I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1999 

To require the Secretary of Education to award grants to local governments 

that have experienced at least a 15 percent decrease in property tax 

revenues to fund certain elementary and secondary school education 

programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2009 

Mr. HALL of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Education to award grants to 

local governments that have experienced at least a 15 

percent decrease in property tax revenues to fund certain 

elementary and secondary school education programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary Recession 

5 Aid for Schools and Taxpayers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS TO LOCAL GOVERN2 MENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

4 under subsection (h), the Secretary of Education shall 

5 award grants to eligible local governments to fund elemen6 tary and secondary school education programs in accord7 ance with subsection (g). 

8 (b) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—An eligible local govern9 ment may receive— 

10 (1) 1 grant under this Act because it has expe11 rienced at least a 15 percent decrease in property 

12 tax revenues from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 

13 2009; and 

14 (2) 1 grant under this Act because it has expe15 rienced at least a 15 percent decrease in property 

16 tax revenues from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 

17 2010. 

18 (c) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this Act shall 

19 be awarded in accordance with the amounts described in 

20 subsection (d) for a period of not longer than 3 years. 

21 (d) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

23 grant awarded to an eligible local government under 

24 this Act shall not exceed an amount that is equal 

25 to— 


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1 (A) in the first year of the grant period, 

2 70 percent of the difference in the amount of 

3 property tax revenues collected by such local 

4 government from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 

5 2009 or from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 

6 2010, as applicable; 

7 (B) in the second year of the grant period, 

8 50 percent of such difference; and 

9 (C) in the third year of the grant period, 

10 25 percent of such difference. 

11 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant awarded 

12 under this Act shall not exceed a total of 

13 $40,000,000 in a 3-year grant period. 

14 (e) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To qualify to re15 ceive a grant under this Act, an eligible local government 

16 shall submit an application, not later than 2 months after 

17 the end of fiscal year 2009 or fiscal year 2010, in such 

18 manner and containing such information as the Secretary 

19 of Education may require, which shall include— 

20 (1) the difference and the percentage of de21 crease in the amount of property tax revenues col22 lected by such local government from fiscal year 

23 2008 to fiscal year 2009 or from fiscal year 2009 

24 to fiscal year 2010, as applicable; and 


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1 (2) how such local government plans to operate 

2 without the funds it receives under this Act after the 

3 3-year grant period, including any plans to increase 

4 property taxes or reduce elementary and secondary 

5 school budgets. 

6 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this Act, 

7 the Secretary of Education shall give priority to eligible 

8 local governments— 

9 (1) that have experienced the largest amount of 

10 decrease in property tax revenues collected from fis11 cal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009 or from fiscal year 

12 2009 to fiscal year 2010, as applicable, in proportion 

13 to the tax base of such local government, relative to 

14 the total tax base of all eligible local governments; 

15 and 

16 (2) where the decrease in property tax revenues 

17 collected from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009 

18 or from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010, as ap19 plicable, is attributable to the permanent or tem20 porary shutdown or closure of an establishment of a 

21 large employer (as determined by the Secretary) or 

22 several small employers (as determined by the Sec23 retary). 

24 (g) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible local 

25 government receiving a grant under this Act shall only use 


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1 the grant funds to fund elementary and secondary school 

2 education programs, including— 

3 (1) programs for construction, maintenance, re4 habilitation, or repair of a school facility; 

5 (2) programs to maintain the salaries of teach6 ers or other faculty; or 

7 (3) school lunch programs or other nutrition 

8 programs that are funded by such local government. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 

11 of fiscal years 2010 through 2013. 

12 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

13 (1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

14 ‘‘eligible local government’’ means a city, county, 

15 town, parish, village, or other general-purpose polit16 ical subdivision of a State that has the authority to 

17 levy real property taxes and— 

18 (A) has experienced at least a 15 percent 

19 decrease in property tax revenues from fiscal 

20 year 2008 to fiscal year 2009 or from fiscal 

21 year 2009 to fiscal year 2010; and 

22 (B) spend such tax funds on elementary 

23 and secondary education programs within the 

24 jurisdiction of such local government. 


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1 (2) FISCAL YEAR.—The term ‘‘fiscal year’’ has 

2 the meaning given such term under applicable State 

3 or local law. 

4 (3) PROPERTY TAX REVENUES.—The term 

5 ‘‘property tax revenues’’ means the revenues gen6 erated by the levying of real property taxes by a 

7 local government based on the assessment of the 

8 value of real property located within the jurisdiction 

9 of such local government. 

10 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

11 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

13 (5) TAX BASE.—The term ‘‘tax base’’ means 

14 the assessment by a local government of the total 

15 value of taxable real property located within the ju16 risdiction of such local government. 

17 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 This Act shall take effect not later than November 

19 1, 2009. 

Æ 


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