II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 257 

To establish a Governor’s Emergency STEM Promotion Fund, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a Governor’s Emergency STEM Promotion 

Fund, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Emergency Support 

5 for STEM Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The COVID–19 pandemic has caused tre9 mendous repercussions within the kindergarten 


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1 through grade 12 education system of the United 

2 States. 

3 (2) It is imperative to support hands-on learn4 ing opportunities in science, technology, engineering, 

5 and mathematics (referred to in this section as 

6 ‘‘STEM’’) education through programs that— 

7 (A) provide innovative experiences for stu8 dents; 

9 (B) have strong track records of success; 

10 and 

11 (C) typically include nonprofit partnerships 

12 among the schools, nonprofit organizations, and 

13 private businesses. 

14 (3) Due to the severe economic damage caused 

15 by the COVID–19 pandemic to organizations offer16 ing STEM programs, these programs now face sig17 nificant funding challenges. 

18 (4) The long-term effects of the COVID–19 

19 pandemic will be felt for years to come without pub20 lic economic educational support to help these types 

21 of STEM opportunities. 

22 (5) Lack of investment in these critical pro23 grams will lead to limited innovative learning oppor24 tunities in the STEM fields, causing a drastic loss 


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1 of technical and professional skills training for this 

2 generation of students. 

3 SEC. 3. GOVERNOR’S EMERGENCY STEM PROMOTION 

4 FUND. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

7 school’’, ‘‘high school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 

8 ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec9 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 (2) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT PROGRAM.—The 

12 term ‘‘eligible nonprofit program’’— 

13 (A) means a nonprofit program serving 

14 prekindergarten, elementary school, or sec15 ondary school students; and 

16 (B) includes a program described in sub17 paragraph (A) that covers the continuum of 

18 education from prekindergarten through high 

19 school and is available in every State. 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘eli21 gible public school’’ means a public elementary 

22 school or secondary school. 

23 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Education. 


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1 (5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 

2 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

3 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail5 able under subsection (e), the Secretary shall make 

6 Emergency STEM Promotion grants to the Gov7 ernor of each State with an approved application. 

8 (2) TIMING.—The Secretary shall issue a notice 

9 inviting applications not later than 30 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act and shall award grants 

11 by not later than 30 days after the issuance of the 

12 notice. 

13 (3) AMOUNT.—Each State with an approved 

14 application shall receive a grant under paragraph (1) 

15 in an amount that bears the same relation to the 

16 amounts made available under subsection (e) as the 

17 number of children aged 5 through 17 in the State 

18 bears to the number of such children in all States 

19 with approved applications. 

20 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

22 under subsection (b)— 

23 (A) shall use not less than 90 percent of 

24 such grant funds to provide subgrants to eligi25 ble public schools or eligible nonprofit programs 


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1 to support hands-on learning opportunities in 

2 STEM education, including via remote learning, 

3 after-school activities, and innovative learning 

4 opportunities such as robotics competitions; and 

5 (B) may reserve— 

6 (i) not more than one-half of 1 per7 cent for administrative costs; and 

8 (ii) the remainder of any funds not 

9 used in accordance with clause (i) or sub10 paragraph (A) for emergency needs, as de11 termined by the State educational agency. 

12 (2) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding subgrants 

13 under this subsection, a State shall ensure that the 

14 majority of subgrant funds provided by the State are 

15 to— 

16 (A) eligible public schools that— 

17 (i) are implementing comprehensive 

18 support and improvement activities and 

19 targeted support and improvement activi20 ties under section 1111(d) of the Elemen21 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 6311(d)); or 

23 (ii) serve high percentages of students 

24 who are eligible for a free or reduced price 

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1 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 

2 et seq.) (which, in the case of a high 

3 school, may be calculated using comparable 

4 data from the schools that feed into the 

5 high school); or 

6 (B) eligible nonprofit programs serving 

7 students that attend eligible public schools de8 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

9 (3) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible public 

11 school or eligible nonprofit program receiving a 

12 subgrant under this subsection shall provide, to13 ward the cost of the activities assisted under 

14 the subgrant, an amount equal to 100 percent 

15 of the amount of the subgrant funds. 

16 (B) PAYMENT BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

17 AGENCY.—The matching funds required under 

18 subparagraph (A) for an eligible public school 

19 may be provided by the eligible public school or 

20 by the local educational agency that serves such 

21 school. 

22 (d) REALLOCATION.—A State shall return to the Sec23 retary any funds received under this section that the State 

24 does not award within 2 years of receiving such funds and 


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1 the Secretary shall reallocate such funds to the remaining 

2 States in accordance with subsection (b). 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

5 appropriated to carry out this section, and there are 

6 appropriated, out of any amounts in the Treasury 

7 not otherwise appropriated, $200,000,000 for fiscal 

8 year 2021. 

9 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available 

10 under this subsection shall remain available until ex11 pended. 

12 (3) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided 

14 by this section are designated as an emergency 

15 requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the 

16 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 

17 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

18 (B) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the 

19 Senate, this section is designated as an emer20 gency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) 

21 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the con22 current resolution on the budget for fiscal year 

23 2018. 

Æ 


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