I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2573 
To establish State infrastructure banks for education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 5, 2007 
Mrs. TAUSCHER
(for herself, Mrs. MCCARTHY
of New York, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To establish State infrastructure banks for education. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Investing for Tomor-
row’s Schools Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to a 2005 study conducted by the 
American School & University, $29.08 billion was 
spent to address the Nation’s education infrastruc-
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ture needs in 2004, with the average total cost of a 
new high school at $27 million. 
(2) According to the National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics, an estimated $127 billion in school 
repair, modernization, expansion, and construction is 
needed. 
(3) Approximately 14 million American stu-
dents attend schools which report the need for exten-
sive repair or replacement of one or more buildings. 
(4) Academic research has proven a direct cor-
relation between the condition of school facilities and 
student achievement. At Georgetown University, re-
searchers found that students assigned to schools in 
poor conditions can be expected to fall 10.9 percent-
age points behind those in buildings in excellent con-
dition. Similar studies have demonstrated up to a 20 
percent improvement in test scores when students 
were moved from a poor facility to a new facility. 
(5) The Director of Education and Employment 
Issues at the Government Accounting Office testified 
that nearly 52 percent of schools, affecting 21.3 mil-
lion students, reported insufficient technology ele-
ments for 6 or more areas. 
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(6) Large numbers of local educational agencies 
have difficulties securing financing for school facility 
improvement. 
(7) The challenges facing our Nation’s public 
elementary and secondary schools and libraries re-
quire the concerted efforts of all levels of govern-
ment and all sectors of the community. 
(8) The United States’ competitive position 
within the world economy is vulnerable if America’s 
future workforce continues to be educated in schools 
and libraries not equipped for the 21st century. 
(9) The deplorable state of collections in Amer-
ica’s public school libraries has increased the de-
mands on public libraries. In many instances, public 
libraries substitute for school libraries creating a 
higher demand for material and physical space to 
house literature and educational computer equip-
ment. 
(10) Research shows that 50 percent of a 
child’s intellectual development takes place before 
age 4. Our Nation’s public and school libraries play 
a critical role in a child’s early development because 
they provide a wealth of books and other resources 
that can give every child a head start on life and 
learning. 
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SEC. 3. STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENTS.—Subject to 
the provisions of this section, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu-
cation, may enter into cooperative agreements with 
States for the establishment of State infrastructure 
banks and multistate infrastructure banks for mak-
ing loans to local educational agencies for building 
or repairing elementary or secondary schools which 
provide free public education (as such terms are de-
fined in section 14101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)) 
and to public libraries for building or repairing li-
brary facilities. 
(2) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Congress grants 
consent to 2 or more of the States, entering into a 
cooperative agreement under paragraph (1) with the 
Secretary of the Treasury for the establishment of a 
multistate infrastructure bank, to enter into an 
interstate compact establishing such bank in accord-
ance with this section. 
(b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall make 
grants to State infrastructure banks and multistate infra-
structure banks in a State in a cooperative agreement 
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under subsection (a)(1) to provide initial capital for loans 
provided under this section to local educational agencies 
and public libraries. Each bank shall apply repayments of 
principal and interest on loans to the making of additional 
loans. The Secretary shall take final action on an applica-
tion for a grant under this subsection within 90 days of 
the date of the submittal of such application. 
(c) INFRASTRUCTURE BANK REQUIREMENTS.—In 
order to establish an infrastructure bank under this sec-
tion, each State establishing the bank shall— 
(1) contribute, at a minimum, in each account 
of the bank from non-Federal sources an amount 
equal to 25 percent of the amount of each capitaliza-
tion grant made to the State and contributed to the 
bank under subsection (b); 
(2) identify an operating entity of the State as 
recipient of the grant if the entity has the capacity 
to manage loan funds and issue debt instruments of 
the State for purposes of leveraging the funds; 
(3) allow such funds to be used as reserve for 
debt issued by the State so long as proceeds are de-
posited in the fund for loan purposes; 
(4) ensure that investment income generated by 
funds contributed to an account of the bank will 
be— 
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(A) credited to the account; 
(B) available for use in providing loans to 
projects eligible for assistance from the account; 
and 
(C) invested in United States Treasury se-
curities, bank deposits, or such other financing 
instruments as the Secretary may approve to 
earn interest to enhance the leveraging of 
projects assisted by the bank; 
(5) ensure that any loan from the bank will 
bear interest at or below the lowest interest rates 
being offered for bonds the income from which is ex-
empt from Federal taxation, as determined by the 
State, to make the project that is the subject of the 
loan feasible; 
(6) ensure that repayment of any loan from the 
bank will commence not later than 1 year after the 
project has been completed; 
(7) ensure that the term for repaying any loan 
will not exceed 30 years after the date of the first 
payment on the loan under paragraph (5); and 
(8) require the bank to make an annual report 
to the Secretary on its status and make such other 
reports as the Secretary may require by guidelines. 
