I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2955
To establish a partnership to rebuild and modernize America’s school facilities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 27, 1999
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mrs. MALONEY of New York) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
A BILL
To establish a partnership to rebuild and modernize
America’s school facilities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Partnership To Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
PART 1—PROGRAM AUTHORIZED
Sec. 101. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 102. Definitions.
Sec. 103. Funds appropriated.
Sec. 104. Allocation of funds.
PART 2—GRANTS TO STATES
Sec. 111. Allocation of funds.
Sec. 112. Eligible State agency.
Sec. 113. Allowable uses of funds.
Sec. 114. Eligible construction projects; period for initiation.
Sec. 115. Selection of localities and projects.
Sec. 116. State applications.
Sec. 117. Amount of Federal subsidy.
Sec. 118. Separate funds or accounts; prudent investment.
Sec. 119. State reports.
PART 3—DIRECT GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES
Sec. 121. Eligible local educational agencies.
Sec. 122. Grantees.
Sec. 123. Allowable uses of funds.
Sec. 124. Eligible construction projects; redistribution.
Sec. 125. Local applications.
Sec. 126. Formula grants.
Sec. 127. Competitive grants.
Sec. 128. Amount of Federal subsidy.
Sec. 129. Separate funds or accounts; prudent investment.
Sec. 130. Local reports.
TITLE II—GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Technical employees.
Sec. 202. Wage rates.
Sec. 203. No liability of Federal Government.
Sec. 204. Consultation with Secretary of the Treasury.
TITLE 
I—SCHOOL 
CONSTRUC-
TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
PART 1—PROGRAM AUTHORIZED
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:
(1) According to the General Accounting Office,
one-third of all elementary and secondary schools in
the United States, serving 14,000,000 students,
need extensive repair or renovation.
(2) School infrastructure problems exist across
the country, but are most severe in central cities and
in schools with high proportions of poor and minor-
ity children.
(3) Many States and school districts will need
to build new schools in order to accommodate in-
creasing student enrollments; the Department of
Education has predicted that the Nation will need
6,000 more schools by the year 2006.
(4) Many schools do not have the physical in-
frastructure to take advantage of computers and
other technology needed to meet the challenges of
the next century.
(5) While school construction and maintenance
are primarily a State and local concern, States and
communities have not, on their own, met the in-
creasing burden of providing acceptable school facili-
ties for all students, and the poorest communities
have had the greatest difficulty meeting this need.
(6) The Federal Government, by providing in-
terest subsidies and similar types of support, can
lower the costs of State and local school infrastruc-
ture investment, creating an incentive for States and
localities to increase their own infrastructure im-
provement efforts and helping ensure that all stu-
dents are able to attend schools that are equipped
for the 21st century.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide
Federal interest subsidies, or similar assistance, to States
and localities to help them bring all public school facilities
up to an acceptable standard and build the additional pub-
lic schools needed to educate the additional numbers of
students who will enroll in the next decade.
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.
Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act, the
following terms have the following meanings:
(1) CHARTER
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘charter
school’’ has the meaning given that term in section
10310(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8066(1)).
(2) COMMUNITY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘commu-
nity school’’ means a school, or part of a school, that
serves as a center for after-school and summer pro-
grams and delivery of education, tutoring, cultural,
and recreational services, and as a safe haven for all
members of the community by—
(A) collaborating with other public and pri-
vate nonprofit agencies (including libraries and
other educational, human-service, cultural, and
recreational entities) and private businesses in
the provision of services;
(B) providing services such as literacy and
reading programs; senior citizen programs; chil-
dren’s day-care services; nutrition services; serv-
ices for individuals with disabilities; employ-
ment counseling, training, and placement; and
other educational, health, cultural, and rec-
reational services; and
(C) providing those services outside the
normal school day and school year, such as
through safe and drug-free safe havens for
learning.
(3)(A) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘construc-
tion’’ means—
(i) the preparation of drawings and speci-
fications for school facilities;
(ii) erecting, building, acquiring, remod-
eling, renovating, improving, repairing or ex-
tending school facilities;
(iii) demolition, in preparation for rebuild-
ing school facilities; and
(iv) the inspection and supervision of the
construction of school facilities.
(B) The term ‘‘construction’’ does not include
the acquisition of any interest in real property.
(4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given
that term in section 14101(18) (A) and (B) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 8801(18) (A) and (B)).
(5) SCHOOL FACILITY.—(A) Term ‘‘school facil-
ity’’ means—
(i) a public structure suitable for use as a
classroom, laboratory, library, media center, or
related facility, whose primary purpose is the
instruction of public elementary or secondary
students; and
(ii) initial equipment, machinery, and utili-
ties necessary or appropriate for school pur-
poses.
(B) The term ‘‘school facility’’ does not include
an athletic stadium, or any other structure or facil-
ity intended primarily for athletic exhibitions, con-
tests, games, or events for which admission is
charged to the general public.
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Education.
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
(8) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term
‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given
that term in section 14101(28) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8801(28)).
SEC. 103. FUNDS APPROPRIATED.
There are appropriated $5,000,000,000 for the pur-
pose of carrying out this Act, which shall be available for
obligation by the Secretary of Education from October 1,
1999, until September 30, 2003.
SEC. 104. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.
