[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 943 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.943
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen
An Act
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an accurate
comprehensive student count for the purposes of calculating formula
allocations for programs under the Johnson-O'Malley Act, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian
Education Program Modernization Act''.
SEC. 2. INDIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM STUDENT COUNT UPDATE.
The Act of April 16, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5342 et seq.) (commonly
referred to as the Johnson-O'Malley Act) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``SEC. 7. COMPUTATION OF STUDENT COUNT.
``(a) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Contracting party.--The term `contracting party' means an
entity that has a contract through a program authorized under this
Act.
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an
entity that is eligible to apply for a contract for a supplemental
or operational support program under this Act, as outlined in
section 1.
``(3) Existing contracting party.--The term `existing
contracting party' means a contracting party that has a contract
under this Act that is in effect on the date of enactment of the
JOM Modernization Act.
``(4) JOM modernization act.--The term `JOM Modernization Act'
means the Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program
Modernization Act.
``(5) New contracting party.--The term `new contracting party'
means an entity that enters into a contract under this Act after
the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
``(6) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
``(b) Determination of the Number of Eligible Indian Students.--
``(1) Initial determinations.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make an initial
determination of the number of eligible Indian students served
or potentially served by each eligible entity in accordance
with subparagraph (B).
``(B) Process for making the initial determination.--
``(i) Preliminary report.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act,
the Secretary shall publish a preliminary report describing
the number of eligible Indian students served or
potentially served by each eligible entity, using the most
applicable and accurate data (as determined by the
Secretary in consultation with eligible entities) from the
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the initial
determination is to be made from--
``(I) the Bureau of the Census;
``(II) the National Center for Education
Statistics; or
``(III) the Office of Indian Education of the
Department of Education.
``(ii) Data reconciliation.--To improve the accuracy of
the preliminary report described in clause (i) prior to
publishing, the Secretary shall reconcile the data
described in the preliminary report with--
``(I) each existing contracting party's data
regarding the number of eligible Indian students served
by the existing contracting party for the fiscal year
preceding the fiscal year for which the initial
determination is made; and
``(II) identifiable tribal enrollment information.
``(iii) Comment period.--After publishing the
preliminary report under clause (i) in accordance with
clause (ii), the Secretary shall establish a 60-day comment
period to gain feedback about the preliminary report from
eligible entities, which the Secretary shall take into
consideration in preparing the final report described in
clause (iv).
``(iv) Final report.--Not later than 120 days after
concluding the consultation described in clause (iii), the
Secretary shall publish a final report on the initial
determination of the number of eligible Indian students
served or potentially served by each eligible entity,
including justification for not including any feedback
gained during such consultation, if applicable.
``(2) Subsequent academic years.--For each academic year
following the fiscal year for which an initial determination is
made under paragraph (1) to determine the number of eligible Indian
students served or potentially served by a contracting party, the
Secretary shall determine the number of eligible Indian students
served by the contracting party based on the reported eligible
Indian student count numbers identified through the reporting
process described in subsection (c).
``(c) Contracting Party Student Count Reporting Compliance.--
``(1) In general.--For each academic year following the fiscal
year for which an initial determination is made under subsection
(b) to determine the number of eligible Indian students served or
potentially served by a contracting party, the contracting party
shall submit to the Secretary a report describing the number of
eligible Indian students who were served using amounts allocated to
such party under this Act during the previous fiscal year. The
report shall also include an accounting of the amounts and purposes
for which the contract funds were expended.
``(2) Failure to comply.--A contracting party that fails to
submit a report under paragraph (1) shall receive no amounts under
this Act for the fiscal year following the academic year for which
the report should have been submitted.
``(3) Notice.--The Secretary shall provide contracting parties
with timely information relating to--
``(A) initial and final reporting deadlines; and
``(B) the consequences of failure to comply outlined in
paragraph (2).
``(4) Technical assistance.--The Secretary, acting through the
Director of the Bureau of Indian Education, shall provide technical
assistance and training on compliance with the reporting
requirements of this subsection to contracting parties.
``(d) Annual Report.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall prepare an annual
report, including the most recent determination of the number of
eligible Indian students served by each contracting party,
recommendations on appropriate funding levels for the program based
on such determination, and an assessment of the contracts under
this Act that the Secretary--
``(A) may include in the budget request of the Department
of the Interior for each fiscal year;
``(B) shall submit to--
``(i) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
``(ii) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate;
``(iii) the Committee on Education and the Workforce of
the House of Representatives; and
``(iv) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives; and
``(C) shall make publicly available.
``(2) Manner of preparation.--The Secretary shall prepare the
report under paragraph (1) in a manner so as to prevent or minimize
new administrative burdens on contracting parties receiving funds
under this Act.
``(e) Hold Harmless.--
``(1) Initial hold harmless.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided under subparagraph
(B) and subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), for a fiscal
year, an existing contracting party shall not receive an amount
under this Act that is less than the amount that such existing
contracting party received under this Act for the fiscal year
preceding the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
``(B) Exceptions.--
``(i) In general.--An existing contracting party shall
receive an amount under this Act for a fiscal year that is
less than the amount that the existing contracting party
received under this Act for the fiscal year preceding the
date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, if one or
more of the following conditions is met:
``(I) Failure to report.--The existing contracting
party failed to submit a complete report described in
subsection (c) that was most recently due from the date
of the determination.
