Riverside School for the Arts Act of 2000

Summary: Requires the Partnership to: (1) consist of the Riverside Community College, the University of California at Riverside, and the Riverside County Office of Education; and (2) execute a memorandum of understanding concerning construction timelines and program development phases.
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Riverside School for the Arts Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RIVERSIDE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States is home to the world's largest 
        entertainment technology industry comprising motion picture 
        production, television, multimedia, new media, and information 
        technology sectors; motion picture production alone accounted 
        for $30,500,000,000 in gross domestic product in 1997.
            (2) California's entertainment technology industry, 
        centered in Southern California, provides the largest export 
        product in the State.
            (3) The Southern California entertainment technology 
        industry alone employs over 500,000 people--more than 70 
        percent of all entertainment professionals working in the State 
        of California.
            (4) The Southern California entertainment technology 
        industry continues to report a shortage of trained personnel to 
        fill production and artistic jobs, and an ever-growing reliance 
        on foreign labor.
            (5) National education in the arts, and training of artists 
        and technical professionals in the United States has not kept 
        pace with the demands of the entertainment technology industry.
            (6) California projects that more than 260,000 new 
        elementary and secondary school teachers will be needed in the 
        state in the next 10 years, and the University of California 
        and the California State University systems now require 
        successful completion of visual and performing arts coursework 
        as a college entrance requirement.
            (7) No existing educational or training institution in 
        California offers this fusion of academic, artistic, and 
        technical preparation that can develop professionals or 
        teachers equipped to meet the demands of the entertainment 
        technology industry and the needs of California's public K-12 
        systems.
            (8) Riverside County, California (population 1,441,237), 
        which is located adjacent to the core of the Southern 
        California entertainment industry, is considered one of the 
        State's fastest growing population/transportation/business 
        corridors and is strategically positioned to be a center for an 
        evolving entertainment support industry.
            (9) The Riverside School for the Arts will create a new 
        model for developing and training artists and entertainment 
        professionals, and will educate students from throughout the 
        region, State, and Nation.
            (10) In 2000, the legislature of California authorized the 
        designation of the Riverside School for the Arts as a 
        California Center for Excellence and authorized the joint 
        funding and operation of the School under the three public 
        education segments.
            (11) The Riverside School for the Arts will serve as a 
        model for intersegmental education that spans the K-12, 
        community college, and university levels.
            (12) The Riverside School for the Arts will serve as a 
        model for teacher preparation programs.
            (13) The Riverside School for the Arts will serve as a 
        local, regional, and national site for the study of the 
        integration of intensive liberal arts and sciences curriculum, 
        traditional visual and performing arts training, and emerging 
        new media instruction.
            (14) The Riverside School for the Arts will provide a 
        unique access point into the entertainment technology industry 
        for under-represented and disadvantaged populations, as well as 
        a retraining entry point for professionals already employed in 
        the industry.
            (15) The Riverside School for the Arts, located in the City 
        of Riverside's main urban redevelopment area, will illustrate 
        the concept of how an intersegmental, industry-sensitive 
        educational institution can serve as a catalyst and anchor for 
        the revitalization of downtown areas.
            (16) The Riverside School for the Arts will sponsor visual 
        and performing arts programs, including programs related to all 
        entertainment forms--e.g., film, drama, dance, music 
        (traditional, contemporary, and electronic), literary arts, as 
        well as community-oriented productions and events.
            (17) Facility development of the Riverside School for the 
        Arts encompasses three distinct programmatic areas of study: 
        the performing arts, the visual arts, and the liberal arts. The 
        Riverside School for the Arts is planned to include a 400-seat 
        Proscenium Theater, a 200-300 seat Black Box Theater, a 400-
        seat Dance Studio Theater, a Photography Modeling Center, a 
        Digital Filmmaking and Animation Hall, sound and animation 
        studios, convertible performance and exhibition spaces, a 
        student-operated gift store, a film and video library, a back 
        lot area, administrative and faculty offices, and a residential 
        housing building.
            (18) It is appropriate for the Federal Government to share 
        in the costs of planning and program development of the 
        Riverside School for the Arts because Congress recognizes that 
        the Riverside School
for the Arts has the potential to be a premier education and training 
facility for performing arts, new media, and entertainment technology; 
and serve as a model for education/business partnerships, 
intersegmental educational planning, teacher preparation and training, 
and community and economic development.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Partnership'' means Riverside Community 
        College, the University of California at Riverside, and the 
        Riverside County Office of Education; and
            (2) the term ``School'' means the Riverside School for the 
        Arts.
    (c) Construction of the School.--The Secretary of Education will 
award a grant to the Partnership to pay for the Federal share of the 
costs of design, construction, furnishing, and equipping the School 
that will be located at a site to be determined by the Riverside 
Community College District, within the City of Riverside, California.
    (d) Grant Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--In order to receive a grant awarded under 
        subsection (c), the Partnership, acting through the President 
        of Riverside Community College--
                    (A) shall submit to the Secretary of Education, 
                within 45 days of the date of the enactment of this 
                Act, a copy of the Riverside School for the Arts 
                program documents; and
                    (B) shall exercise due diligence to expeditiously 
                execute, in a period not to exceed 90 days, a 
                memorandum of understanding concerning construction 
                timelines and program development phases.
            (2) Memorandum of understanding.--The memorandum of 
        understanding described in paragraph (1) shall provide--
                    (A) the date of completion of the construction of 
                the School;
                    (B) that the Partnership shall award the contract 
                for architectural engineering and design services in 
                accordance with the California Education Code; and
                    (C) that the contract for construction of the 
                School--
                            (i) shall be awarded pursuant to a 
                        competitive bid process; and
                            (ii) shall be awarded not later than 3 
                        months after the solicitation of bids for the 
                        construction of the School.
            (3) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs 
        described in subsection (c) shall be 50 percent.
            (4) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of the costs 
        described in subsection (c) shall be in cash or in kind fairly 
        evaluated, including plant, equipment, or services. The non-
        Federal share of the costs described in subsection (c) shall 
        include $25,000,000 appropriated by the California State 
        legislature for the planning, development, and construction of 
        the School.
    (e) Use of Funds for Design, Construction, Furnishing, and 
Equipment.--The funds received under a grant awarded under subsection 
(c) shall be used only for the design, construction, inspection, and 
furnishing of the School.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Partnership to carry out this section a total of 
$25,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and succeeding fiscal years. Funds 
appropriated pursuant to the authority of the preceding sentence shall 
remain available until expended.