I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3793 
To establish State infrastructure banks for education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 18, 2012 
Mr. SHULER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
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 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics, an estimated $127 billion in school 
repair, modernization, expansion, and construction is 
needed. 
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(2) A 2011 survey of 50 major city school sys-
tems conducted by the Council of the Great City 
Schools indicates that they have approximately 
$15.3 billion in new construction needs; $46.7 billion 
in repair, renovation, and modernization needs; and 
$14.4 billion in deferred maintenance needs, which 
amounts to about $76.5 billion or approximately 
$8.9 million per school, including new school con-
struction. 
(3) Nearly 90 percent of all 55.5 million school- 
age children in the United States attend public 
schools. Approximately 14 million students attend 
schools which report the need for extensive 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. Researchers have found that 
students assigned to schools in poor conditions can 
be expected to fall 10.9 percentage points behind 
those in buildings in excellent condition. Similar 
studies have demonstrated up to a 20-percent im-
provement in test scores when students were moved 
from a poor facility to a new facility. Some schools 
report students missing 4 days annually due to 
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health problems caused by adverse building condi-
tions. 
(5) Large numbers of local educational agencies 
have difficulties securing financing for school facility 
improvement. Some of the deepest reductions to K– 
12 formula funding since the onset of the recession 
have occurred in the past year, and a majority of 
States have cut per-student educational funding. On 
average, some 47 percent of total education expendi-
tures in the United States come from State funds. 
(6) Local educational agencies manage over 1 
million acres of school building site area, with an es-
timated 6.6 billion gross square feet of public school 
building space. 
(7) Local educational agencies have an esti-
mated $271 billion of deferred building and grounds 
maintenance in their schools, excluding administra-
tive facilities, which averages $4,883 per student. 
(8) Schools that implement energy-saving strat-
egies, including following green building design and 
using energy-efficient building components, can re-
duce energy use by as much as one-third, resulting 
in major environmental and cost-savings benefits. 
(9) In 2010, the educational facilities construc-
tion market was estimated at $50 billion. 
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(10) Educating America’s future workforce in 
schools and libraries equipped for the 21st century 
is important for the United States competitive posi-
tion within the world economy. 
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— 
(A) to local educational agencies for build-
ing or repairing elementary or secondary 
schools which provide free public education (as 
such terms are defined in section 14101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)); 
(B) to public libraries for building or re-
pairing library facilities; and 
(C) to eligible charter school entities for 
use for the objective described in section 
5224(2) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7223c(2)) con-
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sistent with subpart 2 of part B of title V of 
such Act (20 U.S.C. 7223 et seq.). 
(2) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Congress grants 
consent to two 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 
under subsection (a)(1) to provide initial capital for loans 
provided under this section. Each bank shall apply repay-
ments of principal and interest on loans to the making 
of additional loans. The Secretary shall take final action 
on an application for a grant under this subsection within 
90 days of the date of the submission 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-
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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— 
(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 to a 
local educational agency or public library will bear 
interest at or below the lowest interest rates being 
offered for bonds the income from which is exempt 
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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 to a local educational agency or public library 
will commence not later than 1 year after the project 
has been completed; 
(7) ensure that the term for repaying any loan 
to a local educational agency or public library will 
not exceed 30 years after the date of the first pay-
ment on the loan under paragraph (5); 
(8) ensure that the funds loaned annually that 
are used under subsection (a)(1)(C) are limited to a 
percentage of the total funds loaned that does not 
exceed the percentage of elementary and secondary 
school students in the State enrolled in charter 
schools during the most recent school year for which 
enrollment data are available; and 
(9) 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. 
(d) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE FROM INFRASTRUCTURE 
BANKS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An infrastructure bank es-
tablished under this section may make loans in an 
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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 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 
(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 submission. 
(3) CRITERIA FOR LOANS.—In considering ap-
plications for a loan to a local educational agency or 
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a public library an infrastructure bank shall con-
sider— 
(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) CERTAIN QUALIFYING PROJECTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A project is eligible for a 
loan to a local educational agency or public libraries 
from an infrastructure bank if it is a project that 
consists of— 
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(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; 
(G) work that will bring an educational fa-
cility into conformity with the requirements 
of— 
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(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 
with respect to individuals employed on the projects 
described in paragraph (1). 
