I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 631 
To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent to the Secretary of 
Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement 
of students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2023 
Mr. MOOLENAAR (for himself, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. ISSA, Mr. GUTH-
RIE, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. CLINE, Mr. NORMAN, and Mr. 
BISHOP of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent to the 
Secretary of Education to combine certain funds to im-
prove the academic achievement of students. 
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 ‘‘Academic Partnerships 
Lead Us to Success Act’’ or the ‘‘A PLUS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:44 Feb 15, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H631.IH
H631
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(1) To give States and local communities added 
flexibility to determine how to improve academic 
achievement and implement education reforms. 
(2) To reduce the administrative costs and com-
pliance burden of Federal education programs in 
order to focus Federal resources on improving aca-
demic achievement. 
(3) To ensure that States and communities are 
accountable to the public for advancing the academic 
achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged 
children. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 
given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801 et seq.). 
(2) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘account-
ability’’ means that public schools are answerable to 
parents and other taxpayers for the use of public 
funds and shall report student progress to parents 
and taxpayers regularly. 
(3) DECLARATION OF INTENT.—The term ‘‘dec-
laration of intent’’ means a decision by a State, as 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:44 Feb 15, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H631.IH
H631
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
determined by State Authorizing Officials or by ref-
erendum, to assume full management responsibility 
for the expenditure of Federal funds for certain eli-
gible programs for the purpose of advancing, on a 
more comprehensive and effective basis, the edu-
cational policy of such State. 
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 1122(e) of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6332(e)). 
(5) STATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS.—The term 
‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the State offi-
cials who shall authorize the submission of a dec-
laration of intent, and any amendments thereto, on 
behalf of the State. Such officials shall include not 
less than two of the following: 
(A) The Governor of the State. 
(B) The highest elected education official 
of the State, if any. 
(C) The legislature of the State. 
(6) STATE DESIGNATED OFFICER.—The term 
‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the person des-
ignated by the State Authorizing Officials to submit 
to the Secretary, on behalf of the State, a declara-
tion of intent, and any amendments thereto, and to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:44 Feb 15, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H631.IH
H631
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
function as the point-of-contact for the State for the 
Secretary and others relating to any responsibilities 
arising under this Act. 
SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF INTENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub-
mit to the Secretary a declaration of intent permitting the 
State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated basis to 
manage the expenditure of such funds to advance the edu-
cational policy of the State. 
(b) PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR CONSOLIDATION AND 
PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) SCOPE.—A State may choose to include 
within the scope of the State’s declaration of intent 
any program for which Congress makes funds avail-
able to the State if the program is for a purpose de-
scribed in the Elementary and Education Secondary 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State may not in-
clude any program funded pursuant to the Individ-
uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1400 et seq.). 
(2) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to 
a State pursuant to a declaration of intent under 
this Act shall be used for any educational purpose 
permitted by State law of the State submitting a 
declaration of intent. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:44 Feb 15, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H631.IH
H631
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS