H.R. 2629

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2629 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2629

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

April 3, 2025

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Obernolte, Ms. Brownley, Ms. 
Strickland, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Ms. Leger 
Fernandez, Ms. Randall, and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and 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 competitive grants 
awarded under section 4; and
(ii) 25 percent for formula grants awarded 
under section 5.
(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, on a competitive basis, 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, on a competitive basis, 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 also 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 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 section 4, the Secretary of Education 
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 of Education 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 this Act and not to supplant 
such funds.
(b) Annual Report on Grant Program.--Not later than September 30 of 
the first fiscal year that begins 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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