I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4626
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to accelerate the marriage
penalty relief in the standard deduction and to modify the work oppor-
tunity credit and the welfare-to-work credit.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 1, 2002
Mr. HOUGHTON (for himself and Mr. WELLER) 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 accelerate
the marriage penalty relief in the standard deduction
and to modify the work opportunity credit and the wel-
fare-to-work credit.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Encouraging Work and
Supporting Marriage Act of 2002’’.
TITLE I—ACCELERATION OF
MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF
SEC. 101. ACCELERATION OF INCREASE IN STANDARD DE-
DUCTION FOR JOINT RETURNS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (7) of section 63(c) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section
301 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconcili-
ation Act of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(7) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes
of paragraph (2), the applicable percentage shall be
determined in accordance with the following table:
‘‘For taxable years beginning
The applicable
in calendar year—
percentage is—
2003 or 2004 ................................................................
170
2005 .............................................................................
174
2006 .............................................................................
184
2007 .............................................................................
187
2008 .............................................................................
190
2009 and thereafter .....................................................
200.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2002.
TITLE 
II—MODIFICATIONS 
TO
WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT
AND 
WELFARE-TO-WORK
CREDIT
SEC. 201. MODIFICATIONS TO WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT
AND WELFARE-TO-WORK CREDIT.
(a) ELIGIBILITY
OF
EX-FELONS
DETERMINED
WITHOUT REGARD TO FAMILY INCOME.—Paragraph (4)
of section 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
is amended by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph
(A), by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of subparagraph (B)
and inserting a period, and by striking all that follows sub-
paragraph (B).
(b) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AGE FOR ELIGIBILITY OF
FOOD
STAMP
RECIPIENTS.—Clause (i) of section
51(d)(8)(A) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘25’’ and
inserting ‘‘30’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for
the employer after December 31, 2002.
SEC. 202. CONSOLIDATION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY CRED-
IT WITH WELFARE-TO-WORK CREDIT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking
‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (G), by striking the pe-
by reason of any limitation imposed by Federal
or State law on the maximum period such as-
sistance is payable to a family, and
‘‘(ii) as having a hiring date which is not
more than 2 years after the date of such ces-
sation.’’
(c) INCREASED CREDIT FOR EMPLOYMENT OF LONG-
TERM FAMILY ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS.—Section 51 of
such Code is amended by inserting after subsection (d)
the following new subsection:
‘‘(e) CREDIT FOR SECOND-YEAR WAGES FOR EM-
PLOYMENT OF LONG-TERM FAMILY ASSISTANCE RECIPI-
ENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the em-
ployment 
of 
a 
long-term 
family 
assistance
recipient—
‘‘(A) the amount of the work opportunity
credit determined under this section for the tax-
able year shall include 40 percent of the quali-
fied second-year wages for such year, and
‘‘(B) in lieu of applying subsection (b)(3),
the amount of the qualified first-year wages,
and the amount of qualified second-year wages,
which may be taken into account with respect
to such a recipient shall not exceed $10,000 per
year.
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
SECOND-YEAR
WAGES.—For
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified sec-
ond-year wages’ means qualified wages—
‘‘(A) which are paid to a long-term family
assistance recipient, and
‘‘(B) which are attributable to service ren-
dered during the 1-year period beginning on the
day after the last day of the 1-year period with
respect to such recipient determined under sub-
section (b)(2).
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND
RAILWAY LABOR.—If such recipient is an employee
to whom subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection
(h)(1) applies, rules similar to the rules of such sub-
paragraphs shall apply except that—
‘‘(A) such subparagraph (A) shall be ap-
plied by substituting ‘$10,000’ for ‘$6,000’, and
‘‘(B) such subparagraph (B) shall be ap-
plied by substituting ‘$833.33’ for ‘$500’.’’
(d) REPEAL
OF
SEPARATE
WELFARE-TO-WORK
CREDIT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 51A of such Code is
hereby repealed.
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subpart F of part IV of subchapter A of
chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the
item relating to section 51A.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for
the employer after December 31, 2002.
Æ