I 119THCONGRESS 1 STSESSION H. R. 939 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY4, 2025 Mr. H ERNof Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. KELLYof Pennsylvania, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, and Mrs. H INSON) 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 permit kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Empowerment 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Mar 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H939.IH H939 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 939 IH SEC. 2. 529 ACCOUNT FUNDING FOR HOMESCHOOL AND AD-1 DITIONAL ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EX-2 PENSES. 3 (a) I NGENERAL.—Section 529(c)(7) of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(7) T REATMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SEC -6 ONDARY TUITION.—Any reference in this section to 7 the term ‘qualified higher education expense’ shall 8 include a reference to the following expenses in con-9 nection with enrollment or attendance at, or for stu-10 dents enrolled at or attending, an elementary or sec-11 ondary public, private, or religious school: 12 ‘‘(A) Tuition. 13 ‘‘(B) Curriculum and curricular materials. 14 ‘‘(C) Books or other instructional mate-15 rials. 16 ‘‘(D) Online educational materials. 17 ‘‘(E) Tuition for tutoring or educational 18 classes outside of the home, including at a tu-19 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc-20 tor is not related to the student and— 21 ‘‘(i) is licensed as a teacher in any 22 State, 23 ‘‘(ii) has taught at an eligible edu-24 cational institution, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Mar 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H939.IH H939 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 939 IH ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 1 relevant subject. 2 ‘‘(F) Fees for a nationally standardized 3 norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced 4 placement examination, or any examinations re-5 lated to college or university admission. 6 ‘‘(G) Fees for dual enrollment in an insti-7 tution of higher education. 8 ‘‘(H) Educational therapies for students 9 with disabilities provided by a licensed or ac-10 credited practitioner or provider, including oc-11 cupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-lan-12 guage therapies. 13 Such term shall include expenses for the purposes 14 described in subparagraphs (A) through (H) in con-15 nection with a homeschool (whether treated as a 16 homeschool or a private school for purposes of appli-17 cable State law).’’. 18 (b) E FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 19 this section shall apply to distributions made after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Mar 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H939.IH H939 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS