[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3762-S3763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Lujan, Mr. 
        Van Hollen, Mr. Casey, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
        Markey, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Murphy, Mr. 
        Heinrich, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Smith, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Shaheen, 
        Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Padilla):
  S. 2608. A bill to provide for the long-term improvement of public 
school facilities, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. REED. Madam President, among the many challenges to improving 
educational outcomes for students and recruiting and retaining 
educators for our public schools is the condition of school facilities. 
A 2020 Government Accountability Office, GAO, report found that over 
half, 54 percent, of school districts nationwide need to update or 
replace multiple systems in their schools, such as heating, 
ventilation, air-conditioning, HVAC, or plumbing. These systems are 
especially critical to safeguarding public health, as we learned during 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Functioning and efficient HVAC systems and 
ventilation can help keep indoor air quality healthy and reduce the 
spread of infectious airborne viral particles.
  Investing in school buildings will make them healthy and safe 
learning environments. It will also improve student learning, reduce 
carbon emissions, and create jobs. That is why I am proud to partner 
with Representative Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Education 
and Workforce Committee, to introduce the Rebuild America's Schools 
Act--legislation that will invest $130 billion in fixing our schools. I 
would like to thank my Senate colleagues who are joining in this 
effort, including Senators Brown, Blumenthal, Booker, Casey, Cortez 
Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Heinrich, Hirono, Klobuchar, Lujan, Markey, 
Merkley, Murphy, Shaheen, Smith, Stabenow, Van Hollen, and Whitehouse.
  Public schools play a vital role in every community across the 
Nation--educating the next generation, serving as polling places for 
our elections, hosting community meetings and cultural events, and so 
much more. When there is a natural disaster or an emergency, people 
often gather at their public schools for shelter, information, and 
resources. They are essential facilities and should be treated as 
essential infrastructure.
  Safe, healthy, modern, well-equipped schools are essential for 
advancing student achievement and ensuring that the next generation is 
prepared to meet the economic, social, environmental, and global 
challenges our Nation faces. Yet too many of the over 50 million 
students and 6 million staff who learn and work in our public schools 
spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade. In fact, 
the American Society of Civil Engineers gave public school buildings 
across the country an overall grade of D+ in its latest report card. 
The 2021 State of our Schools Report identified an $85 billion annual 
shortfall in school facilities investment.
  States and local communities cannot bridge this gap alone, especially 
when many struggle to simply keep teachers and staff on the payroll. We 
know that budget shortfalls hit low-income and minority communities the 
hardest. The GAO noted that capital construction expenditures, on 
average, were about $300 less per student in high-poverty districts 
compared to low-poverty districts. With inflation, interest rates, and 
extreme weather events on the rise, the gap between what is needed to 
maintain safe and modern schools and what communities can afford will 
only grow. Addressing this need with robust Federal investment is not 
only the right thing to do for our students; it will also give a needed 
boost to our economy, putting people to work in family--sustaining 
jobs. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, every 
$1 billion spent on construction generates 17,785 jobs.
  The Rebuild America's Schools Act will create a Federal-State 
partnership for school infrastructure. It will provide, over 5 years, a 
total of $130 billion in direct grants and school construction bonds to 
help fill the annual gap in school facility capital needs, while 
creating nearly 2 million jobs.
  Specifically, the Rebuild America's Schools Act will provide $100 
billion in formula funds to States for local competitive grants for 
school repair, renovation, and construction. States will focus 
assistance on communities with the greatest financial need, encourage 
green construction practices, and expand access to high-speed broadband 
to ensure that all students have access to digital learning. Our 
legislation would also provide $30 billion for qualified school 
infrastructure bonds, QSIBs, $10 billion each year from FY 2023 through 
FY 2025, and restore the qualified zone academy bonds, QZABs, that were 
eliminated in the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The legislation 
also eases the matching requirements and expands the authority and 
eligible purposes of QZABs to allow local education agencies to 
construct, rehabilitate, retrofit, or repair school facilities. The 
Rebuild America's Schools

[[Page S3763]]

Act also supports American workers by ensuring that projects use 
American-made iron, steel, and manufactured products and meet labor 
standards.
  I would like to thank the broad coalition of educators, community 
organizations, unions, civil rights advocates, and employers that have 
provided feedback and support for this legislation, including the 21st 
Century Schools Fund, A4LE: the Association for Learning Environments, 
AASA: The School Superintendents Association, American Federation of 
State, County and Municipal Employees, American Federation of Teachers, 
American Industrial Hygiene Association, American Institute of 
Architects, BASIC Coalition, Council of the Great City Schools, Heart 
of America, International Unions of Bricklayers and Allied Craft 
Workers, National Association of Energy Service Companies, National 
Association of Federally Impacted Schools, National Council on School 
Facilities, National Education Association, Rebuild America's Schools 
Coalition, Safe Traces, Teach Plus, and the U.S. Green Building 
Council.
  We have no time to waste in fixing our deteriorating school 
infrastructure. In the words of a student activist in Providence, Rhode 
Island: ``Students cannot learn in a crumbling building, a school that 
isn't fit to uplift our minds.'' We need to listen to our students, 
strengthen our communities, and improve our school buildings. I urge 
all of our colleagues to support the Rebuild America's Schools Act and 
press for its passage.
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