PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 24, 2023
Student Empowerment Act
This bill allows tax-exempt distributions from qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans) to be used for additional educational expenses in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school.
(Under current law, distributions in connection with an elementary or secondary school are limited to tuition for a public, private, or religious school.) The bill allows the distributions to be used for additional educational expenses, including
curriculum and curricular materials,
books or other instructional materials,
online educational materials,
tutoring or educational classes outside the home,
testing fees,
fees for dual enrollment in an institution of higher education, and
educational therapies for students with disabilities.
Distributions may also be used for tuition and the purposes above in connection with a homeschool (whether treated as a homeschool or a private school under state law).
People & committees
Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.57 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.57 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.57 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.57 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.