Home > 106th Congressional Bills > S. 1026 (is) To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent sudden disruption of medicare beneficiary enrollment in Medicare+Choice plans. [Introduced in Senate] ...S. 1026 (is) To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent sudden disruption of medicare beneficiary enrollment in Medicare+Choice plans. [Introduced in Senate] ...
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1025
To provide for savings for working families.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 13, 2001
Mr. Lieberman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for savings for working families.
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 ``Savings for Working Families Act of
2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) For the vast majority of households the pathway to the
economic mainstream and financial security is not through
spending and consumption, but through saving, investing, and
the accumulation of assets. Assets promote economic household
stability, decrease economic strain on households, promote
educational attainment, decrease marital dissolution, decrease
the risk of intergenerational poverty transmission, increase
health and satisfaction among adults, increase property values,
decrease residential mobility, increase property maintenance,
and increase local civic involvement.
(2) One-third of all Americans have no assets available for
investment and another 20 percent have only negligible assets.
Assets are distributed far more unevenly than income. Whereas
the top 20 percent of American households earn over 43 percent
of all income, such households hold over 68 percent of net
worth and almost 87 percent of net financial assets. Moreover,
asset poverty and wealth gaps are even higher among minority
households by a ratio of more than 11 to 1. Up to 20 percent of
all households are unbanked and do not have access to the basic
financial tools that make asset accumulation possible.
(3) Public policy has contributed to large asset gaps in
the United States. Traditional public assistance programs based
on income and consumption have rarely been successful in
supporting the transition to economic self-sufficiency. Tax
policy, through $288,000,000,000 in annual tax incentives, has
helped lay the foundation for the great American middle class,
but only for some citizens. Fully 90 percent of such current
tax benefits accrue to households earning more than $50,000 per
year, roughly half of all American households. Lacking an
income tax liability, low-income working families cannot take
advantage of asset development incentives. Moreover, low-income
families seeking public assistance must first spend down their
assets and face severe asset limits once on assistance.
(4) Individual Development Accounts, or IDAs, have proven
to be successful in helping low-income working families save
and accumulate assets. In one national demonstration project,
2,378 low-income families saved a total of $834,442 in one year
which generated another $1,644,510 in private matching funds.
Thus far, IDA savings have been used to purchase long-term,
high-return assets, including homes, post-secondary education
and training, and small businesses. Presently, about 10,000
IDAs are in existence in the United States, held by a very
small fraction of the at least 70 million Americans who are
asset poor.
(5) Therefore, the Federal Government should support,
through the tax code, a significant expansion of Individual
Development Accounts so that millions of low-income working
families across the country can save, accumulate assets, and
move their lives forward, and thus make positive contributions
to the economic and social well-being of the United States, as
well as to its future.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to provide for the
establishment of individual development account programs that will--
(1) provide individuals and families with limited means an
opportunity to accumulate assets and to enter the financial
mainstream;
(2) promote education, homeownership, and the development
of small businesses;
(3) stabilize families and build communities; and
(4) support continued United States economic expansion.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) Eligible individual.--
(A) In general.--The term ``eligible individual''
means an individual who--
(i) has attained the age of 18 years but
not the age of 61;
(ii) is a citizen or legal resident of the
United States;
(iii) is not a student (as defined in
section 151(c)(4)); and
(iv) is a taxpayer the adjusted gross
income of whom for the preceding taxable year
does not exceed--
(I) $20,000, in the case of a
taxpayer described in section 1(c) or
1(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986;
(II) $25,000, in the case of a
taxpayer described in section 1(b) of
such Code; and
(III) $40,000, in the case of a
taxpayer described in section 1(a) of
such Code.
(B) Inflation adjustment.--
(i) In general.--In the case of any taxable
year beginning after 2002, each dollar amount
referred to in subparagraph (A)(iv) shall be
increased by an amount equal to--
(I) such dollar amount, multiplied
by
(II) the cost-of-living adjustment
determined under section (1)(f)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for
the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, by substituting ``2001''
for ``1992''.
(ii) Rounding.--If any amount as adjusted
under clause (i) is not a multiple of $50, such
amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple
of $50.
(2) Individual development account.--The term ``Individual
Development Account'' means an account established for an
eligible individual as part of a qualified individual
development account program, but only if the written governing
instrument creating the account meets the following
requirements:
(A) The sole owner of the account is the individual
for whom the account was established.
(B) No contribution will be accepted unless it is
in cash.
(C) The holder of the account is a qualified
financial institution.
(D) The assets of the account will not be
commingled with other property except in a common trust
fund or common investment fund.
(E) Except as provided in section 7(b), any amount
in the account may be paid out only for the purpose of
paying the qualified expenses of the account owner.
