[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9938-H9940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1300
              IMPACT AID TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1996

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur 
in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 3269) to amend the Impact Aid 
Program to provide for a hold-harmless with respect to amounts for 
payments relating to the Federal acquisition of real property, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       Senate amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. HOLD-HARMLESS AMOUNTS FOR PAYMENTS RELATING TO 
                   FEDERAL ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.

       Section 8002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subsections:
       ``(g) Former Districts.--
       ``(1) In general.--Where the school district of any local 
     educational agency described in paragraph (2) is formed at 
     any time after 1938 by the consolidation of two or more 
     former school districts, such agency may elect (at any time 
     such agency files an application under section 8005) for any 
     fiscal year after fiscal year 1994 to have (A) the 
     eligibility of such local educational agency, and (B) the 
     amount which such agency shall be eligible to receive, 
     determined under this section only with respect to such of 
     the former school districts comprising such consolidated 
     school districts as such agency shall designate in such 
     election.
       ``(2) Eligible local educational agencies.--A local 
     educational agency referred to in paragraph (1) is any local 
     educational agency that, for fiscal year 1994 or any 
     preceding fiscal year, applied for and was determined 
     eligible under section 2(c) of the Act of September 30, 1950 
     (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) as such section was in effect 
     for such fiscal year.
       ``(h) Hold-Harmless Amounts.--
       ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2)(A), 
     the total amount that the Secretary shall pay under 
     subsection (b) to a local educational agency that is 
     otherwise eligible for a payment under this section--
       ``(A) for fiscal year 1995 shall not be less than 85 
     percent of the amount such agency received for fiscal year 
     1994 under section 2 of the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public 
     Law 874, 81st Congress) as such section was in effect on 
     September 30, 1994; or
       ``(B) for fiscal year 1996 shall not be less than 85 
     percent of the amount such agency received for fiscal year 
     1995 under subsection (b).
       ``(2) Ratable reductions.--(A)(i) If necessary in order to 
     make payments to local educational agencies in accordance 
     with paragraph (1) for any fiscal year, the Secretary first 
     shall ratably reduce payments under subsection (b) for such 
     year to local educational agencies that do not receive a 
     payment under this subsection for such year.
       ``(ii) If additional funds become available for making 
     payments under subsection (b) for such year, then payments 
     that were reduced under clause (i) shall be increased on the 
     same basis as such payments were reduced.
       ``(B)(i) If the sums made available under this title for 
     any fiscal year are insufficient to pay the full amounts that 
     all local educational agencies in all States are eligible to 
     receive under paragraph (1) after the application of 
     subparagraph (A) for such year, then the Secretary shall 
     ratably reduce payments under paragraph (1) to all such 
     agencies for such year.
       ``(ii) If additional funds become available for making 
     payments under paragraph (1) for such fiscal year, then 
     payments that were reduced under clause (i) shall be 
     increased on the same basis as such payments were reduced.''.

     SEC. 2. APPLICATIONS FOR INCREASED PAYMENTS.

       (a) Payments.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
       (1) the Bonesteel-Fairfax School District Number 26-5, 
     South Dakota, and the Wagner Community School District Number 
     11-4, South Dakota, shall be eligible to apply for payment 
     for fiscal year 1994 under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of 
     September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) (as such 
     section was in effect on September 30, 1994); and
       (2) the Secretary of Education shall use a subgroup of 10 
     or more generally comparable local educational agencies for 
     the purpose of calculating a payment described in paragraph 
     (1) for a local educational agency described in such 
     paragraph.
       (b) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a 
     payment described in subsection (a), a school district 
     described in such subsection shall apply for such payment 
     within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed to require a local educational agency that received 
     a payment under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September 
     30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) (as such section was 
     in effect on September 30, 1994) for fiscal year 1994 to 
     return such payment or a portion of such payment to the 
     Federal Government.

     SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE FEDERALLY CONNECTED CHILDREN 
                   RESIDING ON MILITARY INSTALLATION HOUSING 
                   UNDERGOING RENOVATION.

       (a) In General.--Section 8003(a) of the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) Military installation housing undergoing 
     renovation.--For purposes of computing the amount of a 
     payment for a local educational agency for children described 
     in paragraph (1)(D)(i), the Secretary shall consider such 
     children to be children described in paragraph (1)(B) if the 
     Secretary determines, on the basis of a certification 
     provided to the Secretary by a designated representative of 
     the Secretary of Defense, that such children would have 
     resided in housing on Federal property in accordance with 
     paragraph (1)(B) except that such housing was undergoing 
     renovation on the date for which the Secretary determines the 
     number of children under paragraph (1).''.
       (b) Effective Date.--Paragraph (4) of section 8003(a) of 
     the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added 
     by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal years 
     after fiscal year 1995.

