I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4481 
To amend the Head Start Act to authorize block grants to States for 
prekindergarten education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2014 
Mr. SALMON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Head Start Act to authorize block grants 
to States for prekindergarten 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 ‘‘Head Start Improve-
ment Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. HEAD START BLOCK GRANTS. 
The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) in section 640, by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(p) Beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year 
following the date of enactment of the Head Start Im-
provement Act of 2014, the Secretary shall not allocate, 
reserve, or otherwise provide funds pursuant to this sec-
tion.’’; and 
(2) by inserting after section 640 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 640A. BLOCK GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE GRANTEES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this subchapter, beginning on October 1 of the 
first fiscal year following the date of enactment of the 
Head Start Improvement Act of 2014, from the amounts 
appropriated to carry out this subchapter under section 
639 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to 
eligible grantees in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(b) ALLOTMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE
GRANTEE
DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘eligible grantee’ means each of the 
50 States of the United States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, the Republic of Palau, and each of the fed-
erally recognized Indian tribes. 
‘‘(2) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allot the 
amount appropriated under section 639 for a fiscal 
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year among the eligible grantees in proportion to the 
number of children, aged 5 and younger, who reside 
within the eligible grantee and are from families 
with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line 
for the most recent fiscal year for which satisfactory 
data are available, compared to the number of such 
children who reside in all such eligible grantees for 
that fiscal year. 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible grantee that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use 100 per-
cent of the grant funds— 
‘‘(A) for prekindergarten education pro-
grams in the eligible grantee; 
‘‘(B) for the administration of the pro-
grams described in subparagraph (A); and 
‘‘(C) to provide direct technical assistance, 
oversight, monitoring, research, and training 
with respect to the programs described in sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—The Governor, or other 
chief executive, of each eligible grantee that receives 
a grant under this section shall certify that all grant 
funds received under this section will be used to di-
rectly or indirectly provide comprehensive education 
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and related services to low-income children and their 
families. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE GRANTEE RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
An eligible grantee that receives a grant under this 
section shall— 
‘‘(A) award subgrants to eligible entities 
(as defined by the eligible grantee) to enable 
such entities to provide prekindergarten edu-
cation programs in the eligible grantee; 
‘‘(B) establish rules and standards for the 
entities awarded subgrants under subparagraph 
(A); and 
‘‘(C) monitor compliance by entities award-
ed subgrants under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(4) FLEXIBILITY.—Subject to the require-
ments of this section, an eligible grantee that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall have full flexi-
bility to use grant funds to finance a prekinder-
garten education provider, service, or program, in-
cluding to establish a portable voucher system. 
‘‘(5) MEMBERS
OF
FEDERALLY
RECOGNIZED 
INDIAN TRIBES.—A member of a federally recog-
nized Indian tribe who is eligible to receive services 
pursuant to a program funded under this section 
may elect to receive such services from any eligible 
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entity in the eligible grantee in which the member 
resides. 
‘‘(d) MATCHING FUNDS.—An eligible grantee that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall provide matching 
funds from non-Federal sources equal to 20 percent of the 
amount of the grant to carry out the activities described 
in this section.’’. 
Æ 
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