High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1637 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require States to designate public high schools as voter registration agencies, to direct such schools to conduct voter registration drives for students attending such schools, to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to reimburse such schools for the costs of conducting such voter registration drives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require States to designate public high schools as voter registration agencies, to direct such schools to conduct voter registration drives for students attending such schools, to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to reimburse such schools for the costs of con- ducting such voter registration drives, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1637.IH H1637 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1637 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High School Voter Em- 2 powerment Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS AS VOTER 4 REGISTRATION AGENCIES. 5 (a) REQUIRING DESIGNATION BY STATES.—Section 6 7(a)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 7 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)) is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 9 graph (A); 10 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub- 11 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 13 paragraph: 14 ‘‘(C) all public high schools (as defined in sec- 15 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 16 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 7801)) in the State.’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO OP- 18 TIONAL DESIGNATION OF OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOLS.— 19 Section 7(a)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20 20506(a)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘public 21 schools,’’ and inserting ‘‘public elementary schools (as de- 22 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 23 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7801)),’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1637.IH H1637 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1637 IH SEC. 3. REQUIRING SCHOOLS TO CONDUCT VOTER REG- 1 ISTRATION DRIVES FOR STUDENTS. 2 (a) VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.—Section 7 of the 3 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 4 20506) is amended by adding at the end the following new 5 subsection: 6 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.— 7 ‘‘(1) VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.—A voter 8 registration agency that is a public high school shall, 9 at least once during each academic year, conduct a 10 voter registration drive, and set as a goal for that 11 year the registration of all students in the school 12 who are— 13 ‘‘(A) enrolled in a class in American Gov- 14 ernment or Economics; 15 ‘‘(B) at least 17 years old as of April 10 16 of that year; and 17 ‘‘(C) are eligible to register to vote in elec- 18 tions for Federal office held in the State. 19 ‘‘(2) USE OF VOTING MACHINES FOR STUDENT 20 ELECTIONS.—At the request of a public high school 21 which is operating a high school voter registration 22 program under paragraph (1), the appropriate elec- 23 tion official of the State may enter into an agree- 24 ment under which the official provides the school 25 with voting machines and related equipment and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1637.IH H1637 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1637 IH supplies for use in a student council or similar elec- 1 tion held at the school, under such terms and condi- 2 tions as the school and official may determine.’’. 3 (b) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS TO COVER COSTS OF 4 VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES.— 5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec- 6 retary of Education (hereafter referred to as the 7 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish and operate a program 8 under which the Secretary shall make a payment 9 during a year to an eligible public high school to re- 10 imburse the school for the reasonable costs incurred 11 by the school in carrying out a voter registration 12 drive under section 7(e) of the National Voter Reg- 13 istration Act of 1993 (as added by subsection (a)) 14 during that year. 15 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A public high school is eligi- 16 ble to receive a payment under the program under 17 this subsection with respect to a voter registration 18 drive if the school submits to the Secretary, at such 19 time and in such form as the Secretary may require, 20 an application containing— 21 (A) a statement of the reasonable costs in- 22 curred by the school in carrying out the voter 23 registration drive, including the information 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1637.IH H1637 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1637 IH used by the school to determine the amount of 1 such costs; 2 (B) a description of the activities con- 3 ducted under the drive, including the number of 4 students registered; and 5 (C) such other information and assurances 6 as the Secretary may require. 7 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 There are authorized to be appropriated for pay- 9 ments under this subsection such sums as may be 10 necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 11 fiscal year. 12 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 13 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 14 take effect upon the expiration of the 90-day period which 15 begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1637.IH H1637 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS