S. 119
A BILL
Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the
`Building, Renovating, Improving, and Constructing Kids' Schools Act'.
Congress makes the following
findings:
(1) According to a 1999 issue brief
prepared by the National Center for Education Statistics, the average public
school in America is 42 years old, and school buildings begin rapid
deterioration after 40 years. In addition, 29 percent of all public schools are
in the oldest condition, meaning that the schools were built before 1970 and
have either never been renovated or were renovated prior to 1980.
(2) According to reports issued by
the General Accounting Office (GAO) in 1995 and 1996, it would cost
$112,000,000,000 to bring the Nation's schools into good overall condition, and
one-third of all public schools need extensive repair or replacement.
(3) Many schools do not have the
appropriate infrastructure to support computers and other technologies that are
necessary to prepare students for the jobs of the 21st century.
(4) Without impeding on local
control, the Federal Government appropriately can assist State, regional, and
local entities in addressing school construction, renovation, and repair needs
by providing low-interest loans for purposes of paying interest on related
bonds and by supporting other State-administered school construction programs.
In this Act:
(1) BOND- The term `bond' includes
any obligation.
(2) GOVERNOR- The term `Governor'
includes the chief executive officer of a State.
(3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY- The
term `local educational agency' has the meaning given to such term by section
14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
(4) PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITY- The
term `public school facility' shall not include--
(A) any stadium or other facility
primarily used for athletic contests or exhibitions, or other events for which
admission is charged to the general public; or
(B) any facility that is not owned
by a State or local government or any agency or instrumentality of a State or
local government.
(5) QUALIFIED SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
BOND- The term `qualified school construction bond' means any bond (or portion
of a bond) issued as part of an issue if--
(A) 95 percent or more of the
proceeds attributable to such bond (or portion) are to be used for the
construction, rehabilitation, or repair of a public school facility or for the
acquisition of land on which such a facility is to be constructed with part of
the proceeds;
(B) the bond is issued by a State,
regional, or local entity, with bonding authority; and
(C) the issuer designates such
bond (or portion) for purposes of this section.
(6) STABILIZATION FUND- The term
`stabilization fund' means the stabilization fund established under section
5302 of title 31, United States Code.
(7) STATE- The term `State' means
each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of
Palau.
(a) LOAN AUTHORITY AND OTHER
SUPPORT-
(1) LOANS AND STATE-ADMINISTERED
PROGRAMS-
(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided
in subparagraph (B), from funds made available to a State under section 5(b)
the State, in consultation with the State educational agency--
(i) shall use not less than 50
percent of the funds to make loans to State, regional, or local entities within
the State to enable the entities to make annual interest payments on qualified
school construction bonds that are issued by the entities not later than
December 31, 2004; and
(ii) may use not more than 50
percent of the funds to support State revolving fund programs or other
State-administered programs that assist State, regional, and local entities
within the State in paying for the cost of construction, rehabilitation,
repair, or acquisition described in section 3(5)(A).
(B) STATES WITH RESTRICTIONS- If,
on the date of enactment of this Act, a State has in effect a law that
prohibits the State from making the loans described in subparagraph (A)(i), the
State, in consultation with the State educational agency, may use the funds
described in subparagraph (A) to support the programs described in subparagraph
(A)(ii).
(2) REQUESTS- The Governor of each
State desiring assistance under this Act shall submit a request to the
Secretary of the Treasury at such time and in such manner as the Secretary of
the Treasury may require.
(3) PRIORITY- In selecting
entities to receive funds under paragraph (1) for projects involving
construction, rehabilitation, repair, or acquisition of land for schools, the
State shall give priority to entities with projects for schools with greatest
need, as determined by the State. In determining the schools with greatest
need, the State shall take into consideration whether a school--
(A) is among the schools that have
the greatest numbers or percentages of children whose education imposes a
higher than average cost per child, such as--
(i) children living in areas with
high concentrations of low-income families;
(ii) children from low-income
families; and
(iii) children living in sparsely
populated areas;
(B) has inadequate school
facilities and a low level of resources to meet the need for school facilities;
or
(C) meets such criteria as the
State may determine to be appropriate.
