II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1623 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for distributions 

from 529 accounts for expenses associated with registered apprenticeship 

programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2019 

Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. WARREN, and 

Mr. BROWN) 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 allow for 

distributions from 529 accounts for expenses associated 

with registered apprenticeship programs. 

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 ‘‘Expanding Access to 

5 Apprenticeships Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTIONS FROM 529S FOR REGISTERED AP2 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(e)(3) of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(C) CERTAIN EXPENSES ASSOCIATED

7 WITH REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO8 GRAMS.—The term ‘qualified higher education 

9 expenses’ shall include expenses for— 

10 ‘‘(i) books, supplies, and equipment 

11 required for the enrollment or attendance 

12 of a designated beneficiary in an appren13 ticeship program registered and certified 

14 with the Secretary of Labor under section 

15 1 of the National Apprenticeship Act (29 

16 U.S.C. 50), 

17 ‘‘(ii) transportation in connection with 

18 such enrollment or attendance, and 

19 ‘‘(iii) obtaining an industry certifi20 cation (or other credential) in connection 

21 with such enrollment or attendance or in 

22 connection with the completion of such 

23 program.’’. 

24 (b) TREATMENT AS ENROLLMENT AT ELIGIBLE

25 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—Subsection (e) of section 


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1 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

2 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF REGISTERED APPREN4 TICESHIP PROGRAMS.—Solely for purposes of this 

5 section, the term ‘eligible educational institution’ in6 cludes an entity operating an apprenticeship pro7 gram registered and certified with the Secretary of 

8 Labor under section 1 of the National Apprentice9 ship Act (29 U.S.C. 50), and an individual partici10 pating in such a program shall be treated as enrolled 

11 in or attending an eligible educational institution.’’. 

12 (c) TREATMENT OF ROOM AND BOARD COSTS FOR

13 PARTICIPANTS IN REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO14 GRAMS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 529(e)(3) of the In15 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following new clause: 

17 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVID18 UALS PARTICIPATING IN REGISTERED AP19 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.—In the case of 

20 an individual who is enrolled in or attend21 ing an apprenticeship program described in 

22 subparagraph (C)(i) for any period (and 

23 who is not, but for subclause (I), an eligi24 ble student (as defined in section 

25 25A(b)(3)) for such period)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for purposes of clause (i), 

2 such individual shall be treated as an 

3 eligible student for such period, 

4 ‘‘(II) clause (ii) shall not apply, 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(III) the amount treated as 

7 qualified higher education expenses by 

8 reason of clause (i) for such period 

9 shall not exceed the sum of the 

10 monthly housing stipends which would 

11 be payable to such designated bene12 ficiary for months during such period 

13 under section 3313(g)(3)(B)(i) of title 

14 38, United States Code, if such bene15 ficiary were entitled to educational as16 sistance under chapter 33 of such title 

17 38. 

18 The Secretary shall publish, at the appro19 priate time determined by the Secretary, 

20 the monthly housing stipend amount de21 scribed in subclause (III) with respect to 

22 each ZIP code area of the United States.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to distributions paid after Decem3 ber 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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