[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6698 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6698

To provide Federal-local community partnership construction funding to 
   local educational agencies eligible to receive payments under the 
                          Impact Aid program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2023

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Brownley, 
and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
              the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide Federal-local community partnership construction funding to 
   local educational agencies eligible to receive payments under the 
                          Impact Aid program.

    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 ``Impact Aid Infrastructure 
Partnership Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) A significant percentage of federally impacted local 
        educational agencies serve schools with facilities that fall 
        far short of meeting basic life-safety standards that ensure a 
        safe learning environment for students and staff alike.
            (2) The American Society of Civil Engineers rated school 
        facilities nationally a D+. Many school buildings of schools 
        served by federally impacted local educational agencies were 
        built more than 65 years ago.
            (3) A 2009 study by the Government Accountability Office 
        found that better school facilities were associated with 
        positive student outcomes in academic achievement, attendance, 
        and higher graduation rates. A second Government Accountability 
        Office study conducted in 2020, concluded that many school 
        facilities of schools served by federally impacted local 
        educational agencies are in need of repair, modernization, 
        renovation, or replacement.
            (4) Data compiled through surveys of federally impacted 
        local educational agencies by both the National Association of 
        Federally Impacted Schools and the National Indian Impacted 
        Schools Association revealed the following:
                    (A) 65 percent of respondents indicated their 
                facilities are in fair to poor condition.
                    (B) 26 percent of respondents have buildings that 
                are more than 80 years old.
                    (C) 53 percent of respondents have no practical 
                capacity to issue bonds.
                    (D) 82 percent of respondents identified ``lack of 
                funds'' as a reason for delaying construction projects. 
                Construction costs in rural, many times geographically 
                remote, local educational agencies have increased by 30 
                percent or more in recent years making facility 
                upgrades and replacement even more challenging.
            (5) Local educational agencies with some bonding capacity 
        or that have access to other sources of funding are still in 
        need of assistance to improve their buildings to ensure a safe 
        learning environment.
            (6) Federally impacted local educational agencies located 
        in rural settings have generally higher labor costs and 
        transportation costs for workers and materials that have to be 
        brought to a school construction site than local educational 
        agencies located in an urban setting with school construction 
        costs. Such costs are normally built in by the contractor 
        affecting the total cost of the project.
            (7) Teacher recruitment and retention is a major challenge 
        for local educational agencies serving students residing on 
        Indian Treaty and Federal trust land as well as land conveyed 
        pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 
        1601 et seq.). Because there are no private housing or rental 
        units available to non-Tribal members, the local educational 
        agency must build and maintain rental units. Without local 
        educational agency owned housing, the daily commute can be as 
        much as 90 miles or more each way. One Arizona local 
        educational agency estimated that the cost to rebuild 
        antiquated teacher housing to be $100,000,000.
            (8) It is common practice that State educational agencies 
        compile infrastructure needs in the local educational agencies 
        located in the State. For example, the Hawaii Department of 
        Education has identified more than $2,000,000,000 in needed 
        repair, renovation, and construction projects to address--
                    (A) structural and health and safety needs;
                    (B) compliance with the Americans with Disabilities 
                Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and title IX of 
                the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 
                seq.); and
                    (C) various other infrastructure and construction 
                needs.
    (b) Purposes.--The purpose of this Act is to provide a 
collaborative Federal-local community partnership that will provide 
both Federal and local funding to address the facility needs of 
federally impacted local educational agencies. The partnership shall be 
designed to--
            (1) provide formula grants to federally impacted local 
        educational agencies that have no capacity to issue bonds 
        because of the presence of large parcels of non-taxable Federal 
        property;
            (2) provide partnership grants requiring a local match to 
        local educational agencies that have a limited capacity to 
        provide facility funding;
            (3) base local matching dollars on the learning opportunity 
        threshold total percentage, as described in subparagraph (B)(i) 
        of section 7003(b)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)(3)); and
            (4) provide grants under section 7007(a) of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)) to 
        address local educational agency needs to modernize and provide 
        basic building improvements.

