I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the credit for 

employers establishing workplace child care facilities, to increase the 

child care credit to encourage greater use of quality child care services, 

to provide incentives for students to earn child care-related degrees 

and to work in child care facilities, and to increase the exclusion for 

employer-provided dependent care assistance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER 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 increase 

the credit for employers establishing workplace child care 

facilities, to increase the child care credit to encourage 

greater use of quality child care services, to provide 

incentives for students to earn child care-related degrees 

and to work in child care facilities, and to increase 

the exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right Start Child Care 

3 and Education Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN EMPLOYER-PROVIDED CHILD CARE 

5 CREDIT. 

6 (a) INCREASE IN CREDITABLE PERCENTAGE OF

7 CHILD CARE EXPENDITURES.—Paragraph (1) of section 

8 45F(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘25 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘35 percent’’. 

10 (b) INCREASE IN CREDITABLE PERCENTAGE OF RE11 SOURCE AND REFERRAL EXPENDITURES.—Paragraph (2) 

12 of section 45F(a) of such Code is amended by striking 

13 ‘‘10 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’. 

14 (c) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM CREDIT.—Subsection (b) 

15 of section 45F of such Code is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘$150,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$225,000’’. 

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

18 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

19 December 31, 2017. 

20 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT. 

21 (a) INCREASE IN INCOMES ELIGIBLE FOR FULL

22 CREDIT.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of the Internal 

23 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’. 


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1 (b) INCREASE IN PERCENTAGE OF EXPENSES AL2 LOWABLE.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of such Code 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 

5 percent’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘35 

7 percent’’. 

8 (c) INCREASE IN DOLLAR LIMIT ON AMOUNT CRED9 ITABLE.—Subsection (c) of section 21 of such Code is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ in paragraph (1) and 

12 inserting ‘‘$6,000’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘$6,000’’ in paragraph (2) and 

14 inserting ‘‘$12,000’’. 

15 (d) CREDIT TO BE REFUNDABLE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of such Code is 

17 hereby moved to subpart C of part IV of subchapter 

18 A of chapter 1 of such Code (relating to refundable 

19 credits) and inserted after section 36B. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (A) Section 21 of such Code, as so moved, 

22 is redesignated as section 36C. 

23 (B) Paragraph (1) of section 36C(a) of 

24 such Code (as redesignated by paragraph (2)) 


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1 is amended by striking ‘‘this chapter’’ and in2 serting ‘‘this subtitle’’. 

3 (C) Paragraph (1) of section 23(f) of such 

4 Code is amended by striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘36C(e)’’. 

6 (D) Paragraph (6) of section 35(g) of such 

7 Code is amended by striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘36C(e)’’. 

9 (E) Subparagraph (C) of section 129(a)(2) 

10 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

11 21(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(e)’’. 

12 (F) Paragraph (2) of section 129(b) of 

13 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

14 21(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(d)(2)’’. 

15 (G) Paragraph (1) of section 129(e) of 

16 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

17 21(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(b)(2)’’. 

18 (H) Subsection (e) of section 213 of such 

19 Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 21’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘section 36C’’. 

21 (I) Subparagraph (H) of section 

22 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘section 21’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C’’. 


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1 (J) Subparagraph (L) of section 

2 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘section 21,’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C,’’. 

4 (K) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of 

5 title 31, United States Code, is amended by in6 serting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

7 (L) The table of sections for subpart C of 

8 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in10 serting after the item relating to section 36B 

11 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for 

gainful employment.’’. 

12 (M) The table of sections for subpart A of 

13 such part IV is amended by striking the item 

14 relating to section 21. 

15 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2017. 

18 SEC. 4. THREE-YEAR CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS HOLDING 

19 CHILD CARE-RELATED DEGREES WHO WORK 

20 IN LICENSED CHILD CARE FACILITIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub22 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986 is amended by inserting after section 25D the fol24 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 25E. RIGHT START CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION 

2 CREDIT. 

3 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in4 dividual who is an eligible child care provider for the tax5 able year, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 

6 tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year the 

7 amount of $2,000. 

8 ‘‘(b) 3-YEAR CREDIT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowable by 

10 subsection (a) for any taxable year to an individual 

11 shall be allowed for such year only if the individual 

12 elects the application of this section for such year. 

13 ‘‘(2) ELECTION.—An election to have this sec14 tion apply may not be made by an individual for any 

15 taxable year if such an election by such individual is 

16 in effect for any 3 prior taxable years. 

17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—For pur18 poses of this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible child 

20 care provider’ means, for any taxable year, any indi21 vidual if— 

22 ‘‘(A) as of the close of such taxable year, 

23 such individual holds a bachelor’s degree in 

24 early childhood education, child care, or a re25 lated degree and such degree was awarded by 


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1 an eligible educational institution (as defined in 

2 section 25A(f)(2)), and 

3 ‘‘(B) during such taxable year, such indi4 vidual performs at least 1,200 hours of child 

5 care services at a facility if— 

6 ‘‘(i) the principal use of the facility is 

7 to provide child care services, 

8 ‘‘(ii) no more than 25 percent of the 

9 children receiving child care services at the 

10 facility are children (as defined in section 

11 152(f)) of the individual or such individ12 ual’s spouse, and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the facility meets the require14 ments of all applicable laws and regula15 tions of the State or local government in 

16 which it is located, including the licensing 

17 of the facility as a child care facility. 

18 Subparagraph (B)(i) shall not apply to a facil19 ity which is the principal residence (within the 

20 meaning of section 121) of the operator of the 

21 facility. 

22 ‘‘(2) CHILD CARE SERVICES.—The term ‘child 

23 care services’ means child care and early childhood 

24 education.’’. 


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

2 for such subpart A is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Right start child care and education credit.’’. 

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

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 December 31, 2017. 

7 SEC. 5. INCREASE IN EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER-PRO8 VIDED DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

10 129(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

11 to dependent care assistance programs) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘$5,000 ($2,500’’ and inserting ‘‘$7,500 

13 ($3,750’’. 

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

15 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

16 December 31, 2017. 

Æ 


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