U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced four amendments on Tuesday — three to a bill that is currently before the Senate Finance Committee and one to the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which recently was enacted.
For the ABLE Act, Burr proposed that the state residency requirement for savings accounts be eliminated, allowing an ABLE account to be started in any state and not be limited to just the individual’s residence. The ABLE Act created accounts to aid individuals with a disability or who become disabled prior to age 26. These accounts are similar to 529 college-savings accounts.
Within the realm of education, Burr offered two amendments that would extend eligibility for educator-expense deductions to those who home-school their children and to update the educator-expense tax deduction. The amendment for teacher and principal purchases would allow the current $250 deduction to rise with inflation. Burr said this portion has not been revised since 2002.
The final amendment proposed by Burr would alter alternative-fuels tax credits and excise taxes relating to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The amendment eliminates a disparity on the taxing of propane gas, considered to be LPG, and would change the determination of the tax on LNG to be based on energy output, rather than per gallon. Burr said this will bring LNG in line with diesel fuel.
Both the gas-tax changes and the update to the educator-expenses deduction amendments were approved by the committee.
Burr has represented the State of North Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2005. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1955, Burr previously served North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District from 1995 to 2005. Burr was educated at Wake Forest University and serves on the following committees: Finance Committee; Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and the Select Committee on Intelligence (chairman).