Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The bill amends Internal Revenue Code section 213 to treat "qualified water competency and water safety lesson expenses" as deductible medical expenses. It defines qualifying instruction and necessary equipment, caps annual benefits at $500 per taxpayer ($1,000 for joint returns or heads of household), limits single-item equipment reimbursements to $100, excludes competitive or training lessons, and applies to taxable years after enactment.
Equity: liberals emphasize low-income exclusion; conservatives focus on private responsibility.
Narrow, popular-sounding tax benefit with modest cost; procedural hurdles possible but House typically more receptive to targeted tax deductions.
The bill amends Internal Revenue Code section 213 to treat "qualified water competency and water safety lesson expenses" as deductible medical expenses.
It defines qualifying instruction and necessary equipment, caps annual benefits at $500 per taxpayer ($1,000 for joint returns or heads of household), limits single-item equipment reimbursements to $100, excludes competitive or training lessons, and applies to taxable years after enactment.
Technically simple and politically uncontroversial but is a tax expenditure with revenue impacts and limited beneficiary reach; standalone passage in Senate is the main barrier.
How solid the drafting looks.
Equity: liberals emphasize low-income exclusion; conservatives focus on private responsibility.
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Equity: liberals emphasize low-income exclusion; conservatives focus on private responsibility.
Likely to welcome the bill's child-safety focus and support for water competency, but note equity and effectiveness limits.
Will view it as a modest, incremental step that does not substitute for publicly funded swim access or a refundable benefit.
Will see the bill as a small, targeted policy to improve child safety with limited budget exposure.
Supports the principle but wants clarity on cost, IRS guidance, and whether it disproportionately aids higher-income itemizers.
Likely to view the bill favorably as encouraging parental responsibility and private solutions to safety concerns, but some will object to expanding medical deductions.
Concerns include government picking favored private activities and added tax-code complexity.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Technically simple and politically uncontroversial but is a tax expenditure with revenue impacts and limited beneficiary reach; standalone passage in Senate is the main barrier.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Equity: liberals emphasize low-income exclusion; conservatives focus on private responsibility.
Technically simple and politically uncontroversial but is a tax expenditure with revenue impacts and limited beneficiary reach; standalone…
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