(a) RESERVATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE IN-
TERIOR AND THE OUTLYING AREAS.—
(1) The Secretary shall reserve up to 2 percent
of the funds appropriated by section 104 to—
(A) provide assistance to the Secretary of
the Interior, which the Secretary of the Interior
shall use for the school construction priorities
described in section 1125(c) of the Education
Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2005(c)); and
(B) make grants to American Samoa,
Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Common-
for Basic Grants under subpart 2 of part A of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the most recent fiscal year if the
Secretary had disregarded the numbers of children count-
ed under that subpart who were enrolled in schools of local
educational agencies that are eligible to receive direct
grants under section 126 of this Act.
(b) ADJUSTMENTS
TO
ALLOCATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall adjust the allocations under subsection (a),
as necessary, to ensure that, of the total amount allocated
to States under subsection (a) and to local educational
agencies under section 126, the percentage allocated to a
State under this section and to localities in the State
under section 126 is at least the minimum percentage for
the State described in section 1124(d) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6334(d)) for the previous fiscal year.
(c) REALLOCATIONS.—If a State does not apply for
its allocation, applies for less than its full allocation, or
fails to submit an approvable application, the Secretary
may reallocate all or a portion of the State’s allocation,
as the case may be, to the remaining States in the same
proportions as the original allocations were made to those
States under subsections (a) and (b).
SEC. 112. ELIGIBLE STATE AGENCY.
The Secretary shall award each State’s grant to the
State agency, such as a State educational agency, a State
school construction agency, or a State bond bank, that the
Governor, with the agreement of the chief State school of-
ficer, designates as best able to administer the grant.
SEC. 113. ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.
Each State shall use its grant under this part only
for one or more of the following activities to subsidize the
cost of eligible school construction projects described in
section 114:
(1) Providing a portion of the interest cost (or
of another financing cost approved by the Secretary)
on bonds, certificates of participation, purchase or
lease arrangements, or other forms of indebtedness
issued or entered into by a State or its instrumen-
tality for the purpose of financing eligible projects.
(2) State-level expenditures approved by the
Secretary for credit enhancement for the debt or fi-
nancing instruments described in paragraph (1).
(3) Making subgrants, or making loans through
a State revolving fund, to local educational agencies
or (with the agreement of the affected local edu-
cational agency) to other qualified public agencies to
subsidize—
(A) the interest cost (or another financing
cost approved by the Secretary) of bonds, cer-
tificates of participation, purchase or lease ar-
rangements, or other forms of indebtedness
issued or entered into by a local educational
agency or other agency or unit of local govern-
ment for the purpose of financing eligible
projects; or
(B) local expenditures approved by the
Secretary for credit enhancement for the debt
or financing instruments described in subpara-
graph (A).
(4) Other State and local expenditures approved
by the Secretary that leverage funds for additional
school construction.
SEC. 114. ELIGIBLE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS; PERIOD
FOR INITIATION.
(a) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—States and their sub-
grantees may use funds under this part, in accordance
with section 113, to subsidize the cost of—
(1) construction of elementary and secondary
school facilities in order to ensure the health and
safety of all students, which may include the removal
of environmental hazards; improvements in air qual-
ity, plumbing, lighting, heating and air conditioning,
electrical systems, or basic school infrastructure; and
building improvements that increase school safety;
(2) construction activities needed to meet the
requirements of section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) or of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et
seq.);
(3) construction activities that increase the en-
ergy efficiency of school facilities;
(4) construction that facilitates the use of mod-
ern educational technologies;
(5) construction of new school facilities that are
needed to accommodate growth in school enroll-
ments; or
(6) construction projects needed to facilitate the
establishment of charter schools and community
schools.
(b) PERIOD FOR INITIATION OF PROJECT.—(1) Each
State shall use its grant under this part only to subsidize
construction projects described in subsection (a) that the
State or its localities have chosen to initiate, through the
vote of a school board, passage of a bond issue, or similar
public decision, made between July 11, 1999, and Sep-
tember 30, 2004.
(2) If a State determines, after September 30, 2004,
that an eligible project for which it has obligated funds
under this part will not be carried out, the State may use
those funds (or any available portion of those funds) for
other eligible projects selected in accordance with this
part.
(c) REALLOCATION.—If the Secretary determines, by
a date before September 30, 2004, selected by the Sec-
retary, that a State is not making satisfactory progress
in carrying out its plan for the use of the funds allocated
to it under this part, the Secretary may reallocate all or
part of those funds, including any interest earned by the
State on those funds, to one or more other States that
are making satisfactory progress.
SEC. 115. SELECTION OF LOCALITIES AND PROJECTS.
(a) PRIORITIES.—In determining which localities and
activities to support with grant funds, each State shall
give the highest priority to—
(1) localities with the greatest needs, as dem-
onstrated by inadequate educational facilities, cou-
pled with a low level of resources available to meet
school construction needs; and
(2) localities that will achieve the greatest
leveraging effect on school construction from assist-
ance under this part.
(b) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—In addition to the prior-
ities required by subsection (a), each State shall consider
each of the following in determining the use of its grant
funds under this part:
(1) The condition of the school facilities in dif-
ferent communities in the State.
(2) The energy efficiency and the effect on the
environment of projects proposed by communities,
and the extent to which these projects use cost-effi-
cient architectural design.
(3) The commitment of communities to finance
school construction and renovation projects with as-
sistance from the State’s grant, as demonstrated by
their incurring indebtedness or by similar public or
private commitments for the purposes described in
section 114(a).
(4) The ability of communities to repay bonds
or other forms of indebtedness supported with grant
funds.
(5) The particular needs, if any, of rural com-
munities in the State for assistance under this Act.
(6) The receipt by local educational agencies in
the State of grants under part 3, except that a local
educational agency is not ineligible for a subgrant