II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2808 

To provide Federal-local community partnership construction funding to local 

educational agencies eligible to receive payments under the Impact Aid 

program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. PADILLA, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide Federal-local community partnership construction 

funding to local educational agencies eligible to receive 

payments under the Impact Aid program. 

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 ‘‘Impact Aid Infrastruc5 ture Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) A significant percentage of federally im2 pacted local educational agencies serve schools with 

3 facilities that fall far short of meeting basic life-safe4 ty standards that ensure a safe learning environ5 ment for students and staff alike. 

6 (2) The American Society of Civil Engineers 

7 rated school facilities nationally a D+. Many school 

8 buildings of schools served by federally impacted 

9 local educational agencies were built more than 65 

10 years ago. 

11 (3) A 2009 study by the Government Account12 ability Office found that better school facilities were 

13 associated with positive student outcomes in aca14 demic achievement, attendance, and higher gradua15 tion rates. A second Government Accountability Of16 fice study conducted in 2020, concluded that many 

17 school facilities of schools served by federally im18 pacted local educational agencies are in need of re19 pair, modernization, renovation, or replacement. 

20 (4) Data compiled through surveys of federally 

21 impacted local educational agencies by both the Na22 tional Association of Federally Impacted Schools and 

23 the National Indian Impacted Schools Association 

24 revealed the following: 


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1 (A) 65 percent of respondents indicated 

2 their facilities are in fair to poor condition. 

3 (B) 26 percent of respondents have build4 ings that are more than 80 years old. 

5 (C) 53 percent of respondents have no 

6 practical capacity to issue bonds. 

7 (D) 82 percent of respondents identified 

8 ‘‘lack of funds’’ as a reason for delaying con9 struction projects. Construction costs in rural, 

10 many times geographically remote, local edu11 cational agencies have increased by 30 percent 

12 or more in recent years making facility up13 grades and replacement even more challenging. 

14 (5) Local educational agencies with some bond15 ing capacity or that have access to other sources of 

16 funding are still in need of assistance to improve 

17 their buildings to ensure a safe learning environ18 ment. 

19 (6) Federally impacted local educational agen20 cies located in rural settings have generally higher 

21 labor costs and transportation costs for workers and 

22 materials that have to be brought to a school con23 struction site than local educational agencies located 

24 in an urban setting with school construction costs. 


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1 Such costs are normally built in by the contractor 

2 effecting the total cost of the project. 

3 (7) Teacher recruitment and retention is a 

4 major challenge for local educational agencies serv5 ing students residing on Indian Treaty and Federal 

6 trust land as well as land conveyed pursuant to the 

7 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

8 1601 et seq.). Because there is no private housing 

9 or rental units available to non-Tribal members, the 

10 local educational agency must build and maintain 

11 rental units. Without local educational agency owned 

12 housing, the daily commute can be as much as 90 

13 miles or more each way. One Arizona local edu14 cational agency estimated that the cost to rebuild 

15 antiquated teacher housing to be $100,000,000. 

16 (8) It is common practice that State edu17 cational agencies compile infrastructure needs in the 

18 local educational agencies located in the State. As 

19 example, the Hawaii Department of Education has 

20 identified more than $2,000,000,000 in needed re21 pair, renovation, and construction projects to ad22 dress— 

23 (A) structural and health and safety needs; 

24 (B) compliance with the Americans with 

25 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 


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1 seq.) and title IX of the Education Amend2 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); and 

3 (C) various other infrastructure and con4 struction needs. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

6 a collaborative Federal-local community partnership that 

7 will provide both Federal and local funding to address the 

8 facility needs of federally impacted local educational agen9 cies. The partnership shall be designed to— 

10 (1) provide grants in full to federally impacted 

11 local educational agencies that have no capacity to 

12 issue bonds because of the presence of large parcels 

13 of non-taxable Federal property; 

14 (2) provide partnership grants requiring a local 

15 match to local educational agencies that have a lim16 ited capacity to provide facility funding; 

17 (3) base local matching dollars on the learning 

18 opportunity threshold total percentage, as described 

19 in subparagraph (B)(i) of section 7003(b)(3) of the 

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)(3)); and 

22 (4) provide grants under section 7007(a) of the 

23 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

24 (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)) to address local educational 


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1 agency needs to modernize and provide basic build2 ing improvements. 

