[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4626 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 
           opportunity 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 welfare-to-work credit.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 DEDUCTION 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 Reconciliation 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 subparagraph (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 CREDIT 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 period at the end of subparagraph (H) 
and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
                    ``(I) a long-term family assistance recipient.''
    (b) Long-Term Family Assistance Recipient.--Subsection (d) of 
section 51 of such Code is amended by redesignating paragraphs (10) 
through (12) as paragraphs (11) through (13), respectively, and by 
inserting after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph:
            ``(10) Long-term family assistance recipient.--The term 
        `long-term family assistance recipient' means any individual 
        who is certified by the designated local agency--
                    ``(A) as being a member of a family receiving 
                assistance under a IV-A program (as defined in 
                paragraph (2)(B)) for at least the 18-month period 
                ending on the hiring date,
                    ``(B)(i) as being a member of a family receiving 
                such assistance for 18 months beginning after August 5, 
                1997, and
                    ``(ii) as having a hiring date which is not more 
                than 2 years after the end of the earliest such 18-
                month period, or
                    ``(C)(i) as being a member of a family which ceased 
                to be eligible for such assistance by reason of any 
                limitation imposed by Federal or State law on the 
                maximum period such assistance is payable to a family, 
                and
                    ``(ii) as having a hiring date which is not more 
                than 2 years after the date of such cessation.''
    (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 Employment of Long-Term 
Family Assistance Recipients.--
            ``(1) In general.--With respect to the employment of a 
        long-term family assistance recipient--
                    ``(A) the amount of the work opportunity credit 
                determined under this section for the taxable year 
                shall include 40 percent of the qualified 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 second-year wages' means 
        qualified wages--
                    ``(A) which are paid to a long-term family 
                assistance recipient, and
                    ``(B) which are attributable to service rendered 
                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 subsection (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 subparagraphs shall apply except that--
                    ``(A) such subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 
                substituting `$10,000' for `$6,000', and
                    ``(B) such subparagraph (B) shall be applied 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 sections 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.
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