     SEC. 4. COMPUTATION OF PAYMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE FEDERALLY 
                   CONNECTED CHILDREN IN STATES WITH ONLY ONE 
                   LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.

       (a) In General.--Section 8003(b) of the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) States with only one local educational agency.--
       ``(A) In general.--In any of the 50 States of the United 
     States in which there is only one local educational agency, 
     the Secretary shall, for purposes of paragraphs (1)(B), 
     (1)(C), and (2) of this subsection, and subsection (e), 
     consider each administrative school district in the State to 
     be a separate local educational agency.
       ``(B) Computation of maximum amount of basic support 
     payment and threshold payment.--In computing the maximum 
     payment amount under paragraph (1)(C) and the learning 
     opportunity threshold payment under paragraph (2)(B) for an 
     administrative school district described in subparagraph 
     (A)--
       ``(i) the Secretary shall first determine the maximum 
     payment amount and the total current expenditures for the 
     State as a whole; and
       ``(ii) the Secretary shall then--

       ``(I) proportionately allocate such maximum payment amount 
     among the administrative school districts on the basis of the 
     respective weighted student units of such districts; and
       ``(II) proportionately allocate such total current 
     expenditures among the administrative school districts on the 
     basis of the respective number of students in average daily 
     attendance at such districts.''.

       (b) Effective Date.--Paragraph (3) of section 8003(b) of 
     the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added 
     by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal years 
     after fiscal year 1994.

     SEC. 5. DATA AND DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE FUNDS.

       (a) Data.--Paragraph (4) of section 8003(f) of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     7703(f)) is amended--
       (1) in the heading, by striking ``Current year'';
       (2) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
       ``(A) shall use student, revenue, and tax data from the 
     second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the 
     local educational agency is applying for assistance under 
     this subsection;''; and
       (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``such year'' and 
     inserting ``the fiscal year for which the local educational 
     agency is applying for assistance under this subsection''.
       (b) Determination of Available Funds.--Paragraph (3) of 
     section 8003(f) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(f)) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding subclause (I) of subparagraph 
     (A)(iii), by inserting ``, except as provided in subparagraph 
     (C),'' after ``but''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(C) Determination of available funds.--When determining 
     the amount of funds available to the local educational agency 
     for current expenditures for purposes of subparagraph 
     (A)(iii) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall include, with 
     respect to the local educational

[[Page H9939]]

     agency's opening cash balance for such fiscal year, the 
     portion of such balance that is the greater of--
       ``(i) the amount that exceeds the maximum amount of funds 
     for current expenditures that the local educational agency 
     was allowed by State law to carry over from the prior fiscal 
     year, if State restrictions on such amounts were applied 
     uniformly to all local educational agencies in the State; or
       ``(ii) the amount that exceeds 30 percent of the local 
     educational agency's operating costs for the prior fiscal 
     year.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
     and (b) shall apply with respect to fiscal years after fiscal 
     year 1996.

     SEC. 6. PAYMENTS RELATING TO FEDERAL PROPERTY.

       Section 8002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) (as amended by section 1) is further 
     amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(i) Priority Payments.--Notwithstanding subsection 
     (b)(1)(B), and for any fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 
     1997 for which the amount appropriated to carry out this 
     section exceeds the amount so appropriated for fiscal year 
     1996, the Secretary shall first use such excess amount to 
     increase the payment that would otherwise be made under this 
     section to not more than 50 percent of the maximum amount 
     determined under subsection (b) for any local educational 
     agency that--
       ``(1) received a payment under this section for fiscal year 
     1996;
       ``(2) serves a school district that contains all or a 
     portion of a United States military academy;
       ``(3) serves a school district in which the local tax 
     assessor has certified that at least 60 percent of the real 
     property is federally owned; and
       ``(4) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary 
     that such agency's per-pupil revenue derived from local 
     sources for current expenditures is not less than that 
     revenue for the preceding fiscal year.''.

     SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF IMPACT AID PAYMENTS.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education shall treat any 
     State as having met the requirements of section 5(d)(2)(A) of 
     the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) 
     for fiscal year 1991 (as such section was in effect for such 
     fiscal year), and as not having met those requirements for 
     each of the fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994 (as such 
     section was in effect for fiscal year 1992, 1993, and 1994, 
     respectively), if--
       (1) the State's program of State aid was not certified by 
     the Secretary under section 5(d)(2)(C)(i) of the Act of 
     September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for any 
     fiscal year prior to fiscal year 1991;
       (2) the State submitted timely notice under that section of 
     the State's intention to seek that certification for fiscal 
     year 1991;
       (3) the Secretary determined that the State did not meet 
     the requirements of section 5(d)(2)(A) of such Act for fiscal 
     year 1991; and
       (4) the State made a payment to each local educational 
     agency in the State (other than a local educational agency 
     that received a payment under section 3(d)(2)(B) of such Act 
     for fiscal year 1991) in an amount equal to the difference 
     between the amount such agency received under such Act for 
     fiscal year 1991 and the amount such agency would have 
     received under such Act for fiscal year 1991 if payments 
     under such Act had not been taken into consideration in 
     awarding State aid to such agencies for fiscal year 1991.
       (b) Repayment Not Required.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law, any local educational agency in a State 
     that meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (4) of 
     subsection (a) and that received funds under section 
     3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 
     81st Congress) for fiscal year 1991 (as such section was in 
     effect for such fiscal year) shall not, by virtue of 
     subsection (a), be required to repay those funds to the 
     Secretary of Education.

     SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR 
                   THE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY SERVING THE NORTH 
                   HANOVER TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NEW JERSEY, 
                   UNDER PUBLIC LAW 874, 81ST CONGRESS.

       The Secretary of Education shall not consider any funds 
     that the Secretary of Education determines the local 
     educational agency serving the North Hanover Township Public 
     Schools, New Jersey, has designated for a future liability 
     under an early retirement incentive program as funds 
     available to such local educational agency for purposes of 
     determining the eligibility of such local educational agency 
     for a payment for fiscal year 1994, or the amount of any such 
     payment, under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September 30, 
     1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress), as such section was in 
     effect for such fiscal year.

     SEC. 9. CORRECTED LOCAL CONTRIBUTION RATE.

       (a) Computation.--The Secretary of Education shall compute 
     a payment for a local educational agency under the Act of 
     September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for each 
     of the fiscal years 1991 through 1994 (as such Act was in 
     effect for each of those fiscal years, as the case may be) 
     using a corrected local contribution rate based on generally 
     comparable school districts, if--
       (1) an incorrect local contribution rate was submitted to 
     the Secretary of Education by the State in which such agency 
     is located, and the incorrect local contribution rate was 
     verified as correct by the Secretary of Education; and
       (2) the corrected local contribution rate is subject to 
     review by the Secretary of Education.
       (b) Payment.--Using funds appropriated under the Act of 
     September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for fiscal 
     years 1991 through 1994 that remain available for obligation 
     (if any), the Secretary of Education shall make payments 
     based on the computations described in subsection (a) to the 
     local educational agency for such fiscal years.

     SEC. 10. STATE EQUALIZATION PLANS.

       Subparagraph (A) of section 8009(b)(2) of the Elementary 
     and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7709(b)(2)) is 
     amended by striking ``more than'' and all that follows 
     through the period and inserting ``more than 25 percent.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Wicker). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham] and the gentleman from 
Oregon [Mr. Blumenauer] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham].
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of H.R. 3269, the Impact Aid Technical 
Amendments Act.
  Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has a responsibility to children 
attending schools that lose tax revenues associated with a Government 
facility, such as a military base. That is why we have impact aid. What 
happens is many times someone in the military will sign up in one State 
and maintain their residency there. They pay their State taxes to that 
State. They then receive orders to another State and their children may 
attend school in that new State. But the tax revenue does not follow 
them. This is what impact aid does. It equals out the amount of the 
impact on those schools.
  Unfortunately, parts of the impact aid law last authorized in the 
103rd Congress are having unintended effects or are failing to keep up 
with changing circumstances. Some school districts may not receive the 
impact aid that their circumstances demand, so H.R. 3269 makes minor 
technical corrections in the impact aid law so that federally impacted 
school districts are treated fairly.
  H.R. 3269 was adopted by voice vote in the House on May 7, 1996. It 
made four changes in the impact aid law. Two were related to Federal 
property payments, one addressed the effects of military housing 
renovation, and the last clarified the intent of Congress with regard 
to impact aid payments to Hawaii.
  The Senate made additional technical changes, which I support. They 
include a long overdue adjustment for schools near West Point in New 
York; a technical change involving the effects of a heavily impacted 
New Jersey school pension escrow account upon its impact aid payment in 
a previous fiscal year; a matter affecting a small number of schools in 
South Dakota; a provision previously adopted by the Senate regarding 
impact aid within the State of Nebraska; and a delay in the 
equalization mandate for schools in the States of Kansas and Alaska.
  Mr. Speaker, in developing this legislation, we sought to include 
minor technical corrections in three categories: unintended 
consequences of the previous authorization, areas where the Department 
interpreted Congressional intent in an unintended way, and issues 
unforeseen by the 103rd Congress. It is not a comprehensive correction, 
particularly when one considers the many new ways the military is 
arranging family housing.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 3269, the Impact Aid Technical 
Amendments, so we can send it to the President to become law.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3269, the Impact Aid Technical 
Amendments of 1996. The Impact Aid Program was reauthorized during the 
103d Congress. At that time, significant changes were made to the 
existing Impact Aid Program which greatly enhanced its operation.
  During this Congress, the Committee on Economic and Educational 
Opportunities held a hearing to review how the changes in the Impact 
Aid Program were being carried out. We discovered that on the whole, 
the Impact Aid Program is functioning much more effectively as a result 
of the changes made during the 103d Congress. However, we also 
discovered certain situations where there was a need for minor 
corrections, H.R. 3269 makes the necessary

