I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3629
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit
against income tax for wages paid to employees while participating in
mentoring programs for elementary and secondary school students.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 24, 2002
Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. OSBORNE,
Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FATTAH, and Mr. EHRLICH) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow em-
ployers a credit against income tax for wages paid to
employees while participating in mentoring programs for
elementary and secondary school students.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; ETC.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Making Education, Nurturing, and Teaching Our Re-
sponsibility Act’’ or the ‘‘MENTOR Act’’.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to
make assistance available to promote quality mentoring
programs for children with greatest need—
(1) to assist such children by providing support
and guidance from a caring adult;
(2) to improve the academic performance of
such children;
(3) to improve interpersonal relationships be-
tween such children and their peers, teachers, other
adults, and family members;
(4) to reduce the dropout rate of such children;
(5) to improve school attendance and to pro-
mote positive attitudes about school; and
(6) to reduce juvenile delinquency and involve-
ment in gangs by such children.
That these outcomes are achievable has been dem-
onstrated through research in quality mentoring pro-
grams.
SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR WAGES PAID TO EMPLOYEES PARTICI-
PATING 
IN 
STUDENT 
MENTORING 
PRO-
GRAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by
inserting after section 45F the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 45G. WAGES PAID TO EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN
STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAMS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the
student mentoring credit determined under this section is
an amount equal to the wages paid by the taxpayer to
any employee of the taxpayer for the period that such em-
ployee is mentoring a student in grades K–12 through a
quality mentoring program.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM HOURLY RATE.—The amount of
wages taken into account under subsection (a) for
each hour of mentoring shall not exceed $20.
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM CREDIT PER EMPLOYEE.—The
credit determined under subsection (a) for any tax-
able year with respect to an employee shall not ex-
ceed $1,040.
‘‘(c) MENTORING PROGRAM.—For purposes of this
section—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘mentoring pro-
gram’ means a program—
‘‘(A) sponsored by a local educational
agency or a community-based organization de-
scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from
tax under section 501(a), and
‘‘(B) under which a mentor normally meets
with a student regularly for at least 1 hour a
week for mentoring purposes.
‘‘(2) MENTOR.—The term ‘mentor’ means an
individual who works with a child to provide a posi-
tive role model for the child, to establish a sup-
portive relationship with the child, and to provide
the child with academic assistance and exposure to
new experiences and examples of opportunity that
enhance the ability of the child to become a respon-
sible adult.
‘‘(3) MENTORING PURPOSES.—The term ‘men-
toring purposes’ means—
‘‘(A) to provide support in achieving suc-
cess in school;
‘‘(B) to provide support and guidance from
a caring adult;
‘‘(C) to improve the academic performance
of the student;
‘‘(D) to improve interpersonal relationships
between the student and the student’s peers,
teachers, other adults, and family members;
‘‘(E) to reduce the dropout rate;
‘‘(F) to improve school attendance and to
promote positive attitudes about school; and
‘‘(G) to reduce juvenile delinquency and in-
volvement in gangs.’’
(c) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS
CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code (re-
lating to current year business credit) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (14), by striking the
period at the end of paragraph (15) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’,
and by adding at the end thereof the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(16) the student mentoring credit determined
under section 45G(a).’’.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1
of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 45F the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 45G. Wages paid to employees participating in student
mentoring programs.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after
December 31, 2001, in taxable years ending after such
date.
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