[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 388

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the dependent care 
    tax credit, to accelerate the child tax credit, and to promote 
                  dependent care assistance programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 13, 2003

    Mr. Roberts (for himself, Mrs. Hutchison, Ms. Collins, and Mr. 
   Jeffords) 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 expand the dependent care 
    tax credit, to accelerate the child tax credit, and to promote 
                  dependent care assistance programs.

    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 ``A Boost for Child Care Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF DEPENDENT CARE TAX CREDIT.

    (a) Percentage of Employment-Related Expenses Determined by 
Taxpayer Status.--Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to credit for expenses for household and 
dependent care services necessary for gainful employment) is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(2) Applicable percentage defined.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (1), the term `applicable percentage' means 50 
        percent reduced (but not below zero) by 1 percentage point for 
        each $1,500, or fraction thereof, by which the taxpayer's 
        adjusted gross income for the taxable year exceeds $30,000.''.
    (b) Minimum Credit Allowed for Stay-at-Home Parents.--Section 21(e) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to special rules) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(11) Minimum credit allowed for stay-at-home parents.--
        Notwithstanding subsection (d), in the case of any taxpayer 
        with 1 or more qualifying individuals described in subsection 
        (b)(1)(A) under the age of 4 at any time during the taxable 
        year, such taxpayer shall be deemed to have employment-related 
        expenses with respect to such qualifying individuals in an 
        amount equal to the greater of--
                    ``(A) the amount of employment-related expenses 
                incurred for such qualifying individuals for the 
                taxable year (determined under this section without 
                regard to this paragraph), or
                    ``(B) $150 for each month in such taxable year 
                during which such qualifying individual is under the 
                age of 4.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.

SEC. 3. ACCELERATION OF CHILD TAX CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 24 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to child tax credit) is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--There shall be allowed as a credit 
against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year with 
respect to each qualifying child of the taxpayer an amount equal to 
$1,000.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Repeal of amendment.--Section 201(a) of the Economic 
        Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 is repealed.
            (2) Repeal of sunset.--Title IX of the Economic Growth and 
        Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (relating to sunset of 
        provisions of such Act) shall not apply to section 201 (other 
        than subsection (a) of such section) of such Act.

SEC. 4. PROMOTION OF DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor shall establish a program 
to promote awareness of the use of dependent care assistance programs 
(as described in section 129(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 
by employers.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the program under subsection (a) $1,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
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