School Repair and Rehabilitation Act

Summary: School Repair and Rehabilitation Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make grants to States and Indian tribes for programs that provide payments for labor and related costs for repair and rehabilitation of elementary and secondary school facilities.  Gives priority to those States having the most facilities in need of repair and located in high unemployment areas.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``School Repair and Rehabilitation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to a 1991 survey conducted by the American 
        Association of School Administrators, 74 percent of all public 
        school buildings in the United States need to be replaced.
            (2) Almost \1/3\ of such buildings were built prior to 
        World War II.
            (3) It is estimated that 1 of every 4 public school 
        buildings in the United States is in inadequate condition, and 
        of such buildings, 61 percent need maintenance or major 
        repairs, 43 percent are obsolete, 42 percent contain 
        environmental hazards, 25 percent are overcrowded, and 13 
        percent are structurally unsound.
            (4) According to the 1992 Current Population Survey 
        conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in 
        the construction industry is at 13 percent for skilled workers 
        and 22.9 percent for laborers.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grants to States.--The Secretary of Labor shall provide grants 
to States for the purpose of establishing and carrying out programs 
that provide payments for labor and related costs associated with the 
repair and rehabilitation of elementary school and secondary school 
facilities located in such States.
    (b) Grants to Indian Tribes.--
            (1) In general.--Not less than 5 percent of amounts 
        appropriated to carry out this Act for each fiscal year shall 
        be used by the Secretary to provide grants to Indian tribes for 
        the purpose of establishing and carrying out programs that 
        provide payments for labor and related costs associated with 
        the repair and rehabilitation of Indian tribal school 
        facilities under the jurisdiction of such tribes.
            (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing contained in paragraph 
        (1) shall be construed to relieve the Secretary of the Interior 
        of the responsibility to provide adequate and equitable funding 
        under the Snyder Act (25 U.S.C. 13) for the operations and 
        maintenance of Indian tribal school facilities.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may not provide a grant under 
section 3 to a State or Indian tribe unless the State or Indian tribe, 
as the case may be, submits to the Secretary an application in such 
form and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Assurances.--Such application shall include assurances the 
State or Indian tribe, as the case may be, will use Federal funds 
received from a grant under section 3 to supplement and not supplant 
non-Federal funds that would otherwise be available for activities 
funded under such section.

SEC. 5. USE OF AMOUNTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may not provide a grant under 
section 3 to a State or Indian tribe unless the State or Indian tribe, 
as the case may be, agrees that it will use all amounts received from 
such grant to establish a program to provide wages and related 
employment benefits to individuals for the purpose of employing such 
individuals to repair and rehabilitate elementary school and secondary 
school facilities, or Indian tribal school facilities, as the case may 
be.
    (b) Other Requirements.--
            (1) Priority to unemployed individuals.--In selecting 
        individuals for a program established under subsection (a), a 
        State or Indian tribe shall give priority to individuals who 
        are unemployed, particularly to those individuals who have been 
        unemployed for the longest periods of time.
            (2) Coordination with appropriate entities.--In carrying 
        out a program established under subsection (a), a State shall 
        coordinate the activities of such program with appropriate 
        entities located in such State, including appropriate private 
        industry councils (described in section 102 of the Job Training 
        Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1512), units of general local 
        government, nonprofit private organizations, and local 
        educational agencies.

SEC. 6. LABOR STANDARDS.

    (a) Nondiscrimination.--No individual shall be excluded from 
participation in, denied the benefits of, subjected to discrimination 
under, or denied employment in the administration of or in connection 
with any program described in section 5(a) because of race, color, 
religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or political 
affiliation or belief.
    (b) Davis-Bacon Requirements.--
            (1) Prevailing wages required.--All laborers and mechanics 
        employed by contractors or subcontractors in any construction, 
        alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of 
        projects, buildings, and works which are federally assisted 
        under this Act, shall be paid wages at rates not less than 
        those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as 
        determined by the Secretary in accordance with the Act of March 
        3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act), as amended (40 
        U.S.C. 276a-276a-5). The Secretary shall have, with respect to 
        such labor standards, the authority and functions set forth in 
        Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 FR 3176; 64 Stat. 
        1267) and section 2 of the Act of June 1, 1934, as amended (48 
        Stat. 948, as amended; 40 U.S.C. 276(c)).
            (2) Funding required.--Such rates are not required to be 
        paid to participants under this Act unless they are employed in 
        connection with projects funded by this Act in whole or in 
        part, exclusive of wages and benefits, or projects covered by 
        any other statute requiring the payment of such Davis-Bacon Act 
        wage rates.

SEC. 7. REPORTS.

    The Secretary may not provide a grant under section 3 to a State or 
Indian tribe unless the State or Indian tribe, as the case may be, 
agrees that it will submit, for any fiscal year in which it receives a 
grant under such section, a report to the Secretary describing the use 
of such grant and any other information the Secretary determines to be 
appropriate.

SEC. 8. SELECTION.

    (a) Amount of Grant.--The annual amount of a grant provided under 
section 3 to a State or Indian tribe, as the case may be, shall not 
exceed 10 percent of amounts appropriated for a fiscal year to carry 
out this Act.
    (b) Priority.--In providing grants under section 3, the Secretary 
shall give priority to those States having the most elementary school 
and secondary school facilities that are in need of repair and that are 
located in areas of high unemployment.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 1471(8) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        2891(8)).
            (2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means any 
        Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or 
        community, including any Alaska Native village or regional 
        corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 
        Native Claims Settlement Act, which is recognized as eligible 
        for the special programs and services provided by the United 
        States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
            (3) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 1471(12) of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        2891(12)).
            (4) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 1471(21) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        2891(21)).
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
        American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Republic of the 
        Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and 
        Palau.
            (7) State educational agency.--The term ``State educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 1471(23) of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        2891(23)).