Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 266 To provide for the long-term improvement of public school facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. WARREN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide for the long-term improvement of public school facilities, and for other purposes. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 266 IS TITLE I—GRANTS FOR THE LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES Sec. 101. Purpose and reservation. Sec. 102. Allocation to States. Sec. 103. Need-based grants to qualified local educational agencies. Sec. 104. Annual report on grant program. Sec. 105. Authorization of Appropriations. TITLE II—SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS Sec. 201. Restoration of certain qualified tax credit bonds. Sec. 202. School infrastructure bonds. Sec. 203. Annual report on bond program. TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 301. Allowable uses of funds. Sec. 302. Prohibited uses. Sec. 303. Green Practices. Sec. 304. Use of American iron, steel, and manufactured products. Sec. 305. Comptroller general report. Sec. 306. Study and report physical condition of public schools. Sec. 307. Development of data standards. Sec. 308. Information clearinghouse. TITLE IV—IMPACT AID CONSTRUCTION Sec. 401. Temporary increase in funding for impact aid construction. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 3 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 4 mittees’’ means the Committee on Education and 5 Labor of the House of Representatives and the Com- 6 mittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of 7 the Senate. 8 (2) BUREAU-FUNDED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘Bu- 9 reau-funded school’’ has the meaning given that 10 term in section 1141 of the Education Amendments 11 of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021). 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 266 IS (3) COVERED FUNDS.—The term ‘‘covered 1 funds’’ means funds received— 2 (A) under title I of this Act; 3 (B) from a school infrastructure bond; or 4 (C) from a qualified zone academy bond 5 (as such term is defined in section 54E of the 6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as restored by 7 section 201)). 8 (4) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 9 school’’, ‘‘outlying area’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ 10 have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 11 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 13 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 14 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 15 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) 17 except that such term does not include a Bureau- 18 funded school. 19 (6) PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES.—The term 20 ‘‘public school facilities’’ means the facilities of a 21 public elementary school or a public secondary 22 school. 23 (7) QUALIFIED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 24 CY.—The term ‘‘qualified local educational agency’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 266 IS means a local educational agency that receives funds 1 under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec- 2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 3 seq.). 4 (8) SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE BOND.—The 5 term ‘‘school infrastructure bond’’ has the meaning 6 given such term in section 54BB of the Internal 7 Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by section 202). 8 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Education. 10 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 11 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 13 TITLE I—GRANTS FOR THE 14 LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENT 15 OF PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILI- 16 TIES 17 SEC. 101. PURPOSE AND RESERVATION. 18 (a) PURPOSE.—Funds made available under this title 19 shall be for the purpose of supporting long-term improve- 20 ments to public school facilities in accordance with this 21 Act. 22 (b) RESERVATION FOR OUTLYING AREAS AND BU- 23 REAU-FUNDED SCHOOLS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 266 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 1 2020 through 2029, the Secretary shall reserve, 2 from the amount appropriated to carry out this 3 title— 4 (A) one-half of 1 percent, to provide assist- 5 ance to the outlying areas; and 6 (B) one-half of 1 percent, for payments to 7 the Secretary of the Interior to provide assist- 8 ance to Bureau-funded schools. 9 (2) USE OF RESERVED FUNDS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Funds reserved under 11 paragraph (1) shall be used in accordance with 12 sections 301 through 304. 13 (B) SPECIAL RULES FOR BUREAU-FUNDED 14 SCHOOLS.— 15 (i) APPLICABILITY.—Sections 301 16 through 304 shall apply to a Bureau-fund- 17 ed school that receives assistance under 18 paragraph (1)(B) in the same manner that 19 such sections apply to a qualified local edu- 20 cational agency that receives covered 21 funds. The facilities of a Bureau-funded 22 school shall be treated as public school fa- 23 cilities for purposes of the application of 24 such sections. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 266 IS (ii) TREATMENT OF TRIBALLY OPER- 1 ATED SCHOOLS.—The Secretary of the In- 2 terior shall provide assistance to Bureau- 3 funded schools under paragraph (1)(B) 4 without regard to whether such schools are 5 operated by the Bureau of Indian Edu- 6 cation or by an Indian Tribe. In the case 7 of a Bureau-funded school that is a con- 8 tract or grant school (as that term is de- 9 fined in section 1141 of the Education 10 Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021)) 11 operated by an Indian Tribe, the Secretary 12 of the Interior shall provide assistance 13 under such paragraph to the Indian Tribe 14 concerned. 15 SEC. 102. ALLOCATION TO STATES. 16 (a) ALLOCATION TO STATES.— 17 (1) STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATION.—Of the 18 amount appropriated to carry out this title for each 19 fiscal year and not reserved under section 101(b), 20 each State that has a plan approved by the Sec- 21 retary under subsection (b) shall be allocated an 22 amount in proportion to the amount received by all 23 local educational agencies in the State under part A 24 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 266 IS cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the 1 previous fiscal year relative to the total such amount 2 received by all local educational agencies in every 3 State that has a plan approved by the Secretary 4 under subsection (b). 