3 SEC. 3. IMPACT AID CONSTRUCTION GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

4 (a) FUNDING AND SUNSET.— 

5 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to 

7 be appropriated $250,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 to carry out 

9 this Act. 

10 (B) DESIGNATION.—Of the amount appro11 priated for each fiscal year, the Secretary of 

12 Education shall designate— 

13 (i) 75 percent for grants awarded 

14 under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 4; 

15 and 

16 (ii) 25 percent for grants awarded 

17 under section 4(3). 

18 (2) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING.—The amount 

19 authorized under paragraph (1) shall be in addition 

20 to any amounts authorized to be appropriated or 

21 otherwise made available to carry out section 7007 

22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707). 


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1 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amounts 

2 appropriated under paragraph (1) shall remain 

3 available until expended. 

4 (4) SUNSET.—The authority to award grants 

5 under this Act shall expire at the end of the 4-year 

6 period beginning on the date in which funds are first 

7 made available to award a grant under this Act. 

8 (b) RESERVATION FOR MANAGEMENT AND OVER9 SIGHT.—From the funds appropriated under subsection 

10 (a)(1), the Secretary of Education may reserve not more 

11 than half of 1 percent for management and oversight of 

12 the activities carried out with those funds. 

13 SEC. 4. GRANT AWARDS BASED ON FACILITY CONDITION. 

14 The Secretary of Education shall, based on applica15 tions submitted by local educational agencies under sec16 tion 5 and eligible for payments under section 7002 of 

17 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 7702) or section 7003 of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703), establish 

20 a facility condition priority listing for grant awards as fol21 lows: 

22 (1) EMERGENCY GRANTS PRIORITY ONE.—The 

23 Secretary of Education shall award grants by first 

24 identifying those local educational agencies— 

25 (A) that have a facility— 


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1 (i) as certified by a State, county, or 

2 Tribal official or a licensed architect or en3 gineer, that is in violation of a Federal, 

4 State, county, or Tribal building code rep5 resenting a health hazard to students and 

6 school personnel; 

7 (ii) that fails to meet building and 

8 classroom standards to ensure the health 

9 and life-safety of students and staff, as set 

10 by the Centers for Disease Control and 

11 Prevention, requiring classroom building 

12 modification or replacement to— 

13 (I) ensure quality ventilation sys14 tems; 

15 (II) ensure classroom space to re16 duce class sizes and ensure social 

17 distancing guidelines when required; 

18 (III) address structural defi19 ciencies, and 

20 (IV) address other health, safety, 

21 and environmental conditions that 

22 would impact the health, life-safety, 

23 and learning ability of students; 

24 (iii) that is not in compliance in meet25 ing student capacity standards as required 


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1 by the State, including failure to meet ac2 cessibility standards for persons with dis3 abilities; or 

4 (iv) that lacks adequate service capac5 ity or infrastructure necessary to utilize 

6 technology to offer a curriculum that 

7 meets the current standards in the State 

8 in which the local educational agency is lo9 cated; or 

10 (B) in the case of local educational agen11 cies eligible for payments under section 

12 7003(a)(1)(C) of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 7703(a)(1)(C)), that have teacher housing that 

15 is in need of repair or new construction to meet 

16 the needs of school personnel residing in such 

17 housing. 

18 (2) EMERGENCY GRANTS PRIORITY TWO.— 

19 After identifying those local educational agencies as 

20 described in paragraph (1) for priority in grant 

21 awards, the Secretary of Education shall then award 

22 grants by identifying those local educational agencies 

23 that— 

24 (A) have a facility that— 


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1 (i) does not meet minimum structural 

2 or health and safety standards as adopted 

3 by the American Society of Civil Engineers 

4 and is considered to be in poor condition 

5 and represents a potential health or safety 

6 hazard to students and school personnel, 

7 including due to— 

8 (I) poor indoor air quality; 

9 (II) the presence of hazardous 

10 and toxic substances and chemicals; 

11 (III) the lack of safe drinking 

12 water at the tap and water used for 

13 meal preparation, including due to the 

14 level of lead and other contaminants 

15 in such water; 

16 (IV) energy and water ineffi17 ciency; 

18 (V) excessive classroom noise; 