[[Page H9940]]

technical corrections to further enhance the operation of the Impact 
Aid Program and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume for a colloquy with the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Fawell].
  I yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Fawell].
  Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. I regret 
that I have not had the opportunity to take a good long look at the 
details at least, or the ramifications of the amendment that was 
affixed to this bill in the Senate.
  I represent several school districts in my district back in Illinois 
which receive section 8002 funds, and I am very concerned that an 
amendment, or the amendment that was affixed to this bill in the Senate 
would essentially provide that a large portion of new funding, I guess 
we cannot ascertain just how much, for this program would go to one 
particular school district in 1997, and, more importantly, every fiscal 
year thereafter.
  That does concern me, because, of course, there are a lot of 
districts throughout this country who are not getting full funding as 
it is right now, and if all future increases in appropriations were to 
be subject to this amendment, I think I would have to object.
  I would request, therefore, of the chairman, and perhaps the ranking 
member might want to have something to say about this, that we revisit 
this issue at a later date, with the understanding that an adjustment 
would be made so that the changes in the distribution formula are not 
in effect for every increase in appropriations for future fiscal years, 
but would be basically in effect only for the fiscal year that we are 
dealing with, fiscal year 1997, and not for future fiscal years. That 
is the deep concern I have.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman is 
correct. There will be other changes in the future. This is one. That 
particular school district was West Point, which is one of our 
academies that was impacted due to a special significance. It was not 
my district or any particular district, but it was a military academy 
that was being affected.
  But I agree. To be fair, we need to make sure that one district does 
not get all of the dollars, and that it is equalized. We will revisit 
this in the next Congress.
  Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. So there would be an 
assumption that we would limit the benefits of this bill, insofar as 
that one particular district is concerned, to the increase in 
appropriations for this fiscal year, and not for future fiscal years.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. The gentleman is correct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey [Mr. Saxton].
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, in a colloquy just heard between the gentleman from 
California, Mr. Cunningham, and the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. 
Fawell, a request on the part of Mr. Fawell was that we revisit the 
issue of impact aid in the future Congresses. I would remind all 
Members that we revisit the issue of impact aid in every Congress, and 
I am glad we are revisiting it in this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I compliment the gentleman from California, Mr. 
Cunningham, and the gentleman from Pennsylvania, the chairman of the 
full committee, Mr. Goodling, for the job they have done in recognizing 
there are and were and probably will be some inequities in this very 
complicated formula.
  Mr. Speaker, what makes it complicated is that in each State, because 
each State and locality has a different method of funding their 
schools, from time to time the Federal formula does not work as we 
would intend it to. Therefore, from time to time we need to make 
changes and modifications and adjustments to the formula.
  In one case in particular, for example, in New Jersey, it happens to 
be in my district, North Hanover Township, there is the school that 
provides the educational facilities and programs for the boys and girls 
who are dependents of the Air Force families at McGuire Air Force Base. 
North Hanover Township has 85 percent of its student body which comes 
from military dependents from McGuire Air Force Base. In this case, in 
1994 the North Hanover school district lost or did not receive almost 
$2 million which was intended to support those military dependent 
children. So this bill makes that correction and restores those funds 
for this school and benefits a large number of military dependent 
children.
  Mr. Speaker, I think this is a very fine effort on the part of this 
Congress and in particular on the part of the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Cunningham] and the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], 
and I urge support for this bill.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, all I would say is some of the things we work with in 
Congress are on a bipartisan basis, and this is one of them. Quite 
often when you are taking a look at the amount of dollars available 
from the Federal Government to go to specific programs, then we can 
reach a consensus on both sides of the aisle.
  I would like to thank the new gentleman to the committee, the 
gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Blumenauer], for his partnership, as well as 
the gentlewoman from Hawaii [Mrs. Mink], who has worked diligently on 
this particular bill, and the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Kelly], 
and a host of others.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham] that the House suspend the 
rules and concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3269.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was 
concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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