(3) Parallel account.--The term ``parallel account'' means
a separate, parallel individual or pooled account for all
matching funds and earnings dedicated to an Individual
Development Account owner as part of a qualified individual
development account program, the sole owner of which is a
qualified financial institution, a qualified nonprofit
organization, or an Indian tribe.
(4) Qualified financial institution.--
(A) In general.--The term ``qualified financial
institution'' means any person authorized to be a
trustee of any individual retirement account under
section 408(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed as preventing a person
described in subparagraph (A) from collaborating with 1
or more contractual affiliates, qualified nonprofit
organizations, or Indian tribes to carry out an
individual development account program established
under section 4.
(5) Qualified nonprofit organization.--The term ``qualified
nonprofit organization'' means--
(A) any organization described in section 501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from
taxation under section 501(a) of such Code;
(B) any community development financial institution
certified by the Community Development Financial
Institution Fund; or
(C) any credit union chartered under Federal or
State law.
(6) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means any
Indian tribe as defined in section 4(12) of the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25
U.S.C. 4103(12), and includes any tribal subsidiary,
subdivision, or other wholly owned tribal entity.
(7) Qualified individual development account program.--The
term ``qualified individual development account program'' means
a program established under section 4 under which--
(A) Individual Development Accounts and parallel
accounts are held by a qualified financial institution;
and
(B) additional activities determined by the
Secretary as necessary to responsibly develop and
administer accounts, including recruiting, providing
financial education and other training to account
owners, and regular program monitoring, are carried out
by the qualified financial institution, a qualified
nonprofit organization, or an Indian tribe.
(8) Qualified expense distribution.--
(A) In general.--The term ``qualified expense
distribution'' means any amount paid (including through
electronic payments) or distributed out of an
Individual Development Account and a parallel account
established for an eligible individual if such amount--
(i) is used exclusively to pay the
qualified expenses of the Individual
Development Account owner or such owner's
spouse or dependents, as approved by the
qualified financial institution, qualified
nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe;
(ii) is paid by the qualified financial
institution, qualified nonprofit organization,
or Indian tribe--
(I) except as otherwise provided in
this clause, directly to the unrelated
third party to whom the amount is due;
(II) in the case of distributions
for working capital under a qualified
business plan (as defined in
subparagraph (B)(iv)(IV)), directly to
the account owner;
(III) in the case of any qualified
rollover, directly to another
Individual Development Account and
parallel account; or
(IV) in the case of a qualified
final distribution, directly to the
spouse, dependent, or other
named beneficiary of the deceased account owner; and
(iii) is paid after the account owner has
completed a financial education course as
required under section 5(b).
(B) Qualified expenses.--
(i) In general.--The term ``qualified
expenses'' means any of the following:
(I) Qualified higher education
expenses.
(II) Qualified first-time homebuyer
costs.
(III) Qualified business
capitalization or expansion costs.
(IV) Qualified rollovers.
(V) Qualified final distribution.
(ii) Qualified higher education expenses.--
(I) In general.--The term
``qualified higher education expenses''
has the meaning given such term by
section 72(t)(7) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, determined by
treating postsecondary vocational
educational schools as eligible
educational institutions.
(II) Postsecondary vocational
education school.--The term
``postsecondary vocational educational
school'' means an area vocational
education school (as defined in
subparagraph (C) or (D) of section
521(4) of the Carl D. Perkins
Vocational and Applied Technology
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2471(4)))
which is in any State (as defined in
section 521(33) of such Act), as such
sections are in effect on the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(III) Coordination with other
benefits.--The amount of qualified
higher education expenses for any
taxable year shall be reduced as
provided in section 25A(g)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and may
not be taken into account for purposes
of determining qualified higher
education expenses under section 135,
529, or 530 of such Code.
(iii) Qualified first-time homebuyer
costs.--The term ``qualified first-time
homebuyer costs'' means qualified acquisition
costs (as defined in section 72(t)(8) of such
Code without regard to subparagraph (B)
thereof) with respect to a principal residence
(within the meaning of section 121 of such
Code) for a qualified first-time homebuyer (as
defined in section 72(t)(8) of such Code).
(iv) Qualified business capitalization or
expansion costs.--
(I) In general.--The term
Other Popular 106th Congressional Bills Documents:
|
| GovRecords.org presents information on various agencies of the United States Government. Even though all information is believed to be credible and accurate, no guarantees are made on the complete accuracy of our government records archive. Care should be taken to verify the information presented by responsible parties. Please see our reference page for congressional, presidential, and judicial branch contact information. GovRecords.org values visitor privacy. Please see the privacy page for more information. |
 |