Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act - Addressing Infrastructure Needs in Education

Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act - Talking Points 118thCongress 2ndSession To be used when meeting with your House and Senate Congressional Delegation

What Does It Do? When you either write a email or visit in person you explain the a bill has been introduced both in the Senate S. 2808 and the House H.R. ______. Both bills authorize $250 million per year over four years to provide Federal-local community partnership construction funding to local educational agencies eligible to receive payments under the Impact Aid program: The grants are all-inclusive as all local educational agencies eligible under the Impact Aid statute - Title VII of P.L. 114-95 - Impact Aid, remember, is based on federal property, upon which local taxes and bonding mechanisms are not accessible on which to generate any funding for facilities. The Act also sets-aside 25% of the funding for military and Indian land districts with an enrollment of eligible children of no less than 20% with a formula based payment to be used for facility repair and modernization.

You then explain there is a need Describe your need for Infrastructure funding and use the following to document the national need Many school buildings were built in the 60 s and some earlier. The old buildings do not have the necessary infrastructure for electronic education (broadband) as one example. Two Government Accountability Office studies (2009 add 2020) concluded that many school facilities of schools served by federally impacted local educational agencies are in need of repair, modernization, renovation, or replacement. School facility surveys conducted by both the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools and the National Indian Impacted Schools Association found that 65% of respondents indicated their facilities are in fair to poor condition presenting challenges in teacher recruitment and teacher retention. Construction costs in rural areas are generally no less than 30% higher than in more urban areas Teacher housing is a major issue for districts serving Indian reservations.

If you get a question asking if Infrastructure Dollars are Available Now for Impact Aid Local Educational Agencies: You Answer: Yes and No: Between 1951 and 1994 under P.L. 81-815 over $1 billion was appropriated for the construction and expansion of school buildings impacted by a Federal presence, i.e. schools serving primarily children of military personnel and children residing on Indian lands. But In 1994 P.L. 81-815 was repealed. Section 7007 was its successor. Yes- but limited Section 7007 of the Impact Aid statute provides limited dollars ($18 million annually) both by formula (districts with no less than 50% percent military and/or Indian land eligible students) and through grants based on conditions considered emergency grants are limited to $4 million most are less than $1 million. If you ever applied let them know Did you get funded? No ____ Yes _____ Describe the project

Are Infrastructure Dollars Available Now for Impact Aid Local Educational Agencies: You Answer: Yes: - but only for some: In 2012 the Department of Defense at the direction of the Secretary of Defense conducted an inventory of the facility conditions of public schools (Impact Aid funded) located on a military installation. Congress too, saw the need to provide funding for these schools. Between fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2023 over $1.5 billion has been appropriated (Department of Defense Appropriations) administered through the DoD - Office of Local Defense Community and Cooperation to upgrade (modernize) and build new school facilities for students attending such schools.

You ask the question Why can t dollars be found for all Federally Connected Districts The Problem Is there a Double Standard? There are many school buildings both off-base schools serving military children, schools enrolling Indian land children; and schools with a limited tax base that are not receiving the same priority. Dollars can be found-Wouldn t you agree?

When they ask what does the Impact Aid Infrastructure-Partnership Act Do? You describe the basics Requires that the Department of Education to establish and maintain a priority listing of school buildings based on need as identified: Priority One and Priority Two A Local Education Agency that: Priority One: has a facility that is in violation of a Federal, State, county, or Tribal building code representing a health hazard to students and school personnel; fails to meet standards as set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes a number of structural deficiencies including teacher housing. (Priority Listing established for Priority One) Priority Two: has a facility that does not meet the requirements of Priority One, but does not meet minimum structural or health and safety standards as adopted by the American Society of Civil Engineers includes a number of structural deficiencies including teacher housing. (Priority Listing established for Priority Two)

Award Criteria First those local educational agencies that do not have the authority to tax or issue bonds or have a total assessed value of real property that may be taxed for school purposes of less than $50 million Next the Secretary is to consider those local educational agencies with a total assessed value of less than $100 million In setting the priority listing in addition to A. and B. the Secretary shall factor in a L.E.A. s percentage of federal students and their Learning Opportunity Threshold percentage; percentage of their land that is taxable and other factors including the feasibility of completion of the project in 24 months.

