Lyndell Scott Hegwood - Page 7




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               Petitioner and the mother have not married for economic                
          reasons.  They explain that if they were to marry, the mother               
          would be disqualified from receiving certain prescription drug              
          benefits she is currently entitled to.                                      
               The Court has looked for legislative history to explain the            
          purpose served by the more restrictive definition of “foster                
          child” provided by the 1999 Act.                                            
               In the Joint Committee Print of the Description of Revenue             
          Provisions Contained in the President’s Fiscal Year 2000 Budget             
          Proposal prepared by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation           
          (Feb. 22, 1999) (hereinafter, the Joint Committee Print), section           
          412(a) of the 1999 Act is classified under “Miscellaneous                   
          Revenue-Increase Provisions”, and is captioned as a provision to            
          “Simplify foster child definition under the earned income                   
          credit”.  In the absence of hearings and reports by the House               
          Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, the              
          Joint Committee Print is the only source that has come to the               
          Court’s attention that sheds any light on the purpose of section            
          412(a) of the 1999 Act.2  Although respondent suggests the Joint            
          Committee Print “is probably not to be considered ‘legislative              
          history’ in the strict sense of the term”, it was provided to the           
          members of the House and Senate for their reference before                  

               2The cursory description of sec. 412(a) of the 1999 Act in             
          the conference report provides no help.  See H. Conf. Rept. 106-            
          478, at 61 (1999).                                                          





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