[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 136 Introduced in House (IH)]






106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 136

      Expressing the sense of the Congress relating to the timely 
distribution of payments to local educational agencies under the Impact 
                              Aid program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 17, 1999

 Ms. Woolsey submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
      Expressing the sense of the Congress relating to the timely 
distribution of payments to local educational agencies under the Impact 
                              Aid program.

Whereas there are over 1,800 local educational agencies located throughout the 
        Nation enrolling over 17,000,000 children that are impacted by a Federal 
        presence and to varying degrees depend on Federal funds allocated under 
        the authority of the Impact Aid program (title VIII of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965; 20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.);
Whereas Congress recognized the Federal obligation that this Nation has to local 
        educational agencies impacted by a Federal presence through the passage 
        and enactment of the Impact Aid program in 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st 
        Congress);
Whereas Congress has continued to show its support for the program through the 
        subsequent reauthorizations that have maintained and improved the 
        program over the past 47 years;
Whereas the timely receipt of payments under the Impact Aid program is important 
        to these local educational agencies allowing such agencies to pay for 
        school supplies, including text books, general upkeep (including 
        transportation costs), staff salaries, and other operation and 
        maintenance expenses normally paid for from locally derived revenue;
Whereas because the Impact Aid program is the only major Federal education 
        program that is not forward funded, the receipt of these dollars as soon 
        as possible after the passage of the Departments of Labor, Health and 
        Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
        must be of the highest priority of the Department of Education;
Whereas the Department of Education has not yet distributed over $145,000,000 of 
        Impact Aid funds appropriated for fiscal years prior to fiscal year 1997 
        and still has over $250,000,000 or 34 percent of the money appropriated 
        for fiscal year 1997 to distribute;
Whereas many federally impacted local educational agencies have communicated 
        their need for these dollars to both the Department of Education and to 
        the Congress as their 1996-97 school fiscal year is nearly 75 percent 
        complete;
Whereas local educational agencies not only have not received final payments for 
        fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997, but such agencies cannot with any 
        certainty prepare their school budgets for the 1997-98 school year 
        making it very difficult to plan and to finalize contracts;
Whereas it is unfair to the communities and students served by a federally 
        connected local educational agency to be faced with the uncertainty of 
        when they will receive their Impact Aid funds and it places an 
        additional burden on local taxpayers, school board members, and school 
        officials of these communities to plan, prepare, and implement an 
        operating budget for each school year; and
Whereas the Congress and the Department of Education should make every effort 
        possible to ensure that federally connected school districts receive 
        their payments under the Impact Aid program in a reasonable amount of 
        time following the passage and enactment of the Departments of Labor, 
        Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 
        Appropriations Act for each fiscal year and that the continued 
        disruption and delay of Impact Aid payments makes it difficult for a 
        federally impacted local educational agency to carry out its mission of 
        educating children: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Impact Aid program (title VIII of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965; 20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) 
        should be funded at an appropriate level in order to allow 
        funds under such program to be made available on a forward 
        funded basis as is currently required by law; and
            (2) upon completion of the Departments of Labor, Health and 
        Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 
        Appropriations Act for each fiscal year, the Secretary of 
        Education should distribute payments under the Impact Aid 
        program to eligible local educational agencies not later than 
        45 days after the date of enactment of each such Act, if other 
        congressional action has not caused a delay and State education 
        agencies have supplied all the necessary information to the 
        Department of Education for such distribution of payments.
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