SEC. 3. IMPACT AID CONSTRUCTION GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

    (a) Funding and Sunset.--
            (1) Authorization of appropriations.--
                    (A) In general.--There are authorized to be 
                appropriated $250,000,000 for the first fiscal year 
                that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, 
                and each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.
                    (B) Designation.--Of the amount appropriated for 
                each fiscal year, the Secretary of Education shall 
                designate--
                            (i) 75 percent for grants awarded under 
                        paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 4; and
                            (ii) 25 percent for grants awarded under 
                        section 4(3).
            (2) Supplemental funding.--The amount authorized under 
        paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any amounts authorized to 
        be appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out 
        section 7007 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707).
            (3) Availability of funds.--Any amounts appropriated under 
        paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.
            (4) Sunset.--The authority to award grants under this Act 
        shall expire at the end of the 4-year period beginning on the 
        date in which funds are first made available to award a grant 
        under this Act.
    (b) Reservation for Technical Assistance, Management, and 
Oversight.--From the funds appropriated under subsection (a)(1), the 
Secretary of Education may reserve not more than half of 1 percent for 
technical assistance, management, and oversight of the activities 
carried out with those funds.

SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT AWARDS BASED ON FACILITY CONDITION.

    The Secretary of Education shall, based on applications submitted 
by local educational agencies under section 6 and eligible for payments 
under section 7002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) or section 7003 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703), establish a facility condition 
priority listing for grant awards as follows:
            (1) Emergency grants priority one.--The Secretary of 
        Education shall award grants by first identifying those local 
        educational agencies--
                    (A) that have a facility--
                            (i) as certified by a State, county, city, 
                        or Tribal official or a licensed architect or 
                        engineer, that is in violation of a Federal, 
                        State, county, city, or Tribal building code 
                        representing a health hazard to students and 
                        school personnel;
                            (ii) that fails to meet building and 
                        classroom standards to ensure the health and 
                        safety of students and staff, as set by the 
                        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
                        requiring classroom building modification or 
                        replacement to--
                                    (I) ensure quality ventilation 
                                systems;
                                    (II) ensure classroom space to 
                                reduce class sizes and ensure social 
                                distancing guidelines when required;
                                    (III) address structural 
                                deficiencies; and
                                    (IV) address other health, safety, 
                                and environmental conditions that would 
                                impact the health, safety, and learning 
                                ability of students;
                            (iii) that is not in compliance with 
                        meeting student capacity standards as required 
                        by the State, including failure to meet 
                        accessibility standards for persons with 
                        disabilities; or
                            (iv) that lacks adequate service capacity 
                        or infrastructure necessary to utilize 
                        technology to offer a curriculum that meets the 
                        current academic standards in the State in 
                        which the local educational agency is located; 
                        or
                    (B) in the case of local educational agencies 
                eligible for payments under section 7003(a)(1)(C) of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)(C)), that have teacher housing that 
                is in need of repair or new construction to meet the 
                needs of school personnel residing in such housing.
            (2) Emergency grants priority two.--After identifying those 
        local educational agencies as described in paragraph (1) for 
        priority in grant awards, the Secretary of Education shall then 
        award grants by identifying those local educational agencies 
        that--
                    (A) have a facility that--
                            (i) does not meet minimum structural or 
                        health and safety standards as adopted by the 
                        American Society of Civil Engineers and is 
                        considered to be in poor condition and 
                        represents a potential health or safety hazard 
                        to students and school personnel, including due 
                        to--
                                    (I) poor indoor air quality;
                                    (II) the presence of hazardous and 
                                toxic substances and chemicals;
                                    (III) the lack of safe drinking 
                                water at the tap and water used for 
                                meal preparation, including due to the 
                                level of lead and other contaminants in 
                                such water;
                                    (IV) energy and water inefficiency;
                                    (V) excessive classroom noise;
                                    (VI) structural deficiencies; or
                                    (VII) other health, safety, and 
                                environmental conditions that would 
                                impact the health, safety, and learning 
                                ability of students;
                            (ii) is not in compliance with meeting 
                        student capacity standards as required by the 
                        State, including failure to meet accessibility 
                        standards for persons with disabilities; or
                            (iii) lacks adequate services necessary to 
                        utilize technology to offer a curriculum that 
                        meets the current academic standards in the 
                        State in which the local educational agency is 
                        located; or
                    (B) in the case of local educational agencies 
                eligible for payments under section 7003(a)(1)(C) of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)(C)), have an identified need for 
                teacher housing to ensure a safe living environment for 
                teachers and their families or a need for repair of 
                existing housing or new construction to meet the basic 
                needs of school personnel residing in such housing.

SEC. 5. FORMULA GRANTS.

    From funds designated under section 3(a)(1)(B)(ii), the Secretary 
of Education shall make payments in accordance with section 7007(a) of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)), 
except that--
            (1) when calculating the total number of weighted student 
        units as described in paragraph (3)(A)(i)(II) of section 
        7007(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7707(a)), the Secretary of Education shall also include 
        the total number of weighted student units of children 
        described in subparagraphs (B) and (D)(i) of section 7003(a)(1) 
        of such Act for the preceding year for all local educational 
        agencies not meeting the requirements as described in section 
        7007(a)(2)(B) of such Act but that meet the requirements of 
        section 572(a)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2006 (20 U.S.C. 7703b(a)(2)); and
            (2) when calculating the total number of weighted student 
        units as described in section 7003(a)(1)(C) of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)(C)), the 
        Secretary of Education shall include the number of children 
        determined under section 7003(a)(1)(C) of such Act for the 
        preceding school year that constituted at least 20 percent of 
        the total student enrollment in the schools of the agency 
        during the preceding school year.

SEC. 6. APPLICATION.

     A local educational agency eligible to apply for a grant under 
paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4 that desires to receive a grant shall 
submit an application at such a time and containing such information as 
determined appropriate by the Secretary of Education.

SEC. 7. AWARD CRITERIA.

    When awarding a grant under paragraph (1) or (2) of paragraph (4), 
the Secretary shall first apply the facility condition priority listing 
established under such section, and after such priority requirements 
are applied, the Secretary of Education shall then--
            (1) first consider those local educational agencies (or, in 
        the case of a local educational agency that does not have the 
        authority to tax or issue bonds, the agency's fiscal agent) 
        that have limited or no capacity to issue bonds or have a total 
        assessed value of real property that may be taxed for school 
        purposes of less than $50,000,000;
            (2) next consider those local educational agencies not 
        described in paragraph (1) that--
                    (A) have a total assessed value of real property 
                that may be taxed for school purposes of less than 
                $100,000,000; or
                    (B) have an assessed value of real property that 
                may be taxed for school purposes per student that is 
                less than the average of the assessed value of real 
                property that may be taxed for school purposes per 
                student in the State in which the local educational 
                agency is located; and
            (3) finally consider--
                    (A) the number and percentages of children 
                described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of 
                section 7003(a)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)) enrolled 
                in the school facility to be supported with grant 
                funds;
                    (B) the learning opportunity threshold total 
                percentage as described in subparagraph (B)(i) of 
                section 7003(b)(3) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)(3));
                    (C) with respect to local educational agencies 
                eligible for payments under section 7002 of such Act 
                (20 U.S.C. 7702), the percentage of land in the local 
                educational agency that is Federal property;
                    (D) the potential use for community programs and 
                events in the school facility to be supported with 
                grant funds;
                    (E) the feasibility of project completion within 24 
                months from the grant award; and
                    (F) the availability of other resources for the 
                proposed project including the use of in-kind 
                contributions.

