FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 560

91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT.

Read 1st time January 25, 2001, and 1000 copies ordered printed.

TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk

1216L.01I

AN ACT

To amend chapter 135, RSMo, relating to the promotion of educational preparedness for children by adding thereto two new sections relating to the same subject.



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 135, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto two new sections, to be known as sections 135.961 and 135.963, to read as follows:

135.961. 1. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2001, a taxpayer who is allowed to claim as a dependent on such taxpayer's federal income tax return for the same tax year a child, who, at the end of the tax year, is enrolled in the first grade and who scored seventy percent or higher on an approved educational readiness test, shall, subject to the requirements of this section, be allowed to claim a refundable credit against the tax otherwise due pursuant to chapter 143, RSMo, excluding sections 143.191 to 143.265, RSMo, and related provisions, in an amount equal to three hundred dollars per such child.

2. To obtain the credit authorized by this section, a taxpayer shall have his or her dependent child's or children's educational readiness tested by the department of elementary and secondary education during the summer between kindergarten and first grade. The department of elementary and secondary education shall design and implement an educational readiness test which has standards that comply with the International Reading Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children's "Learning to Read and Write: Continuum of Children's Development in Early Reading and Writing" or its successor publication, and other children's developmental associations, publications and organizations. The department of elementary and secondary education shall set up testing sites and schedules, and provide such information to parents of kindergartners through the elementary school no later than the end of a child's kindergarten school year. The department of elementary and secondary education shall issue a certificate of tax credit in an appropriate amount to any taxpayer whose dependent child or children receives a score of seventy percent or higher on the educational readiness test.

3. A taxpayer shall claim the credit allowed by this section at the time such taxpayer files a return by attaching the original certificate of tax credit or a copy thereof to such taxpayer's income tax return; provided that, a taxpayer who fails to timely file such taxpayer's return shall not be eligible for a credit pursuant to this section. The tax credit allowed pursuant to this section may not be carried forward or back to another tax year.

4. The department of elementary and secondary education is authorized to promulgate all rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo.

135.963. 1. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2001, a taxpayer who is allowed to claim as a dependent on such taxpayer's federal income tax return for the same tax year a child, who, at the end of the tax year, is enrolled in kindergarten to twelfth grade, and who purchases educational readiness materials recommended by the department of elementary and secondary education, shall, subject to the requirements of this section, be allowed to claim a refundable credit against the tax otherwise due pursuant to chapter 143, RSMo, excluding sections 143.191 to 143.265, RSMo, and related provisions, in an amount equal to two hundred dollars per such child.

2. The department of elementary and secondary education shall create a list of recommended educational readiness materials after consulting with children's developmental associations, institutions and organizations. The department of elementary and secondary education shall, by November first of each school year, provide such a copy of its list of recommended educational readiness materials to parents of children enrolled in kindergarten to twelfth grade through the elementary and secondary schools. The department of elementary and secondary education shall make copies of its list of recommended educational readiness materials available at all libraries in this state. To obtain the credit authorized by this section, a taxpayer shall submit to the department of elementary and secondary education such proof as the department may require that he or she purchased recommended educational readiness materials. Upon receipt of a taxpayer's application and adequate proof of purchase, the department of elementary and secondary education shall issue a certificate of tax credit.

3. A taxpayer shall claim the credit allowed by this section at the time such taxpayer files a return by attaching the original certificate of tax credit or a copy thereof to such taxpayer's income tax return; provided that, a taxpayer who fails to timely file such taxpayer's return shall not be eligible for a credit pursuant to this section. The tax credit allowed pursuant to this section may not be carried forward or back to another tax year.

4. The department of elementary and secondary education is authorized to promulgate all rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo.


Missouri House of Representatives