``(II) Violations of contract or law.--The
Secretary has found that the existing contracting party
has violated the terms of a contract entered into under
this Act or has otherwise violated Federal law.
``(III) Student count decrease.--The number of
eligible Indian students reported by such existing
contracting party under subsection (c) has decreased
below the number of eligible Indian students served by
the existing contracting party in the fiscal year
preceding the date of enactment of the JOM
Modernization Act.
``(ii) Amount of funding reduction for existing
contracting parties reporting decreased student counts.--A
reduction in an amount pursuant to clause (i)(III) shall
not be done in such a manner that the existing contracting
party receives an amount of funding per eligible Indian
student that is less than the amount of funding per
eligible Indian student such party received for the fiscal
year preceding the date of enactment of the JOM
Modernization Act.
``(C) Ratable reductions in appropriations.--If the funds
available under this Act for a fiscal year are insufficient to
pay the full amounts that all existing contracting parties are
eligible to receive under subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year,
the Secretary shall ratably reduce those amounts for the fiscal
year.
``(D) Sunset.--This paragraph shall cease to be effective 4
years after the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
``(2) Maximum decrease after 4 years.--Beginning 4 years after
the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, no contracting
party shall receive for a fiscal year more than a 10 percent
decrease in funding per eligible Indian student from the previous
fiscal year.
``(f) Funding Allocation and Reform.--
``(1) Funding reform.--The Secretary may make recommendations
for legislation to increase the amount of funds available per
eligible Indian student through contracts under this Act to equal
to or greater than the amount of funds that were available per
eligible Indian student through contracts under this Act for fiscal
year 1995, and attempt to identify additional sources of funding
that do not reallocate existing funds otherwise utilized by Indian
students served--
``(A) by the Bureau of Indian Education; or
``(B) under title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
``(2) Increases in program funding.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subsection (e) and
subparagraph (B), for any fiscal year for which the amount
appropriated to carry out this Act exceeds the amount
appropriated to carry out this Act for the preceding fiscal
year, the excess amounts shall--
``(i) be allocated only to those contracting parties
that did not receive their full per student funding
allocation for the previous fiscal year; and
``(ii) be allocated first to new contracting parties
that did not receive their full per student funding
allocation for the previous fiscal year.
``(B) Parity in funding.--Subparagraph (A) shall have no
effect after the first fiscal year for which each contracting
party receives their full per student funding allocation.
``(g) Increased Geographical and Tribal Participation in the
Johnson-O'Malley Supplementary Education Program.--To the maximum
extent practicable, the Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes and
contact State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and
Alaska Native organizations that have not previously entered into a
contract under this Act--
``(1) to determine the interest of the Indian tribes, State
educational agencies, local educational agencies, and Alaska Native
organizations, in entering into such contracts; and
``(2) to share information relating to the process for entering
into a contract under this Act.
``(h) Rulemaking.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, the Secretary, acting
through the Director of the Bureau of Indian Education, shall
undertake and complete a rulemaking process, following the
provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States
Code, to--
``(A) determine how the regulatory definition of `eligible
Indian student' may be revised to clarify eligibility
requirements for contracting parties under this Act;
``(B) determine, as necessary, how the funding formula
described in section 273.31 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations (as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of the JOM Modernization Act) may be clarified and
revised to ensure full participation of contracting parties and
provide clarity on the funding process under this Act; and
``(C) otherwise reconcile and modernize the rules to
comport with the activities of the contracting parties under
this Act as of the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization
Act.
``(2) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date the
rulemaking under paragraph (1) is complete, the Secretary shall
submit a report to Congress describing the results of such
rulemaking and necessary recommendations to ensure the full
implementation of such rulemaking.
``(i) Student Privacy.--The Secretary shall ensure that data is
collected and each report is prepared under this section in a manner
that protects the rights of eligible Indian students in accordance with
section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly referred
to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) (20 U.S.C.
1232g).
``(j) GAO Report.--Not later than 18 months after the final report
described in subsection (b)(1)(B)(iv) is published, the Comptroller
General shall--
``(1) conduct a review of the implementation of this section
during the preceding 2-year period, including any factors
impacting--
``(A) the accuracy of the determinations of the number of
eligible Indian students under this section;
``(B) the communication between the Bureau of Indian
Education and contracting parties; and
``(C) the efforts by the Bureau of Indian Education to
ensure accurate and sufficient distribution of funding for
Indian students;
``(2) submit a report describing the results of the review
under paragraph (1) to--
``(A) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
``(B) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate;
``(C) the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native
Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
``(D) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives; and
``(3) make such report publicly available.
``(k) Effect.--Nothing in this section--
``(1) creates a new program or duplicates program activities
under this Act; or
``(2) replaces or diminishes the effect of regulations to carry
out this Act existing on the day before the date of enactment of
the JOM Modernization Act, unless expressly provided in this
section.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.