19 (VI) structural deficiencies; or 

20 (VII) other health, life-safety, 

21 and environmental conditions that 

22 would impact the health, safety, and 

23 learning ability of students; 

24 (ii) is not in compliance in meeting 

25 student capacity standards as required by 


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1 the State, including failure to meet accessi2 bility standards for persons with disabil3 ities; or 

4 (iii) lacks adequate services necessary 

5 to utilize technology to offer a curriculum 

6 that meets the current standards in the 

7 State in which the local educational agency 

8 is located; or 

9 (B) in the case of local educational agen10 cies eligible for payments under section 

11 7003(a)(1)(C) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 7703(a)(1)(C)), have an identified need for 

14 teacher housing to ensure a safe living environ15 ment for teachers and their families or a need 

16 for repair of existing housing or new construc17 tion to meet the basic needs of school personnel 

18 residing in such housing. 

19 (3) FORMULA GRANTS.—From funds des20 ignated under section 3(a)(1)(B)(ii), the Secretary 

21 of Education shall make payments in accordance 

22 with section 7007(a) of the Elementary and Sec23 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)), 

24 except that— 


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1 (A) when calculating the total number of 

2 weighted student units as described in para3 graph (3)(A)(i)(II) of section 7007(a) of the El4 ementary and Secondary Education of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 7707(a)), the Secretary of Education 

6 shall include the total number of weighted stu7 dent units of children described in subpara8 graphs (B) and (D)(i) of section 7003(a)(1) of 

9 such Act for the preceding year for all local 

10 educational agencies not meeting the require11 ments as described in section 7007(a)(2)(B) of 

12 such Act but that meet the requirements of sec13 tion 572(a)(2) of the National Defense Author14 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

15 7703b(a)(2)); and 

16 (B) when calculating the total number of 

17 weighted student units as described in section 

18 7003(a)(1)(C) of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 7703(a)(1)(C)), the Secretary of Education 

21 shall include the number of children determined 

22 under section 7003(a)(1)(C) of such Act for the 

23 preceding school year that constituted at least 

24 20 percent of the total student enrollment in 


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1 the schools of the agency during the preceding 

2 school year. 

3 SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 

4 A local educational agency eligible to apply for a 

5 grant under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4 that desires 

6 to receive a grant shall submit an application in accord7 ance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Edu8 cation. 

9 SEC. 6. AWARD CRITERIA. 

10 When awarding a grant under paragraph (1) or (2) 

11 of section 4, the Secretary of Education shall— 

12 (1) first consider those local educational agen13 cies (or, in the case of a local educational agency 

14 that does not have the authority to tax or issue 

15 bonds, the agency’s fiscal agent) that have limited or 

16 no capacity to issue bonds or have a total assessed 

17 value of real property that may be taxed for school 

18 purposes of less than $50,000,000; 

19 (2) next consider those local educational agen20 cies not described in paragraph (1) that— 

21 (A) have a total assessed value of real 

22 property that may be taxed for school purposes 

23 of less than $100,000,000; or 

24 (B) have an assessed value of real property 

25 that may be taxed for school purposes per stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Sep 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2808.IS S2808

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1 dent that is less than the average of the as2 sessed value of real property that may be taxed 

3 for school purposes per student in the State in 

4 which the local educational agency is located; 

5 and 

6 (3) finally consider— 

7 (A) the number and percentages of chil8 dren described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), 

9 and (D) of section 7003(a)(1) of the Elemen10 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)) enrolled in the school facil12 ity to be supported with grant funds; 

13 (B) the learning opportunity threshold 

14 total percentage as described in subparagraph 

15 (B)(i) of section 7003(b)(3) of such Act (20 

16 U.S.C. 7703(b)(3)); 

17 (C) with respect to local educational agen18 cies eligible for payments under section 7002 of 

19 such Act (20 U.S.C. 7702), the percentage of 

20 land in the local educational agency that is 

21 Federal property; 

22 (D) the potential use for community pro23 grams and events in the school facility to be 

24 supported with grant funds; 


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1 (E) the feasibility of project completion 

2 within 24 months from the grant award; and 

3 (F) the availability of other resources for 

4 the proposed project including the use of in5 kind contributions. 

