On September 12, the House leadership postponed a scheduled vote on legislation (H.R. 5193) aimed at providing tax deductions for elementary and secondary education expenses for low-income families
The bill would expand the tax deduction for higher education expenses included in last year’s tax law (P.L. 107-16) to include K-12 expenses. Single taxpayers with incomes of up to $20,000 and couples with incomes up to $40,000 would be allowed to take an “above-the-line” tax deduction for a variety of K-12 expenses including transportation, books, uniforms, and tuition at public, private, religious, or home schools. The deductions would be allowed from FY2003 through FY2005 at a cost of $4.9 billion.
Although House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) said that the measure had been pulled from the floor “to work out some technical considerations,” there was speculation that the Republican leadership was concerned that they didn’t have enough support to pass the measure.
Prior to canceling the scheduled vote, the House adopted, 208-201, a closed rule for debate on the bill. Reps. Connie Morella (R-MD) and Michael Castle (R-DE) were the only Republicans to vote against the rule. Under the closed rule, Democrats would have been able to offer a motion to recommit the bill with instructions to add an alternative by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) to provide funding for school construction.