(3) GREEN PRACTICES.—An entity using a loan 
under this section to fund a new construction or ren-
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ovation project described in paragraph (1) shall en-
sure that the project uses, to the maximum extent 
practicable, green practices that are certified, 
verified, or consistent with any applicable provisions 
of— 
(A) the LEED Green Building Rating Sys-
tem; 
(B) Energy Star; 
(C) the CHPS Criteria; 
(D) Green Globes; or 
(E) an equivalent program adopted by the 
State or another jurisdiction with authority over 
the entity. 
(f) SUPPLEMENTATION.—Any loan made by an infra-
structure bank shall be used to supplement and not sup-
plant other Federal, State, and local funds available. 
(g) LIMITATION ON REPAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the repayment of a loan from 
an infrastructure bank under this section may not be cred-
ited towards the non-Federal share of the cost of any 
project. 
(h) 
SECRETARIAL
REQUIREMENTS.—In 
admin-
istering this section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
specify procedures and guidelines for establishing, oper-
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ating, and providing assistance from an infrastructure 
bank. 
(i) UNITED STATES NOT OBLIGATED.—The con-
tribution of Federal funds into an infrastructure bank es-
tablished under this section shall not be construed as a 
commitment, guarantee, or obligation on the part of the 
United States to any third party, nor shall any third party 
have any right against the United States for payment sole-
ly by virtue of the contribution. Any security or debt fi-
nancing instrument issued by the infrastructure bank 
shall expressly state that the security or instrument does 
not constitute a commitment, guarantee, or obligation of 
the United States. 
(j) MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—Sections 
3335 and 6503 of title 31, United States Code, shall not 
apply to funds contributed under this section. 
(k) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—For each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2017, a State may expend not to ex-
ceed 2 percent of the Federal funds contributed to an in-
frastructure bank established by the State under this sec-
tion to pay the reasonable costs of administering the bank. 
(l) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall review the financial condition of each infra-
structure bank established under this section and transmit 
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to Congress a report on the results of such review not later 
than 90 days after the completion of the review. 
(m) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—For 
grants to States for the initial capitalization of infrastruc-
ture banks there are authorized to be appropriated 
$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2013 and for each of the 4 
succeeding fiscal years. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) ELIGIBLE CHARTER SCHOOL ENTITY.—The 
term ‘‘eligible charter school entity’’ means— 
(A) a charter school (as defined in section 
5210 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i)); or 
(B) a developer (as so defined) that has 
applied to an authorized public chartering agen-
cy (as so defined) to operate a charter school. 
(2) LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY.—(A) The 
term ‘‘local educational agency’’ means a public 
board of education or other public authority legally 
constituted within a State for either administrative 
control or direction of, or to perform a service func-
tion for, public elementary or secondary schools in a 
city, county, township, school district, or other polit-
ical subdivision of a State, or for such combination 
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of school districts or counties as are recognized in a 
State as an administrative agency for its public ele-
mentary or secondary schools. 
(B) The term includes any other public institu-
tion or agency having administrative control and di-
rection of a public elementary or secondary school. 
(C) The term includes an elementary or sec-
ondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs but only to the extent that such inclusion 
makes such school eligible for programs for which 
specific eligibility is not provided to such school in 
another provision of law and such school does not 
have a student population that is smaller than the 
student population of the local educational agency 
receiving assistance under this Act with the smallest 
student population, except that such school shall not 
be subject to the jurisdiction of any State edu-
cational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs. 
(3) OUTLYING
AREA.—The term ‘‘outlying 
area’’ means the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 
Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 
Palau. 
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(4) PUBLIC
LIBRARY.—The term ‘‘public li-
brary’’ means a library that serves free of charge all 
residents of a community, district, or region, and re-
ceives its financial support in whole or in part from 
public funds. Such term also includes a research li-
brary, which, for the purposes of this sentence, 
means a library that— 
(A) makes its services available to the pub-
lic free of charge; 
(B) has extensive collections of books, 
manuscripts, and other materials suitable for 
scholarly research which are not available to the 
public through public libraries; 
(C) engages in the dissemination of hu-
manistic knowledge through services to readers, 
fellowships, educational and cultural programs, 
publication of significant research, and other 
activities; and 
(D) is not an integral part of an institu-
tion of higher education. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying 
areas. 
Æ 
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