[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 999 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 999

    To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand access to 
                 Coverdell education savings accounts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 9, 2017

Mr. Walberg (for himself and Mr. Kildee) 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 expand access to 
                 Coverdell education savings accounts.

    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 ``Helping Families Save for Education 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) College costs have increased tremendously over the past 
        decade. When adjusted for inflation, the average published 
        price for in-State students at public 4-year universities is 34 
        percent higher than it was a decade ago and more than twice as 
        high as it was 20 years ago. The price of private nonprofit 4-
        year institutions has increased 24 percent during the last 10 
        years and 51 percent during the last 20 years.
            (2) Federal financial aid for students has also increased 
        rapidly but failed to mitigate the issues of rising college 
        costs. Between the 2005-2006 academic year and the 2015-2016 
        academic year, the amount of Federal financial aid in the form 
        of Pell Grants, Federal student aid, campus based aid, veterans 
        educational benefits, and tax credits increased from $82.4 
        billion to $158.3 billion or by 92 percent. The Federal 
        Government's share of total student aid is 66 percent.
            (3) Students continue to borrow more than they can afford. 
        During the 2014-2015 academic year, approximately 61 percent of 
        students who earned bachelor's degrees from public and private 
        nonprofit institutions at which they began their studies 
        graduated with debt. These students borrowed an average of 
        $28,100, an increase of 8.9 percent compared to 5 years ago and 
        an increase of 18.1 percent compared to 10 years ago.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF COVERDELL EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.

    (a) Increase in Age Limitation of Beneficiary After Which 
Contributions to Account Cannot Be Made.--Section 530(b)(1)(A)(ii) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``age 18'' and 
inserting ``age 22''.
    (b) Increase in Annual Dollar Limitation on Contributions to 
Account.--Section 530(b)(1)(A)(iii) of such Code is amended by striking 
``$2,000'' and inserting ``$10,000''.
    (c) Effective Dates.--
            (1) Increase in age limitation.--The amendments made by 
        subsection (a) shall apply to contributions made after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Increase in annual dollar limitation on 
        contributions.--The amendments made by subsection (b) shall 
        apply to contributions made in taxable years ending after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
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