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(d) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE FROM INFRASTRUCTURE 
BANKS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An infrastructure bank es-
tablished under this section may make loans to a 
local educational agency or a public library in an 
amount equal to all or part of the cost of carrying 
out a project eligible for assistance under this sec-
tion. 
(2) APPLICATIONS FOR LOANS.—An application 
to an infrastructure bank by a local educational 
agency or a public library for a loan shall include— 
(A) in the case of a renovation project, a 
description of each architectural, civil, struc-
tural, mechanical, or electrical deficiency to be 
corrected with funds under a loan and the pri-
orities to be applied; 
(B) a description of the criteria used by 
the applicant to determine the type of corrective 
action necessary for the renovation of a facility; 
(C) a description of improvements to be 
made and a cost estimate for the improvements; 
(D) a description of how work undertaken 
with the loan will promote energy conservation; 
and 
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(E) such other information as the infra-
structure bank may require. 
An infrastructure bank shall take final action on a 
completed application submitted to it within 90 days 
after the date of its submittal. 
(3) CRITERIA FOR LOANS.—In considering ap-
plications for a loan an infrastructure bank shall 
consider— 
(A) the extent to which the local edu-
cational agency or public library involved lacks 
the fiscal capacity, including the ability to raise 
funds through the full use of such agency’s 
bonding capacity and otherwise, to undertake 
the project for which the loan would be used 
without the loan; 
(B) in the case of a local educational agen-
cy, the threat that the condition of the physical 
plant in the project poses to the safety and 
well-being of students; 
(C) the demonstrated need for the con-
struction, reconstruction, or renovation based 
on the condition of the facility in the project; 
and 
(D) the age of such facility. 
(e) QUALIFYING PROJECTS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—A project is eligible for a 
loan from an infrastructure bank if it is a project 
that consists of— 
(A) the construction of new elementary or 
secondary schools to meet the needs imposed by 
enrollment growth; 
(B) the repair or upgrading of classrooms 
or structures related to academic learning, in-
cluding the repair of leaking roofs, crumbling 
walls, inadequate plumbing, poor ventilation 
equipment, and inadequate heating or light 
equipment; 
(C) an activity to increase physical safety 
at the educational facility involved; 
(D) an activity to enhance the educational 
facility involved to provide access for students, 
teachers, and other individuals with disabilities; 
(E) an activity to address environmental 
hazards at the educational facility involved, 
such as poor ventilation, indoor air quality, or 
lighting; 
(F) the provision of basic infrastructure 
that facilitates educational technology, such as 
communications 
outlets, 
electrical 
systems, 
power outlets, or a communication closet; 
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(G) work that will bring an educational fa-
cility into conformity with the requirements 
of— 
(i) environmental protection or health 
and safety programs mandated by Federal, 
State, or local law if such requirements 
were not in effect when the facility was ini-
tially constructed; and 
(ii) hazardous waste disposal, treat-
ment, and storage requirements mandated 
by the Resource Conservation and Recov-
ery Act of 1976 or similar State laws; 
(H) work that will enable efficient use of 
available energy resources, especially coal, solar 
power, and other renewable energy resources; 
(I) work to detect, remove, or otherwise 
contain asbestos hazards in educational facili-
ties; or 
(J) work to construct new public library 
facilities or repair or upgrade existing public li-
brary facilities. 
(2) DAVIS-BACON.—The wage requirements of 
the Act of March 3, 1931 (referred to as the ‘‘Davis- 
Bacon Act’’, 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) shall apply 
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with respect to individuals employed on the projects 
described in paragraph (1). 
(3) HEALTHY HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS.— 
(A) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
GUIDELINES.— 
After consultation with States and consider-
ation of leading green building standards, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Energy and the Administrator of the Environ-
mental 
Protection 
Agency, 
shall 
establish 
Healthy, High Performance School Guidelines, 
which shall provide guidance for the construc-
tion and renovation of schools, education facili-
ties, and libraries relating to energy efficiency, 
renewable energy, water use, building materials, 
indoor environmental quality, and such other 
matters as the Secretary considers to be appro-
priate. 
(B) APPLICABILITY
OF
GUIDELINES.—A 
local educational agency or public library using 
a loan under this section to fund a new con-
struction or renovation project described in 
paragraph (1) shall ensure that the project con-
forms, to the maximum extent practicable, to 
the Healthy, High Performance School Guide-
lines in subparagraph (A). 
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