Early 

Education Trust Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 

Mr. DELANEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide support for pre-kindergarten education through 

an Early Education Trust Fund, 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 ‘‘Early Learning Act 

5 of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPENDITURES FOR PRE-KINDERGARTEN EDU7 CATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than August 15 of each 

9 year, beginning with 2018, from amounts in the Early 


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1 Education Trust Fund established by section 3, the Sec2 retary of Education (in this section referred to as the 

3 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall award to the State pre-kindergarten 

4 agency for each State the amount estimated under sub5 section (b)(1)(A) for such State and year, subject to para6 graphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection (d). 

7 (b) CONDITIONS FOR AWARDS.—Amounts may only 

8 be awarded under subsection (a) to a State pre-kinder9 garten agency for a State for a year if the head of such 

10 agency— 

11 (1) submits to the Secretary— 

12 (A) not later than June 15 of such year, 

13 an estimate of the amount described in para14 graph (1) of subsection (c) for such State and 

15 year; and 

16 (B) not later than November 1 of such 

17 year, for each enrolled 4-year-old in such State, 

18 the number of hours for which such 4-year-old 

19 is enrolled at a pre-kindergarten program in 

20 such State for the school year beginning in such 

21 year; and 

22 (2) provides such assurances as the Secretary 

23 may require that— 

24 (A) such amounts will be used only to sup25 port pre-kindergarten programs; 


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1 (B) the State will expend for pre-kinder2 garten programs, during the 1-year period be3 ginning on August 15 of such year not less 

4 than the amount expended by the State for 

5 such programs during the 1-year period begin6 ning on August 15 of the previous year; and 

7 (C) each resident of the State who is 4 

8 years old on October 1 of such year has the op9 portunity to enroll in a free pre-kindergarten 

10 program. 

11 (c) AMOUNT DESCRIBED.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount described in 

13 this paragraph is, with respect to a State and a 

14 year, the sum of the products determined under 

15 paragraph (2) for all enrolled 4-year-olds in the 

16 State for the year. 

17 (2) PRODUCT DETERMINED.—The product de18 termined under this paragraph for an enrolled 4- 

19 year-old for a year is the product of— 

20 (A) $5 (adjusted annually by the Secretary 

21 of Education for inflation, beginning with 2019, 

22 on the basis of the consumer price index for all 

23 urban consumers); and 

24 (B) the number of hours reported under 

25 subsection (b)(1)(B) for such enrolled 4-yearVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3542.IH H3542

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1 old for the school year beginning in such year 

2 (not to exceed 1,600). 

3 (d) ADJUSTMENTS TO PAYMENTS.— 

4 (1) RECONCILIATION OF PAYMENT.—For each 

5 State pre-kindergarten agency for a year: 

6 (A) OVERPAYMENT.—If the amount 

7 awarded under subsection (a) is greater than 

8 the amount described in paragraph (1) of sub9 section (c), the amount to be awarded under 

10 subsection (a) for the following year shall be re11 duced by the difference between such amounts. 

12 (B) UNDERPAYMENT.—If the amount 

13 awarded under subsection (a) is less than the 

14 amount described in paragraph (1) of sub15 section (c), not later than December 31 of such 

16 year, from amounts in the Early Education 

17 Trust Fund established by section 3, the Sec18 retary shall award to such State pre-kinder19 garten agency the difference between such 

20 amounts, subject to paragraph (2). 

21 (2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If, as of a date, the 

22 amounts available to be awarded on such date from 

23 the Early Education Trust Fund are less than the 

24 amounts to be awarded on such date under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3542.IH H3542

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1 tion without regard to this paragraph, the Secretary 

2 shall ratably reduce the amounts to be awarded. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ENROLLED 4-YEAR-OLD.—The term ‘‘en5 rolled 4-year-old’’ means, with respect to a year, an 

6 individual who, as of October 1 of such year— 

7 (A) is 4 years old; and 

8 (B) is enrolled at a pre-kindergarten pro9 gram for at least 900 hours for the school year 

10 beginning in such year. 

11 (2) PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM.—The term 

12 ‘‘pre-kindergarten program’’ means a program that 

13 is— 

14 (A) offered by a nonprofit or governmental 

15 entity; 

16 (B) designed to provide pre-kindergarten 

17 education for at least 900 hours during a school 

18 year; and 

19 (C) accredited by the State pre-kinder20 garten agency for the State in which such pro21 gram operates or by another accrediting entity 

22 approved by such State. 

23 (3) STATE PRE-KINDERGARTEN AGENCY.—The 

24 term ‘‘State pre-kindergarten agency’’ means, with 


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1 respect to a State, the agency responsible for over2 sight of pre-kindergarten education in the State. 

3 SEC. 3. EARLY EDUCATION TRUST FUND. 

4 (a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is hereby es5 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

6 to be known as the ‘‘Early Education Trust Fund’’, con7 sisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or cred8 ited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section. 

9 (b) TRANSFER TO TRUST FUND OF AMOUNTS

10 EQUIVALENT TO CERTAIN TAXES.—There are hereby ap11 propriated to the Early Education Trust Fund amounts 

12 equivalent to the taxes received in the Treasury under sec13 tion 59A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

14 to surtax for Early Education Trust Fund). 

15 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—Amounts 

16 in the Early Education Trust Fund shall be available, 

17 without further appropriation, to carry out section 2. 

18 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

19 (1) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—The amounts 

20 appropriated by subsection (b) shall be transferred 

21 at least monthly from the general fund of the Treas22 ury to the Early Education Trust Fund on the basis 

23 of estimates made by the Secretary of the Treasury 

24 of the amounts referred to in such subsection. Prop25 er adjustments shall be made in the amounts subseVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3542.IH H3542

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1 quently transferred to the extent prior estimates 

2 were in excess of or less than the amounts required 

3 to be transferred. 

4 (2) MANAGEMENT.—The Early Education 

5 Trust Fund shall be managed under the rules speci6 fied in section 9602 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986. 

8 SEC. 4. SURTAX FOR EARLY EDUCATION TRUST FUND. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 1 of the 

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 

11 after part VI the following new part: 

12 ‘‘PART VII—SURTAX FOR EARLY EDUCATION 

13 TRUST FUND 

‘‘Sec. 59A. Surtax for Early Education Trust Fund. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 59A. SURTAX FOR EARLY EDUCATION TRUST FUND. 

15 ‘‘(a) IMPOSITION OF TAX.—In the case of a taxpayer 

16 other than a corporation and an estate or trust, there is 

17 hereby imposed (in addition to any other tax imposed by 

18 this subtitle) a tax equal to 1.5 percent of so much of 

19 the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer as exceeds 

20 $500,000. 

21 ‘‘(b) NOT TREATED AS TAX IMPOSED BY THIS CHAP22 TER FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—The tax imposed under 

23 this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this 


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1 chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any 

2 credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for 

4 subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

5 inserting after the item relating to part VI the following 

6 new item: 

‘‘PART VII. SURTAX FOR EARLY EDUCATION TRUST FUND.’’. 

7 (c) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—The amendment 

8 made by subsection (a) shall not be treated as a change 

9 in a rate of tax for purposes of section 15 of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986. 

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

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 December 31, 2016. 

Æ 


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