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Last updated on Thursday, January 25, 2018
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) recently introduced legislation to allow homeschool families to use 529 savings plans to cover education expenses.
The newly passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes a provision that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Messer fought for to allow families to use tax-advantaged 529 accounts to save for elementary and secondary education, in addition to higher education. The expansion also applied to homeschooled families, but hours before the final vote on the tax bill, Senate Democrats raised a procedural objection that ultimately excluded them.
"It's unfair that Senate Democrats targeted homeschool families in their endless attempts to block President Trump's tax cut plan," Messer said. "Our legislation will make sure the 40,000 Hoosier children who are homeschooled have the same opportunities and resources that every other student has."
Messer has introduced legislation expanding 529 savings plans in every session of Congress since he's been elected. As founder and co-chair of the Congressional School Choice Caucus, Messer has championed expanded choice for parents and consistently fought for more opportunities for students. He and Cruz also recently led a School Choice Rally on Capitol Hill.
Messer's bill is supported by the Home School Legal Defense Association.
"This critical legislation remedies the problem created when the Senate Parliamentarian struck homeschool expenses from the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which resulted in discrimination in the U.S. Tax Code against homeschool families," Will Estrada, Director of Federal Relations at the Home School Legal Defense Association, said. "HSLDA applauds Congressman Messer for standing up for homeschool families in Indiana and all across the nation."
Messer announced plans to file this legislation on Dec. 21, 2017.
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