Amount of the Grant: Make a payment in full for those L.E.A. s under Priority One with no capacity to issue bonds For those with some capacity (Priority One and Two) their matching requirement would depend on their LOT Percentage (Need component as in the Law) LOT 80% or greater: 10% match Less than 80% but 50% or greater: 20% match LOT less than 50%: 25% match Federal Property Districts 25% match A grant amount of $5 million or less would be paid in full A grant greater than $5 million after final drawings etc. have been approved payments would be made in installments.

Miscellaneous: Any funds not expended shall be redistributed to make payments under Section 7007 (a) The provision in current law that allocates dollars (limited) based on a formula for districts with a 50% or higher percentage of federal enrollment. Prohibition on Use of Funds --- agency must have title of land or a long term Tribal lease agreement; can t be used for the acquisition of real property; Funds are to be used to supplement what funds are available to a L.E.A not to supplant

Major Point to Emphasize Make this point Those of your colleagues who served in Congress supported school construction and put money behind it between 1951 and 1994 why can t it be done again? It s not something that previous Congress s didn t feel was worthy of support many felt it was a commitment why not now what s different today? If money is the issue then what about all the money being spent on disaster assistance, Ukraine, climate change, roads, bridges, airports etc. Isn t there $250 million a year for 4 years laying around that could improve the learning environment in our schools allowing our children to learn and our teachers to teach? This is not an expenditure it s an investment in our countries future. If I m wrong please explain Thank you Would you consider co-sponsoring this legislation?

Sample letter/email to your Member of Congress The Honorable __________ United States House of Representatives or United States Senate Room Number Washington, D.C. 20510 (Senate) 20515 (House) Dear (Senator) (Representative): Facility needs are vital to our district as we do our best to keep our classroom and administrative facilities up to meet the health and safety standards of both state and our community. Yes, we did receive dollars under the Emergency (Covid-19) appropriations, but they were limited.

Page 2 Many of the buildings at our district were built 40 to 50 years ago meaning they are in need of constant repair and are not easily adaptable to the internet. Because of our need for additional capacity we utilize portables which do not foster or create a learning environment. In addition, the lack of a suitable learning environment makes it difficult for our district to recruit and retain qualified teachers. The lack of suitable teacher housing also adds to our teacher retention and recruitment problems. (Senator) (Representative) _________ (I write this letter) (I send this email) to not only describe our need for facility funding, but also to ask for your support for (S. 2808) (H.R. _____). These are companion bills that would over a four year period authorize $1 billion for facility funding based on a shared federal-local community partnership. I am enclosing a short summary of the bill and ask for your support by co-sponsoring the legislation and to seek the support of the (HELP Committee) (Education and Workforce Committee). Should you need further information, please don t hesitate to contact me.

Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act Summary Authorizes $250 million per year over four years to provide Federal-local community partnership construction funding to local educational agencies eligible to receive payments under the Impact Aid program The grants are all-inclusive as all local educational agencies eligible under the Impact Aid statute - Title VII of P.L. 114-95 Two Emergency Grants: Priority One Buildings in violation of state, county, tribal code Priority Two Buildings not in violation of code but are considered to be in poor condition Secretary is to establish and maintain a priority list for both Priority One and Priority Two Sets-aside 25% of the funding for military and Indian land districts with an enrollment of eligible children of no less than 20% with a formula based payment to be used for facility repair and modernization. Section 7007 (a)

Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act Summary Grants require a match from local funds in instances where there is a capacity to generate local funds if there is no capacity grants are paid in full Matching requirements are based on the districts Impact Aid need as measured under Section 7003 (b) (3) of the law Learning Opportunity Threshold (LOT) percentage: LOT Percentage between 100% - 80% Less than 80% but 50% or greater Less than 50% Federal Property Section 7002) 10 percent of the total cost of the project 20% of the cost of the project 25% of the cost of the project 25% of the cost of the project The Secretary shall maintain a priority listings of districts meeting the requirements of both Priority One and Two that applied for the previous year, but were not funded and for those agencies applying the succeeding fiscal year