[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1851 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1851
To establish State infrastructure banks for education.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2001
Mrs. Tauscher (for herself, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Condit, Ms. Velazquez,
Mr. Frost, Mr. Underwood, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Filner, and Mrs. Thurman)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish State infrastructure banks for education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``State Infrastructure Banks for
Schools Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) According to a 1996 study conducted by the American
School & University, $10.42 billion was spent to address the
Nation's education infrastructure needs in 1995, with the
average total cost of a new high school at $15.4 million.
(2) According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, an estimated $127 billion in school repair,
modernization, expansion, and construction is needed.
(3) Approximately 14 million American students attend
schools which report the need for extensive repair or
replacement of one or more buildings.
(4) Academic research has proven a direct correlation
between the condition of school facilities and student
achievement. At Georgetown University, researchers found that
students assigned to schools in poor conditions can be expected
to fall 10.9 percentage points behind those in buildings in
excellent condition. Similar studies have demonstrated up to a
20 percent improvement in test scores when students were moved
from a poor facility to a new facility.
(5) The Director of Education and Employment Issues at the
Government Accounting Office testified that nearly 52 percent
of schools, affecting 21.3 million students, reported
insufficient technology elements for 6 or more areas.
(6) Large numbers of local educational agencies have
difficulties securing financing for school facility
improvement.
(7) The challenges facing our Nation's public elementary
and secondary schools and libraries require the concerted
efforts of all levels of government and all sectors of the
community.
(8) The United States' competitive position within the
world economy is vulnerable if America's future workforce
continues to be educated in schools and libraries not equipped
for the 21st century.
(9) The deplorable state of collections in America's public
school libraries has increased the demands on public libraries.
In many instances, public libraries substitute for school
libraries creating a higher demand for material and physical
space to house literature and educational computer equipment.
(10) Research shows that 50 percent of a child's
intellectual development takes place before age 4. Our nation's
public and school libraries play a critical role in a child's
early development because they provide a wealth of books and
other resources that can give every child a head start on life
and learning.
SEC. 3. STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) Cooperative agreements.--Subject to the provisions of
this section, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Secretary of Education, may enter into cooperative
agreements with States for the establishment of State
infrastructure banks and multistate infrastructure banks for
making loans to local educational agencies for building or
repairing elementary or secondary schools which provide free
public education (as such terms are defined in section 14101 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8801)) and to public libraries for building or repairing
library facilities.
(2) Interstate compacts.--Congress grants consent to 2 or
more of the States, entering into a cooperative agreement under
paragraph (1) with the Secretary of the Treasury for the
establishment of a multistate infrastructure bank, to enter
into an interstate compact establishing such bank in accordance
with this section.
(b) Funding.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Secretary of Education, shall make grants to State infrastructure
banks and multistate infrastructure banks in a State in a cooperative
agreement under subsection (a)(1) to provide initial capital for loans
provided under this section to local educational agencies and public
libraries. Each bank shall apply repayments of principal and interest
on loans to the making of additional loans. The Secretary shall take
final action on an application for a grant under this subsection within
90 days of the date of the submittal of such application.
(c) Infrastructure Bank Requirements.--In order to establish an
infrastructure bank under this section, each State establishing the
bank shall--
(1) contribute, at a minimum, in each account of the bank
from non-Federal sources an amount equal to 25 percent of the
amount of each capitalization grant made to the State and
contributed to the bank under subsection (b);
(2) identify an operating entity of the State as recipient
of the grant if the entity has the capacity to manage loan
funds and issue debt instruments of the State for purposes of
leveraging the funds;
(3) allow such funds to be used as reserve for debt issued
by the State so long as proceeds are deposited in the fund for
loan purposes;
(4) ensure that investment income generated by funds
contributed to an account of the bank will be--
(A) credited to the account;
(B) available for use in providing loans to
projects eligible for assistance from the account; and
(C) invested in United States Treasury securities,
bank deposits, or such other financing instruments as
the Secretary may approve to earn interest to enhance
the leveraging of projects assisted by the bank;
(5) ensure that any loan from the bank will bear interest
at or below the lowest interest rates being offered for bonds
the income from which is exempt from Federal taxation, as
determined by the State, to make the project that is the
subject of the loan feasible;
(6) ensure that repayment of any loan from the bank will
commence not later than 1 year after the project has been
completed;
(7) ensure that the term for repaying any loan will not
exceed 30 years after the date of the first payment on the loan
under paragraph (5); and
(8) require the bank to make an annual report to the
Secretary on its status and make such other reports as the
Secretary may require by guidelines.
(d) Forms of Assistance From Infrastructure Banks.--
(1) In general.--An infrastructure bank established under
this section may make loans to a local educational agency or a
public library in an amount equal to all or part of the cost of
carrying out a project eligible for assistance under this
section.
(2) Applications for loans.--An application to an
infrastructure bank by a local educational agency or a public
library for a loan shall include--
(A) in the case of a renovation project, a
description of each architectural, civil, structural,
mechanical, or electrical deficiency to be corrected
with funds under a loan and the priorities to be
applied;
(B) a description of the criteria used by the
applicant to determine the type of corrective action
necessary for the renovation of a facility;
(C) a description of improvements to be made and a
cost estimate for the improvements;
(D) a description of how work undertaken with the
loan will promote energy conservation; and
(E) such other information as the infrastructure
bank may require.
