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If S. 1133, or its House companion measure H.R. 2646, were presented to the
President, the Secretaries of Education and the Treasury would recommend
that he veto the bill because it is bad education policy and bad tax
policy.
Every American child deserves a high-quality elementary and secondary
education. Targeting limited Federal resources to build stronger public
schools will help ensure that all our Nation's children receive the
education they need to become productive citizens. S. 1133 would divert
needed resources from these schools.
S. 1133 would disproportionately benefit the most affluent families and
provide little benefit to lower- and middle-income families. Families in
the highest income bracket that saved the maximum amount permitted by S.
1133 would receive more than twice the benefit of families in the lowest
tax bracket that saved the same amount. Moreover, given the expansion of
tax-preferred savings vehicles in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the
bill would not create a significant incentive for families to increase
their savings for educational purposes. Instead, S. 1133 would reward
families, particularly those with substantial incomes, for what they are
already doing.
S. 1133 would also create significant compliance problems. Because the
bill permits tax-free withdrawals from Education IRAs for a wide array of
nonspecific expenditures, such as supplementary items for services required
or provided by a school in which a child is enrolled, detailed family
records will be needed to verify compliance.
We understand that Senator Daschle intends to offer a substitute that would
devote revenue spent by this bill to school construction. We strongly
support the school construction program, which would provide tax credits to
improve the public schools and support a high-quality education available
to every American child, regardless of their family income.
Pay-As-You-Go Scoring
S. 1133 would affect receipts; therefore, it is subject to the
pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990. The
Administration's scoring of this bill is under development.
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