LEARN Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3418 To permit leasing of available Federal real property to expand in-person education during COVID–19 public health emergency. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Ms. MACE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To permit leasing of available Federal real property to ex- pand in-person education during COVID–19 public health emergency. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Leasing Every Avail- 4 able Real property Now Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘LEARN 5 Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3418 IH SEC. 2. USE OF REAL PROPERTY FOR IN-PERSON EDU- 1 CATION DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 2 GENCY. 3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Ad- 4 ministrator of the General Services Administration or the 5 head of an Executive agency may lease or sublease avail- 6 able Federal civilian real property under the control of 7 such agency or the Administration to nearby local edu- 8 cational agencies for the purpose of expanding in-person 9 education for students of elementary schools and sec- 10 ondary schools for a temporary period on an emergency 11 basis during the public health emergency declared by the 12 Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 13 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) 14 relating to COVID–19. 15 SEC. 3. NATURE, DURATION, AND TERMINATION OF LEASES 16 DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. 17 (a) DURATION AND TERMINATION.— Any lease or 18 sublease entered into under this Act shall be for a period 19 not to exceed 6 months and shall terminate not later than 20 14 days after the expiration of the public health emer- 21 gency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human 22 Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service 23 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) relating to COVID–19. 24 (b) COST.—A lease or sublease entered into under 25 this Act may be made at less than fair market value, but 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3418 IH in no event shall be made at less than the cost to the Exec- 1 utive agency or the Administration of maintaining the 2 property, or portion of the property, that is the subject 3 of the lease or sublease. 4 (c) REIMBURSEMENT OF UTILITIES.—Any local edu- 5 cational agency leasing or subleasing a property from an 6 Executive agency or the Administration under this Act 7 shall reimburse the Executive agency or the Administra- 8 tion for all utilities and other services provided for the 9 property that is the subject of the lease or sublease at 10 the actual cost of such utilities and services. In the case 11 of a utility or service for which the cost attributable to 12 such property is not separable, or the actual cost not cal- 13 culable, the local educational agency shall reimburse the 14 fair market value of the utility or service attributable to 15 such property. 16 (d) INCIDENTAL PERSONAL PROPERTY USE PER- 17 MITTED.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 18 Federal agency entering into a lease or sublease with a 19 local educational agency under this Act may permit the 20 local educational agency to use Federal personal property 21 located on site, including furniture. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3418 IH SEC. 4. SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION OF SUITABLE AND 1 AVAILABLE REAL PROPERTIES DURING PUB- 2 LIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. 3 (a) REVIEW PROCESS.—The head of each Executive 4 agency and the Administrator shall review all properties 5 under the control of the agency or the Administration, as 6 applicable, and affirmatively identify all properties that— 7 (1) would be suitable for use by local edu- 8 cational agencies for in-person education of students 9 of elementary schools and secondary schools; and 10 (2) are not anticipated to be needed for use by 11 the Executive agency or the Administration during 12 the following 9-month period. 13 (b) NOTIFICATION.—Each Executive agency and the 14 Administration shall— 15 (1) make available for leasing or subleasing by 16 nearby local educational agencies any properties 17 identified as available and suitable for use under 18 subsection (a); and 19 (2) publish in the Federal Register notice of the 20 availability of such properties. 21 (c) PRIORITY FOR PROPERTY IN DISTRICT OF CO- 22 LUMBIA.—An Executive agency and the Administration 23 shall give priority to the public schools of the District of 24 Columbia in leases and subleases made available under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3418 IH this Act for real property located in the District of Colum- 1 bia. 2 SEC. 5. USE OF SOAR ACT FUNDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF 3 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 4 (a) FLEXIBILITY OF FUNDS RECEIVED THROUGH 5 THE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OPPORTUNITY AND RESULTS 6 ACT.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re- 8 quirements of the Scholarships for Opportunity and 9 Results Act of 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the 10 ‘‘SOAR Act’’), any public school of the District of 11 Columbia may utilize funds received through SOAR 12 Act grants for the purpose of leasing or subleasing 13 available Federal real property to expand in-person 14 education at such school during the public health 15 emergency described in section 2. 16 (2) DIVERSION OF FUNDS.—Recipients of 17 SOAR Act grants that were originally intended for 18 use on particular projects to improve and expand the 19 quality of public schools in the District of Columbia 20 may divert or reprogram funds provided under such 21 grants to cover the cost of leasing or subleasing 22 available Federal real property to expand in-person 23 education at public schools of the District of Colum- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3418 IH bia during the public health emergency described in 1 section 2. 2 (b) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have an ef- 3 fect on the date that is 90 days after the date on which 4 the public health emergency declared under section 319 5 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with 6 respect to COVID–19 terminates. 7 SEC. 6. ALLOWING USE OF STATE AND LOCAL RELIEF 8 FUNDS FOR IN-PERSON EDUCATION. 9 (a) CORONAVIRUS STATE FISCAL RECOVERY 10 FUND.—Section 602(c)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 11 U.S.C. 802(c)(1)) is amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 13 end; 14 (2) in subparagraph (D) by striking the period 15 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(E) for reimbursements for costs ex- 18 pended by public, private, and charter elemen- 19 tary schools and secondary schools (as such 20 terms are defined in the LEARN Act of 2021) 21 associated with returning to an in-person edu- 22 cation (as such term is defined in such Act), in- 23 cluding leasing or subleasing Federal civilian 24 real property under such Act.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3418 IH (b) CORONAVIRUS LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY 1 FUND.—Section 603(c)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 2 U.S.C. 803(c)(1)) is amended— 3 (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 4 end; 5 (2) in subparagraph (D) by striking the period 6 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(E) for reimbursements for costs ex- 9 pended by public, private, and charter elemen- 10 tary schools and secondary schools (as such 11 terms are defined in the LEARN Act of 2021) 12 associated with returning to an in-person edu- 13 cation (as such term is defined in such Act), in- 14 cluding leasing or subleasing Federal civilian 15 real property under such Act.’’. 16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 17 this section shall apply to payments made after the date 18 of the enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 19 2021 (Public Law 117–2). 20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 21 In this Act: 22 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra- 23 tion’’ means the General Services Administration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3418 IH (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 1 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary 2 school’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec- 3 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 5 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 6 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 7 105 of title 5, United States Code. 8 (4) IN-PERSON EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘in-per- 9 son education’’ means education in which both stu- 10 dents and educators are physically present for the 11 majority of the schooling hours and actively pro- 12 viding educational services. 13 (5) PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF CO- 14 LUMBIA.—The term ‘‘public schools of the District 15 of Columbia’’ means District of Columbia public 16 schools and District of Columbia public charter 17 schools. 18 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 19 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 20 Act may be construed as preventing a property from being 21 considered for sale or disposal pursuant to the Federal As- 22 sets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (Public Law 114– 23 287). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3418.IH H3418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS