II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1512

To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged

children, 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 TITLE I—EDUCATIONAL

4 OPPORTUNITIES

5 SEC. 101. PURPOSES.

6 The purposes of this title are—

7 (1) to assist States to—

8 (A) give children from low-income families

9 the same choices among all elementary and sec-
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1 ondary schools and other academic programs as

2 children from wealthier families already have;

3 (B) improve schools and other academic

4 programs by giving parents in low-income fami5 lies increased consumer power to choose the

6 schools and programs that the parents deter7 mine best fit the needs of their children; and

8 (C) more fully engage parents in their chil9 dren’s schooling; and

10 (2) to demonstrate, through a 3-year national

11 grant program, the effects of a voucher program

12 that gives parents in low-income families—

13 (A) choice among public, private, and reli14 gious schools for their children; and

15 (B) access to the same academic options as

16 parents in wealthy families have for their chil17 dren.

18 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro20 priated to carry out this title (other than section 110)

21 $1,800,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through

22 2003.

23 (b) EVALUATION.—There is authorized to be appro24 priated to carry out section 110 $17,000,000 for fiscal

25 years 2001 through 2004.
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1 SEC. 103. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants

3 to States, from allotments made under section 104 to en4 able the States to carry out educational choice programs

5 that provide scholarships, in accordance with this title.

6 (b) LIMIT ON FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI7 TURES.—The Secretary may reserve not more than

8 $1,000,000 of the amounts appropriated under section

9 102(a) for a fiscal year to pay for the costs of admin10 istering this title.

11 SEC. 104. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.

12 (a) ALLOTMENTS.—The Secretary shall make the al13 lotments to States in accordance with a formula specified

14 in regulations issued in accordance with subsection (b).

15 The formula shall provide that the Secretary shall allot

16 to each State an amount that bears the same relationship

17 to the amounts appropriated under section 102(a) for a

18 fiscal year (other than funds reserved under section

19 103(b)) as the number of covered children in the State

20 bears to the number of covered children in all such States.

21 (b) FORMULA.—Not later than 90 days after the date

22 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regula23 tions specifying the formula referred to in subsection (a).

24 (c) LIMIT ON STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI25 TURES.—The State may reserve not more than 1 percent
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1 of the funds made available through the State allotment

2 to pay for the costs of administering this title.

3 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered

4 child’’ means a child who is enrolled in a public school

5 (including a charter school) that is an elementary school

6 or secondary school.

7 SEC. 105. ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS.

8 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Schools identified by a State

10 under paragraph (2) shall be considered to be eligi11 ble schools under this title.

12 (2) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 180 days

13 after the date the Secretary issues regulations under

14 section 104(b), each State shall identify the public

15 elementary schools and secondary schools in the

16 State that are at or below the 25th percentile for

17 academic performance of schools in the State.

18 (b) PERFORMANCE.—The State shall determine the

19 academic performance of a school under this section based

20 on such criteria as the State may consider to be appro21 priate.

22 SEC. 106. SCHOLARSHIPS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—

24 (1) SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS.—With funds

25 awarded under this title, each State awarded a grant
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1 under this title shall provide scholarships to the par2 ents of eligible children, in accordance with sub3 sections (b) and (c). The State shall ensure that the

4 scholarships may be redeemed for elementary or sec5 ondary education for the children at any of a broad

6 variety of public and private schools, including reli7 gious schools, in the State.

8 (2) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT.—The amount of

9 each scholarship shall be $2000 per year.

10 (3) TAX EXEMPTION.—Scholarships awarded

11 under this title shall not be considered income of the

12 parents for Federal income tax purposes or for de13 termining eligibility for any other Federal program.

14 (b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.—To be eligible to receive

15 a scholarship under this title, a child shall be—

16 (1) a child who is enrolled in a public elemen17 tary school or secondary school that is an eligible

18 school; and

19 (2) a member of a family with a family income

20 that is not more than 200 percent of the poverty

21 line.

22 (c) AWARD RULES.—

23 (1) PRIORITY.—In providing scholarships under

24 this title, the State shall provide scholarships for eli25 gible children through a lottery system administered
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1 for all eligible schools in the State by the State edu2 cational agency.

3 (2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—Each State re4 ceiving a grant under this title to carry out an edu5 cational choice program shall provide a scholarship

6 in each year of the program to each child who re7 ceived a scholarship during the previous year of the

8 program, unless—

9 (A) the child no longer resides in the area

10 served by an eligible school;

11 (B) the child no longer attends school;

12 (C) the child’s family income exceeds, by

13 20 percent or more, 200 percent of the poverty

14 line; or

15 (D) the child is expelled or convicted of a

16 felony, including felonious drug possession, pos17 session of a weapon on school grounds, or a vio18 lent act against an other student or a member

19 of the school’s faculty.

20 SEC. 107. USES OF FUNDS.

21 Any scholarship awarded under this title for a year

22 shall be used—

23 (1) first, for—
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1 (A) the payment of tuition and fees at the

2 school selected by the parents of the child for

3 whom the scholarship was provided; and

4 (B) the reasonable costs of the child’s

5 transportation to the school, if the school is not

6 the school to which the child would be assigned

7 in the absence of a program under this title;

8 (2) second, if the parents so choose, to obtain

9 supplementary academic services for the child, at a

10 cost of not more than $500, from any provider cho11 sen by the parents, that the State determines is ca12 pable of providing such services and has an appro13 priate refund policy; and

14 (3) finally, for educational programs that help

15 the eligible child achieve high levels of academic ex16 cellence in the school attended by the eligible child,

17 if the eligible child chooses to attend a public school.

18 SEC. 108. STATE REQUIREMENT.

19 A State that receives a grant under this title shall

20 allow lawfully operating public and private elementary

21 schools and secondary schools, including religious schools,

22 if any, serving the area involved to participate in the pro23 gram.
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1 SEC. 109. EFFECT OF PROGRAMS.

2 (a) TITLE I.—Notwithstanding any other provision

3 of law, if a local educational agency in the State would,

4 in the absence of an educational choice program that is

5 funded under this title, provide services to a participating

6 eligible child under part A of title I of the Elementary

7 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311

8 et seq.), the State shall ensure the provision of such serv9 ices to such child.

10 (b) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Nothing in

11 this title shall be construed to affect the requirements of

12 part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

13 (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.).

14 (c) AID.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Scholarships under this title

16 shall be considered to aid families, not institutions.

17 For purposes of determining Federal assistance

18 under Federal law, a parent’s expenditure of schol19 arship funds under this title at a school or for sup20 plementary academic services shall not constitute

21 Federal financial aid or assistance to that school or

22 to the provider of supplementary academic services.

23 (2) SUPPLEMENTARY ACADEMIC SERVICES.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para25 graph (1), a school or provider of supple26 mentary academic services that receives scholar-
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1 ship funds under this title shall, as a condition

2 of participation under this title, comply with the

3 provisions of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of

4 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and section

5 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29

6 U.S.C. 794).

7 (B) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall

8 promulgate regulations to implement the provi9 sions of subparagraph (A), taking into account

10 the purposes of this title and the nature, vari11 ety, and missions of schools and providers that

12 may participate in providing services to children

13 under this title.

14 (d) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—No Federal, State, or

15 local agency may, in any year, take into account Federal

16 funds provided to a State or to the parents of any child

17 under this title in determining whether to provide any

18 other funds from Federal, State, or local resources, or in

19 determining the amount of such assistance, to such State

20 or to a school attended by such child.

21 (e) NO DISCRETION.—Nothing in this title shall be

22 construed to authorize the Secretary to exercise any direc23 tion, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program

24 of instruction, administration, or personnel of any edu-
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1 cational institution or school participating in a program

2 under this title.

3 SEC. 110. EVALUATION.

4 The Comptroller General of the United States shall

5 conduct an evaluation of the program authorized by this

6 title. Such evaluation shall, at a minimum—

7 (1) assess the implementation of educational

8 choice programs assisted under this title and their

9 effect on participants, schools, and communities in

10 the school districts served, including parental in11 volvement in, and satisfaction with, the program and

12 their children’s education;

13 (2) compare the educational achievement of

14 participating eligible children with the educational

15 achievement of similar non-participating children be16 fore, during, and after the program; and

17 (3) compare—

18 (A) the educational achievement of eligible

19 children who use scholarships to attend schools

20 other than the schools the children would at21 tend in the absence of the program; with

22 (B) the educational achievement of chil23 dren who attend the schools the children would

24 attend in the absence of the program.
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1 SEC. 111. ENFORCEMENT.

2 (a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate

3 regulations to enforce the provisions of this title.

4 (b) PRIVATE CAUSE.—No provision or requirement

5 of this title shall be enforced through a private cause of

6 action.

7 SEC. 112. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this title:

9 (1) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘charter

10 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section

11 10310 of the Elementary and Secondary Education

12 Act of 1965 (as redesignated in section 3(g) of Pub13 lic Law 105–278; 112 Stat. 2687).

14 (2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU15 CATIONAL AGENCY; PARENT; SECONDARY SCHOOL;

16 STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘elemen17 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘parent’’,

18 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’

19 have the meanings given the terms in section 14101

20 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

22 (3) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’

23 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of

24 Management and Budget, and revised annually in

25 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community
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1 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap2 plicable to a family of the size involved.

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

4 the Secretary of Education.

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

6 the 50 States.