An infrastructure bank shall take final action on a completed
application submitted to it within 90 days after the date of
its submittal.
(3) Criteria for loans.--In considering applications for a
loan an infrastructure bank shall consider--
(A) the extent to which the local educational
agency or public library involved lacks the fiscal
capacity, including the ability to raise funds through
the full use of such agency's bonding capacity and
otherwise, to undertake the project for which the loan
would be used without the loan;
(B) in the case of a local educational agency, the
threat that the condition of the physical plant in the
project poses to the safety and well-being of students;
(C) the demonstrated need for the construction,
reconstruction, or renovation based on the condition of
the facility in the project; and
(D) the age of such facility.
(e) Qualifying Projects.--
(1) In general.--A project is eligible for a loan from an
infrastructure bank if it is a project that consists of--
(A) the construction of new elementary or secondary
schools to meet the needs imposed by enrollment growth;
(B) the repair or upgrading of classrooms or
structures related to academic learning, including the
repair of leaking roofs, crumbling walls, inadequate
plumbing, poor ventilation equipment, and inadequate
heating or light equipment;
(C) an activity to increase physical safety at the
educational facility involved;
(D) an activity to enhance the educational facility
involved to provide access for students, teachers, and
other individuals with disabilities;
(E) an activity to address environmental hazards at
the educational facility involved, such as poor
ventilation, indoor air quality, or lighting;
(F) the provision of basic infrastructure that
facilitates educational technology, such as
communications outlets, electrical systems, power
outlets, or a communication closet;
(G) work that will bring an educational facility
into conformity with the requirements of--
(i) environmental protection or health and
safety programs mandated by Federal, State, or
local law if such requirements were not in
effect when the facility was initially
constructed; and
(ii) hazardous waste disposal, treatment,
and storage requirements mandated by the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
or similar State laws;
(H) work that will enable efficient use of
available energy resources, especially coal, solar
power, and other renewable energy resources;
(I) work to detect, remove, or otherwise contain
asbestos hazards in educational facilities; or
(J) work to construct new public library facilities
or repair or upgrade existing public library
facilities.
(2) Davis-bacon.--The wage requirements of the Act of March
3, 1931 (referred to as the ``Davis-Bacon Act'', 40 U.S.C. 276a
et seq.) shall apply with respect to individuals employed on
the projects described in paragraph (1).
(f) Supplementation.--Any loan made by an infrastructure bank shall
be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local
funds available.
(g) Limitation on Repayments.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the repayment of a loan from an infrastructure bank under this
section may not be credited towards the non-Federal share of the cost
of any project.
(h) Secretarial Requirements.--In administering this section, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall specify procedures and guidelines for
establishing, operating, and providing assistance from an
infrastructure bank.
(i) United States Not Obligated.--The contribution of Federal funds
into an infrastructure bank established under this section shall not be
construed as a commitment, guarantee, or obligation on the part of the
United States to any third party, nor shall any third party have any
right against the United States for payment solely by virtue of the
contribution. Any security or debt financing instrument issued by the
infrastructure bank shall expressly state that the security or
instrument does not constitute a commitment, guarantee, or obligation
of the United States.
(j) Management of Federal Funds.--Sections 3335 and 6503 of title
31, United States Code, shall not apply to funds contributed under this
section.
(k) Program Administration.--For each of fiscal years 2002 through
2006, a State may expend not to exceed 2 percent of the Federal funds
contributed to an infrastructure bank established by the State under
this section to pay the reasonable costs of administering the bank.
(l) Secretarial Review.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall review
the financial condition of each infrastructure bank established under
this section and transmit to Congress a report on the results of such
review not later than 90 days after the completion of the review.
(m) Authorization of Appropriations.--For grants to States for the
initial capitalization of infrastructure banks there are authorized to
be appropriated $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and for each of the
next 4 fiscal years.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Local educational agency.--(A) The term ``local
educational agency'' means a public board of education or other
public authority legally constituted within a State for either
administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service
function for, public elementary or secondary schools in a city,
county, township, school district, or other political
subdivision of a State, or for such combination of school
districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an
administrative agency for its public elementary or secondary
schools.
(B) The term includes any other public institution or
agency having administrative control and direction of a public
elementary or secondary school.
(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school
funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs but only to the extent
that such inclusion makes such school eligible for programs for
which specific eligibility is not provided to such school in
another provision of law and such school does not have a
student population that is smaller than the student population
of the local educational agency receiving assistance under this
Act with the smallest student population, except that such
school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State
educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(2) Outlying area.--The term ``outlying area'' means the
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
(3) Public library.--The term ``public library'' means a
library that serves free of charge all residents of a
community, district, or region, and receives its financial
support in whole or in part from public funds. Such term also
includes a research library, which, for the purposes of this
sentence, means a library that--
(A) makes its services available to the public free
of charge;
(B) has extensive collections of books,
manuscripts, and other materials suitable for scholarly
research which are not available to the public through
public libraries;
(C) engages in the dissemination of humanistic
knowledge through services to readers, fellowships,
educational and cultural programs, publication of
significant research, and other activities; and
(D) is not an integral part of an institution of
higher education.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and
each of the outlying areas.
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