Title: Masks Off Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Masks Off Act
This bill directs the Department of Education to make grants to parents of eligible students for certain education-related expenses. Eligible student refers to a student who (1) is served by a local educational agency that required students to wear face masks during in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year, and (2) is from a household with a household income that is less than 250% of the reduced-price lunch rate income.
Grant funds may be used for tuition and fees for private elementary or secondary schools, private tutoring, home school expenses, or educational materials.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5327 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5327

 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to 
  make grants to the parents of students served by local educational 
  agencies that require students to wear face masks during in-person 
                  instruction, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 22, 2021

Mr. Bishop of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Harris, Mr. 
   Weber of Texas, Mr. Perry, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Steube, Mr. Budd, Mr. 
Newhouse, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mr. Feenstra, and Mr. Gibbs) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                               and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to 
  make grants to the parents of students served by local educational 
  agencies that require students to wear face masks during in-person 
                  instruction, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Masks Off Act''.

SEC. 2. OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a grant program (to 
be known as the ``Opportunity Grant Program'') to make grants to 
parents of eligible students for the purposes described in subsection 
(d).
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, a parent of an eligible student shall submit to 
        the Secretary an application demonstrating--
                    (A) the household income of such eligible student; 
                and
                    (B) with respect to school year 2021-2022, that the 
                local educational agency serving such eligible student 
                has required that students wear face masks during in-
                person instruction.
            (2) Other requirements.--The Secretary shall accept 
        applications under paragraph (1) on an annual rolling basis and 
        make such application available as a standardized form in 
        electronic and written format.
    (c) Amount of Grants.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, each parent of an eligible student who the Secretary 
determines qualifies for a grant under this section shall receive a 
grant under this section in an amount that--
            (1) in the case of an eligible student with a household 
        income less than or equal to 100 percent of the reduced price 
        lunch rate income, is equal to 100 percent of the per-pupil 
        funding with respect to the local educational agency serving 
        such eligible student, as determined by the Secretary;
            (2) in the case of an eligible student with a household 
        income greater than 100 percent but less than or equal to 150 
        percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 90 
        percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local 
        educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined 
        by the Secretary;
            (3) in the case of an eligible student with a household 
        income greater than 150 percent but less than or equal to 200 
        percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 80 
        percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local 
        educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined 
        by the Secretary; and
            (4) in the case of an eligible student with a household 
        income greater than 200 percent but less than or equal to 250 
        percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 70 
        percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local 
        educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined 
        by the Secretary.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Any amounts made available to a parent under 
this section may be used--
            (1) with respect to an eligible student, to pay the tuition 
        and fees for a private elementary school or a private secondary 
        school;
            (2) for private tutoring (including through a learning pod 
        or microschool);
            (3) for the home school expenses of such eligible student;
            (4) to purchase educational materials, including 
        instruction materials and textbooks for such eligible student;
            (5) for purchasing electronic devices to facilitate the 
        education of such eligible student; or
            (6) for such other purposes as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.
    (e) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed--
            (1) to impact any aspect of private, religious, or home 
        education providers;
            (2) to exclude private, religious, or home education 
        providers from receiving funds pursuant to a grant under this 
        section; or
            (3) to require a qualified educational service provider to 
        alter any creed, practice, admissions policy, or curriculum in 
        order to receive funds pursuant to a grant under this section.
    (f) Renewal.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall renew opportunity 
        grants for parents of eligible students with an approved 
        application under paragraph (2).
            (2) Application.--To be eligible to receive a renewal under 
        this subsection, a parent of an eligible student shall submit 
        to the Secretary an application demonstrating the information 
        described in subsection (b)(1).
            (3) Adjustment.--The Secretary shall adjust the grant 
        amount to account for any change in household income of the 
        eligible student but may not provide less than the amount 
        described in subsection (c)(4).
    (g) Funding.--From any amounts appropriated under title I of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Secretary shall use 10 
percent of such amounts to carry out this section and award opportunity 
grants to parents with approved applications in accordance with this 
section.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible student.--The term ``eligible student'' means 
        a student--
                    (A) served by a local educational agency that, with 
                respect to school year 2021-2022, required students to 
                wear face masks during in-person instruction; and
                    (B) from a household with a household income that 
                is less than 250 percent of the reduced price lunch 
                rate income.
            (2) ESEA terms.--The terms ``local educational agency'', 
        ``parent'', and ``Secretary'' have the meanings given such 
        terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (3) Household income.--The term ``household income'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 36B(d)(2) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 36B(d)(2)).
            (4) Reduced price lunch rate income.--The term ``reduced 
        price lunch rate income'' means 185 percent of the applicable 
        family size income levels contained in the nonfarm income 
        poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and 
        Budget, as adjusted annually in accordance with subparagraph 
        (B) of section 9(b)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National 
        School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)).
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