6 SEC. 7. PAYMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—When making payments for 

8 grants awarded under this Act, the Secretary of Education 

9 shall comply with the following: 

10 (1) Make payment as required in full for those 

11 local educational agencies described in section 4(1) 

12 with no capacity to issue bonds. 

13 (2) Require those local educational agencies not 

14 described in paragraph (1) to pay a percentage of 

15 the total cost of the project supported with grant 

16 funds as follows: 

17 (A) For those local educational agencies 

18 with a learning opportunity threshold total per19 centage, as described in subparagraph (B)(i) of 

20 section 7003(b)(3) of the Elementary and Sec21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 7703(b)(3))— 

23 (i) that is 80 percent or greater, such 

24 agencies shall pay a non-Federal share 


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1 equal to 10 percent of the total cost of the 

2 project; 

3 (ii) that is less than 80 percent but 

4 50 percent or greater, such agencies shall 

5 pay a non-Federal share equal to 20 per6 cent of the total cost of the project; and 

7 (iii) that is less than 50 percent, such 

8 agencies shall pay a non-Federal share 

9 equal to 25 percent of the total cost of the 

10 project. 

11 (B) For those local educational agencies el12 igible to receive a payment under section 7002 

13 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

14 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) that are not de15 scribed in paragraph (1) of section 4, such 

16 agencies shall pay a non-Federal share equal to 

17 25 percent of the total cost of the project. 

18 (3) Make payment as required in full for those 

19 local educational agencies described in paragraph (1) 

20 or (2) of section 4, whose payment is $5,000,000 or 

21 less for the year in which they are to receive the 

22 grant. 

23 (4) Make payment to those local educational 

24 agencies described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 

25 4, whose payment is more than $5,000,000 for the 


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1 year in which they are to receive the grant, after 

2 final drawings and specifications have been approved 

3 by the Secretary of Education and the construction 

4 contract has been entered into, in accordance with 

5 regulations prescribed by the Secretary and at such 

6 times and in such installments as may be reason7 able. 

8 (b) Any funds paid to a local educational agency 

9 under this Act and not expended for the purposes for 

10 which paid shall be redistributed to make payments under 

11 section 7007(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)). 

13 SEC. 8. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

14 (a) USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 (1) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—A local edu16 cational agency may use in-kind contributions to 

17 meet the non-Federal share requirement under sec18 tion 7(a)(2). 

19 (2) PROHIBITIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.—A local 

20 educational agency may not use a grant awarded 

21 under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4 for— 

22 (A) a project for a school facility for which 

23 the agency does not have— 

24 (i) full title; 


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1 (ii) a long-term Tribal lease agree2 ment; or 

3 (iii) another interest as defined in reg4 ulation; and 

5 (B) the acquisition of real property. 

6 (3) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A local 

7 educational agency shall use funds awarded under 

8 this Act only to supplement the amount of funds 

9 that would, in the absence of the Federal funds pro10 vided under the grant, be made available from non11 Federal sources to carry out repairs of school facili12 ties as described in section 4 and not to supplant 

13 such funds. 

14 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON GRANT PROGRAM.—Not 

15 later than September 30 of each fiscal year, the Secretary 

16 of Education shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

17 committees a report on the projects carried out with funds 

18 made available under this Act. 

19 (c) CARRY-OVER OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

21 that applies for a grant under this Act for a fiscal 

22 year and does not receive the grant for the fiscal 

23 year shall have the application for the grant consid24 ered for the following fiscal year not to exceed the 

25 end of the 4-year period as described in paragraph 


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1 (4) of section 3(a), subject to the priority require2 ments of paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 4. 

3 (2) PRIORITY LISTING.—The Secretary of Edu4 cation shall— 

5 (A) maintain a priority listing of local edu6 cational agencies meeting the eligibility require7 ments found in— 

8 (i) paragraph (1) of section 4; and 

9 (ii) paragraph (2) of section 4; and 

10 (B) update the listing for each of para11 graphs (1) and (2) of section (4), including 

12 those local educational agencies that applied for 

13 the previous fiscal year, but were not funded 

14 and for those agencies applying the succeeding 

15 fiscal year. 

16 (d) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY DEFINED.—In 

17 this Act, the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 7013 of the Elementary 

19 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7713). 

Æ 


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