(b) REPAYMENT-
(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to
paragraph (2), a State that uses funds made available under section 5(b) to
make a loan or support a State-administered program under subsection (a)(1)
shall repay to the stabilization fund the amount of the loan or support, plus
interest, at an annual rate of 4.5 percent. A State shall not be required to
begin making such repayment until the year immediately following the 15th year
for which the State is eligible to receive annual distributions from the fund
(which shall be the final year for which the State shall be eligible for such a
distribution under this Act). The amount of such loan or support shall be fully
repaid during the 10-year period beginning on the expiration of the eligibility
of the State under this Act.
(2) EXCEPTIONS-
(A) IN GENERAL- The interest on
the amount made available to a State under section 5(b) shall not accrue, prior
to January 1, 2007, unless the amount appropriated to carry out part B of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) for any
fiscal year prior to fiscal year 2007 is sufficient to fully fund such part for
the fiscal year at the originally promised level, which promised level would
provide to each State 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure for
providing special education and related services for each child with a
disability in the State.
(B) APPLICABLE INTEREST RATE-
Effective January 1, 2007, the applicable interest rate that will apply to an
amount made available to a State under section 5(b) shall be--
(i) 0 percent with respect to
years in which the amount appropriated to carry out part B of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) is not sufficient to
provide to each State at least 20 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure
for providing special education and related services for each child with a
disability in the State;
(ii) 2.5 percent with respect to
years in which the amount described in clause (i) is not sufficient to provide
to each State at least 30 percent of such average per-pupil expenditure;
(iii) 3.5 percent with respect to
years in which the amount described in clause (i) is not sufficient to provide
to each State at least 40 percent of such average per-pupil expenditure; and
(iv) 4.5 percent with respect to
years in which the amount described in clause (i) is sufficient to provide to
each State at least 40 percent of such average per-pupil expenditure.
(c) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES- The
Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Education--
(1) jointly shall be responsible
for ensuring that funds provided under this Act are properly distributed;
(2) shall ensure that funds
provided under this Act are used only to pay for--
(A) the interest on qualified
school construction bonds; or
(B) a cost described in subsection
(a)(1)(A)(ii); and
(3) shall not have authority to
approve or disapprove school construction plans assisted pursuant to this Act,
except to ensure that funds made available under this Act are used only to supplement,
and not supplant, the amount of school construction, rehabilitation, and
repair, and acquisition of land for school facilities, in the State that would
have occurred in the absence of such funds.
(a) RESERVATION FOR INDIANS-
(1) IN GENERAL- From
$20,000,000,000 of the funds in the stabilization fund, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall make available $400,000,000 to provide assistance to Indian
tribes.
(2) USE OF FUNDS- An Indian tribe
that receives assistance under paragraph (1)--
(A) shall use not less than 50
percent of the assistance for a loan to enable the Indian tribe to make annual
interest payments on qualified school construction bonds, in accordance with
the requirements of this Act that the Secretary of the Treasury determines to
be appropriate; and
(B) may use not more than 50
percent of the assistance to support tribal revolving fund programs or other
tribal-administered programs that assist tribal governments in paying for the
cost of construction, rehabilitation, repair, or acquisition described in
section 3(5)(A), in accordance with the requirements of this Act that the
Secretary of the Treasury determines to be appropriate.
(b) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE-
(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to
paragraph (3) and from $20,000,000,000 of the funds in the stabilization fund
that are not reserved under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
make available to each State submitting a request under section 4(a)(2) an
amount that bears the same relation to such remainder as the amount the State
received under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for fiscal year 2001 bears to the amount
received by all States under such part for such year.
(2) DISBURSAL- The Secretary of
the Treasury shall disburse the amount made available to a State under
paragraph (1) or (3), on an annual basis, during the period beginning on
October 1, 2001, and ending September 30, 2018.
(3) SMALL STATE MINIMUM-
(A) MINIMUM- No State shall
receive an amount under paragraph (1) that is less than $100,000,000.
(B) STATES- In this paragraph, the
term `State' means each of the several States of the United States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(c) NOTIFICATION- The Secretary of
the Treasury and the Secretary of Education jointly shall notify each State of
the amount of funds the State may receive for loans and other support under
this Act.