SEC. 8. PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--When making payments for grants awarded under this 
Act, the Secretary of Education shall comply with the following:
            (1) Make payment as required in full for those local 
        educational agencies described in section 4(1) with no capacity 
        to issue bonds.
            (2) Require those local educational agencies not described 
        in paragraph (1) to pay a percentage of the total cost of the 
        project supported with grant funds as follows:
                    (A) For those local educational agencies with a 
                learning opportunity threshold total percentage, as 
                described in subparagraph (B)(i) of section 7003(b)(3) 
                of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
                (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)(3))--
                            (i) that is 80 percent or greater, such 
                        agencies shall pay a non-Federal share equal to 
                        10 percent of the total cost of the project;
                            (ii) that is less than 80 percent, but 50 
                        percent or greater, such agencies shall pay a 
                        non-Federal share equal to 20 percent of the 
                        total cost of the project; and
                            (iii) that is less than 50 percent, such 
                        agencies shall pay a non-Federal share equal to 
                        25 percent of the total cost of the project.
                    (B) For those local educational agencies eligible 
                to receive a payment under section 7002 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7702) that are not described in paragraph (1) of 
                section 4, such agencies shall pay a non-Federal share 
                equal to 25 percent of the total cost of the project.
            (3) Make payment as required in full for those local 
        educational agencies described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 
        section 4, whose payment is $5,000,000 or less for the year in 
        which they are to receive the grant. 
            (4) Make payment to those local educational agencies 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4, whose payment 
        is more than $5,000,000 for the year in which they are to 
        receive the grant, after final drawings and specifications have 
        been approved by the Secretary of Education and the 
        construction contract has been entered into, in accordance with 
        requirements as determined by the Secretary and at such times 
        and in such installments as may be reasonable.
    (b) Redistribution of Payments.--Any funds paid to a local 
educational agency under this Act and not expended, by such a time as 
determined by the Secretary of Education, for the purposes for which 
such funds are paid shall be redistributed to make payments under 
section 7007(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7707(a)).

SEC. 9. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    (a) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Authorized activities.--Grant funds under this Act may 
        be used for one or more of the following:
                    (A) Construction.
                    (B) Renovation.
                    (C) Repair of school facilities.
            (2) In-kind contributions.--A local educational agency may 
        use in-kind contributions to meet the non-Federal share 
        requirement under section 8(a)(2).
            (3) Prohibitions on use of funds.--A local educational 
        agency may not use a grant awarded under paragraph (1) or (2) 
        of section 4 for--
                    (A) a project for a school facility for which the 
                agency does not have--
                            (i) full title;
                            (ii) a long-term Tribal lease agreement; or
                            (iii) another interest as defined in 
                        regulation by the Secretary of Education; and
                    (B) the acquisition of real property.
            (4) Supplement, not supplant.--A local educational agency 
        shall use funds awarded under this Act only to supplement the 
        amount of funds that would, in the absence of the Federal funds 
        provided under the grant, be made available from non-Federal 
        sources to carry out construction, renovation, or repairs of 
        school facilities as described in section 4 and not to supplant 
        such funds.
    (b) Annual Report on Grant Program.--Not later than September 30 of 
the first fiscal year after the Secretary of Education first awards 
grants under this Act and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of 
Education shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, and 
make publicly available, a report on the projects carried out with 
funds made available under this Act.
    (c) Carry-Over of Certain Applications.--
            (1) In general.--A local educational agency that applies 
        for a grant under this Act for a fiscal year and does not 
        receive the grant for the fiscal year shall have the 
        application for the grant considered for the following fiscal 
        year not to exceed the end of the 4-year period as described in 
        paragraph (4) of section 3(a), subject to the priority 
        requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 4.
            (2) Priority listing.--The Secretary of Education shall--
                    (A) maintain a priority listing of local 
                educational agencies meeting the eligibility 
                requirements found in--
                            (i) paragraph (1) of section 4; and
                            (ii) paragraph (2) of section 4; and
                    (B) update the listing for each of paragraphs (1) 
                and (2) of section (4), including those local 
                educational agencies that applied for the previous 
                fiscal year, but were not funded and for those agencies 
                applying the succeeding fiscal year.
    (d) Local Educational Agency Defined.--In this Act, the term 
``local educational agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 
7013 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7713).
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