5 (2) STATE RESERVATION.—A State may reserve 6 not more than 1 percent of its allocation under para- 7 graph (1) to carry out its responsibilities under this 8 Act, which shall include— 9 (A) providing technical assistance to local 10 educational agencies, including by— 11 (i) identifying which State agencies 12 have programs, resources, and expertise 13 relevant to the activities supported by the 14 allocation under this section; and 15 (ii) coordinating the provision of tech- 16 nical assistance across such agencies; 17 (B) in accordance with the guidance issued 18 by the Secretary under section 307, developing 19 an online, publicly searchable database that 20 contains an inventory of the infrastructure of 21 all public school facilities in the State (including 22 the facilities of Bureau-funded schools, as ap- 23 propriate), including, with respect to each such 24 facility, an identification of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 266 IS (i) the information described in 1 clauses (i) through (vi) of subparagraph 2 (F); 3 (ii) the age (including an identifica- 4 tion of the date of any retrofits or recent 5 renovations) of— 6 (I) the facility; 7 (II) its roof; 8 (III) its lighting system; 9 (IV) its windows; 10 (V) its ceilings; 11 (VI) its plumbing; and 12 (VII) its heating, ventilation, and 13 air conditioning system; 14 (iii) fire safety inspection results; and 15 (iv) the proximity of the facilities to 16 toxic sites or the vulnerability of the facili- 17 ties to natural disasters, including the ex- 18 tent to which facilities that are vulnerable 19 to seismic natural disasters are seismically 20 retrofitted; 21 (C) updating the database developed under 22 subparagraph (B) not less frequently than once 23 every 2 years; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 266 IS (D) ensuring that the information in the 1 database developed under subparagraph (B)— 2 (i) is posted on a publicly accessible 3 State website; and 4 (ii) is regularly distributed to local 5 educational agencies and Tribal govern- 6 ments in the State; 7 (E) issuing and reviewing regulations to 8 ensure the health and safety of students and 9 staff during construction or renovation projects; 10 and 11 (F) issuing or reviewing regulations to en- 12 sure safe, healthy, and high-performing school 13 buildings, including regulations governing— 14 (i) indoor air quality and ventilation, 15 including exposure to carbon monoxide and 16 carbon dioxide; 17 (ii) mold, mildew, and moisture con- 18 trol; 19 (iii) the safety of drinking water at 20 the tap and water used for meal prepara- 21 tion, including regulations that— 22 (I) address the presence of lead 23 and other contaminants in such water; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 266 IS (II) require the regular testing of 1 the potability of water at the tap; 2 (iv) energy and water efficiency; 3 (v) excessive classroom noise due to 4 activities allowable under section 301; and 5 (vi) the levels of maintenance work, 6 operational spending, and capital invest- 7 ment needed to maintain the quality of 8 public school facilities; and 9 (G) creating a plan to reduce or eliminate 10 exposure to toxins and chemicals, including 11 mercury, radon, PCBs, lead, vapor intrusions, 12 and asbestos. 13 (b) STATE PLAN.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive an 15 allocation under this section, a State shall submit to 16 the Secretary a plan that— 17 (A) describes how the State will use the al- 18 location to make long-term improvements to 19 public school facilities; 20 (B) explains how the State will carry out 21 each of its responsibilities under subsection 22 (a)(2); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 11 •S 266 IS (C) explains how the State will make the 1 determinations under subsections (b) and (c) of 2 section 103; 3 (D) identifies how long, and at what levels, 4 the State will maintain fiscal effort for the ac- 5 tivities supported by the allocation after the 6 State no longer receives the allocation; and 7 (E) includes such other information as the 8 Secretary may require. 9 (2) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL.—The Sec- 10 retary shall have the authority to approve or dis- 11 approve a State plan submitted under paragraph 12 (1). 13 (c) CONDITIONS.—As a condition of receiving an allo- 14 cation under this section, a State shall agree to the fol- 15 lowing: 16 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The State shall 17 contribute, from non-Federal sources, an amount 18 equal to 10 percent of the amount of the allocation 19 received under this section to carry out the activities 20 supported by the allocation. 21 (2) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The State 22 shall provide an assurance to the Secretary that the 23 combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate 24 expenditures of the State with respect to the activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 12 •S 266 IS ties supported by the allocation under this section 1 for fiscal years beginning with the fiscal year for 2 which the allocation is received will be not less than 3 90 percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate 4 expenditures by the State for such purposes for the 5 year preceding the fiscal year for which the alloca- 6 tion is received. 7 (3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The State 8 shall use an allocation under this section only to 9 supplement the level of Federal, State, and local 10 public funds that would, in absence of such alloca- 11 tion, be made available for the activities supported 12 by the allocation, and not to supplant such funds. 13 SEC. 103. NEED-BASED GRANTS TO QUALIFIED LOCAL EDU- 14 CATIONAL AGENCIES. 15 (a) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 17 from the amounts allocated to a State under section 18 102(a) and contributed by the State under section 19 102(c)(1), the State shall award grants to qualified 20 local educational agencies, on a competitive basis, to 21 carry out the activities described in section 301(a). 22 (2) ALLOWANCE FOR DIGITAL LEARNING.—A 23 State may use up to 10 percent of the amount de- 24 scribed in paragraph (1) to make grants to qualified 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Feb 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S266.IS S266 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with BILLS 13 •S 266 IS local educational agencies carry out activities to im- 1 prove digital learning in accordance with section 2 301(b). 3 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 4 (1) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]