7 TITLE II—REVENUE PROVISIONS

8 SEC. 201. PHASEOUT OF OIL AND GAS EXPENSING OF

9 DRILLING AND DEVELOPMENT COSTS.

10 Section 263(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new sen12 tence: ‘‘This subsection shall not apply to the applicable

13 percentage of costs incurred in taxable years beginning

14 after December 31, 1999. For purposes of the preceding

15 sentence, the applicable percentage for any taxable year

16 shall be determined in accordance with the following table:

‘‘In the case of any taxable

year beginning in—

The applicable percentage is—

2000 ......................................................................................... 20

2001 ......................................................................................... 40

2002 ......................................................................................... 60

2003 ......................................................................................... 80

After 2003 ................................................................................ 100.’’

17 SEC. 202. SUNSET OF ALCOHOL FUELS INCENTIVES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following provisions of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 are each repealed:

20 (1) Section 40 (relating to alcohol used as fuel).

21 (2) Section 4041(b)(2) (relating to qualified

22 methanol and ethanol).
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1 (3) Section 4041(k) (relating to fuels con2 taining alcohol).

3 (4) Section 4081(c) (relating to taxable fuels

4 mixed with alcohol).

5 (5) Section 4091(c) (relating to reduced rate of

6 tax for aviation fuel in alcohol mixture, etc.).

7 (6) Section 6427(f) (relating to gasoline, diesel

8 fuel, kerosene, and aviation fuel used to produce cer9 tain alcohol fuels).

10 (7) The headings 9901.00.50 and 9901.00.52

11 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

12 States (19 U.S.C. 3007).

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeals made by sub14 section (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1999.

15 SEC. 203. REPEAL OF ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY CREDIT.

16 Section 43 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is

17 amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—In the case of taxable years be19 ginning after December 31, 1999, the enhanced oil recov20 ery credit is zero.’’.

21 SEC. 204. REPEAL OF UNLIMITED PASSIVE LOSS DEDUC22 TIONS FOR OIL AND GAS PROPERTIES.

23 Section 469(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of

24 1986 (relating to working interests in oil and gas prop25 erty) is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—This paragraph shall

2 not apply with respect to any taxable year be3 ginning after December 31, 1999.’’

4 SEC. 205. SUGAR PROGRAM.

5 (a) ELIMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO USE SUGAR AS

6 COLLATERAL FOR LOANS.—Section 156 of the Agricul7 tural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7272) is

8 amended—

9 (1) in subsection (d)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and all that follows

11 through ‘‘A loan under’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)

12 TERM OF LOANS.—A loan under’’;

13 (B) by striking paragraph (2); and

14 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)

15 and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively,

16 and indenting appropriately;

17 (2) by striking subsection (g); and

18 (3) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as

19 subsections (g) and (h), respectively.

20 (b) ELIMINATION OF SUGAR PRICE SUPPORT AND

21 PRODUCTION ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

23 provision of law—

24 (A) a processor of any of the 2003 or sub25 sequent crops of sugarcane or sugar beets shall
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1 not be eligible for a loan under any provision of

2 law with respect to the crop; and

3 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture may not

4 make price support available, whether in the

5 form of a loan, payment, purchase, or other op6 eration, for any of the 2003 and subsequent

7 crops of sugar beets and sugarcane by using the

8 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation or

9 other funds available to the Secretary.

10 (2) TERMINATION OF MARKETING QUOTAS AND

11 ALLOTMENTS.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subtitle B

13 of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act

14 of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359aa et seq.) is repealed.

15 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

16 344(f)(2) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of

17 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1344(f)(2)) is amended by

18 striking ‘‘sugar cane for sugar, sugar beets for

19 sugar,’’.

20 (3) GENERAL POWERS.—

21 (A) DESIGNATED NONBASIC AGRICUL22 TURAL COMMODITIES.—Section 201(a) of the

23 Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1446(a)) is

24 amended by striking ‘‘milk, sugar beets, and

25 sugarcane’’ and inserting ‘‘and milk’’.
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1 (B) POWERS OF COMMODITY CREDIT COR2 PORATION.—Section 5(a) of the Commodity

3 Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C.

4 714c(a)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘agricul5 tural commodities’’ the following: ‘‘(other than

6 sugar)’’.

7 (C) SECTION 32 ACTIVITIES.—Section 32

8 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 774,

9 chapter 641; 7 U.S.C. 612c), is amended in the

10 second sentence of the first paragraph—

11 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting

12 ‘‘(other than sugar)’’ after ‘‘commodities’’;

13 and

14 (ii) in paragraph (3), by inserting

15 ‘‘(other than sugar)’’ after ‘‘commodity’’.

16 (4) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.—This subsection

17 and the amendments made by this subsection shall

18 not affect the liability of any person under any pro19 vision of law as in effect before the application of

20 this subsection and the amendments made by this

21 subsection.

22 (5) CROPS.—This subsection and the amend23 ments made by this subsection shall apply beginning

24 with the 2003 crop of sugar beets and sugarcane.

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