118 HR 6458 IH: Effective Money for Pupils: Overcoming Washington’s Educational Regulation Act U.S. House of Representatives 2023-11-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 6458IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESNovember 21, 2023Mr. Bergman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the WorkforceA BILLTo terminate the Office for Elementary and Secondary Education of the Department of Education and provide block grants to States.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Effective Money for Pupils: Overcoming Washington’s Educational Regulation Act or the EMPOWER Act.

2.

Termination of the Office for Elementary and Secondary Education

The Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) is amended—(1)in section 202(b)(1)—(A)by striking subparagraph (A); and(B)by redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (F) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), respectively; and(2)by repealing section 204.

3.

Repeal and block grants

(a)

Repeal of applicable statutes and programs

Each applicable program and each provision in an applicable statute with respect to an applicable program is repealed.(b)

Block grants to States

Beginning with fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary of Education shall award block grants to each State to make allocations to local educational agencies based on the relative number of children aged 5 to 17, inclusive, in the school district of each local educational agency.

4.

Definitions

In this Act:(1)

Applicable program

The term applicable program any program with respect to elementary or secondary education which the Secretary or the Department of Education has administrative responsibility as provided by law or by delegation of authority pursuant to law.(2)

Applicable statute

The term applicable statute means—(A)the Act or the title, part, section, or any other subdivision of an Act, as the case may be, that authorizes the appropriation for an applicable program; and(B)any other statute that by its terms expressly controls the administration of an applicable program.(3)

State

The term State means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.

5.

Effective date

This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect beginning on October 1, 2023.