One wouldn't know it from watching the nightly news, but it turns out that some members of Congress are a.) actually working across the aisle in a constructive manner and b.) prioritizing things that don't involve the words "stimulus," "auto company," or "bank."

Some such efforts have produced the Savings Enhancement for Education in College Act, a bill introduced by Reps Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Pat Tibieri (R-OH) to improve 529 college savings plans. Provisions include:

•  Extending the Saver's Credit to include 529 plans. The Saver's Credit is a wonderful tool that low-income families can use to enhance their retirement savings. Enhancing the credit by making 529 contributions eligible is a simple step with positive and powerful implications for families trying to save for college in a down market. Besides, some very smart folks have been pushing for this for a while (shameless program promotion on p. 7, thank you).
• Making permanent a temporary provision allowing 529 funds to be used for computers and educational software. This simply makes permanent a provision in the much ballyhooed stimulus bill.
• Giving 529 account owners more flexibility by allowing them to change investment options twice a year. This makes permanent a recently announced IRS rule. My thoughts on this here.

It's a welcome development to see policymakers -- additional co-sponsors include Reps Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), and Ron Kind (D-WI) -- thinking about ways to improve tax-advantaged savings tools as well as promoting tax time as a promising one for savings. More importantly, this is a signal that Congress is serious about attacking the challenge of college saving among the less-well-off -- a topic that New America's newly-launched College Savings Initiative plans to attack for years to come.