[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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