[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 17, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3013-S3014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 1156. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow 
rehabilitation expenditures for public school buildings to qualify for 
rehabilitation credit; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I want to discuss legislation I am 
introducing, the School Infrastructure Modernization Act.
  To claim the federal tax credit for historic preservation, a building 
renovation must be for a different purpose than that for which the 
building was previously used, a requirement known as the ``prior use'' 
rule. This bill waives that requirement for renovations of K-12 public 
school buildings. This will make it easier to restore historic-but-
dilapidated school buildings across the country so our children have 
safe, modern spaces in which to learn.
  As a Richmond City Council member and later Mayor, I faced challenges 
familiar to many municipalities--overcrowded schools, aging buildings, 
and limited dollars in the budget. But in one particular case, I and a 
group of local stakeholders identified a creative solution. On one hand 
we had an overcrowded Thomas Jefferson High School with in-zone and 
magnet students. On the other hand, we had a closed Maggie Walker High 
School that needed renovations. We put together a financing package 
that made use of federal and state historic tax credits to renovate 
Maggie Walker High School and satisfied the prior use rule by 
consolidating the magnet program from Thomas Jefferson into a new 
Maggie Walker Governor's School for Government and

[[Page S3014]]

International Studies. Today, some 20 years later, this is one of 
America's highest performing public high schools. Without the federal 
historic tax credit, this would have been too expensive to make happen.
  This bill will make it easier to do similar projects around the 
country. More modern school buildings will bolster the quality of 
public education, and carrying out these projects will generate private 
sector infrastructure investment and jobs. In Virginia alone, according 
to a 2013 study, more than 800 K-12 schools are at least 50 years old, 
representing some 40% of all the K-12 schools in the Commonwealth.
  As the Senate considers tax reform and a comprehensive infrastructure 
package, I encourage my colleagues to support this common-sense 
incentive that is good for education, good for infrastructure, and good 
for jobs.
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