Internal Revenue Code of 1986 was amended yesterday by the signing of a new legislative law striking out “Education Individual Retirement Account” from the code and replaced by “Coverdel Education Savings Account.” This was in recognition of the Late Sen. Paul Coverdel who died last year and was in support of the expansion of these IRAs. He was against the limitation of these IRAs that only provided for Higher Learning.
He wanted these IRAs to provide for elementary and secondary education in addition to colleges and universities. Democrats vehemently opposed such reforms, a bill resembling these changes had already been vetoed by Bill Clinton in 1998. There were fearful of the implications of such a law on the public school system in the United States. Savings accounts used to pay for education in private schools would undermine our national public school system, the democrats asserted. The conservatives wanted to send their childrens to private schools and wanted to establish a savings account from which to pay for this education and other expenses that they would incure. The Coverdel purposal was seen by many of them an important piece of legislature.
A year after his death and the inclusion of this purposal in President Bush’s tax cuts shows the persistence of the late senator. His campaign to expand the Education IRAs were honored by his peers and his president on July 26th, 2001, as the IRC 1986 was changed to include his name.
