IDEA High Cost Pool Funding Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4673 To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to direct the Sec- retary to provide additional funds to States to establish and make dis- bursements from high cost funds. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 15, 2019 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to direct the Secretary to provide additional funds to States to establish and make disbursements from high cost funds. 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 ‘‘IDEA High Cost Pool 4 Funding Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4673 IH SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR HIGH COST FUNDS. 1 Section 611(e)(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities 2 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411(e)(3)) is amended by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(J) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR HIGH 5 COST FUNDS.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—From the funds 7 appropriated to carry out this subpara- 8 graph, the Secretary shall award grants to 9 each State (without regard to whether the 10 State has reserved funds under subpara- 11 graph (A)(i)), to carry out the activities 12 described in subparagraph (A)(i) in accord- 13 ance with the State plan published pursu- 14 ant to subparagraph (C) (as amended or 15 developed pursuant to clause (v) of this 16 subparagraph), and the other terms and 17 conditions of this paragraph with respect 18 to funds reserved under subparagraph 19 (A)(i), except that a State, to establish and 20 support a high cost fund, may not use 21 more than— 22 ‘‘(I) 5 percent of the amount of 23 a grant received under this subpara- 24 graph in the first year; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4673 IH ‘‘(II) 2 percent of such amount 1 in each subsequent year. 2 ‘‘(ii) GRANT AMOUNT.— 3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A grant 4 awarded to a State under this sub- 5 paragraph shall be in an amount 6 equal to 5 percent of the State’s allo- 7 cation under subsection (d) for the 8 fiscal year for which the grant is 9 awarded, except that no State shall 10 receive a grant amount that is less 11 than 5 percent of the State’s alloca- 12 tion under subsection (d) for fiscal 13 year 2010. 14 ‘‘(II) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If 15 the amounts appropriated for any fis- 16 cal year to carry out this subpara- 17 graph are insufficient to pay the full 18 amounts that all States are eligible to 19 receive under this subparagraph for 20 such year, then the Secretary shall 21 ratably reduce the payments to all 22 such States for such year. 23 ‘‘(iii) REALLOTMENT.—If a State does 24 not apply for a grant under this subpara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4673 IH graph for any fiscal year, or if the State 1 does not meet the requirements of this 2 subparagraph, the Secretary shall reallot 3 such amount to the remaining States in 4 accordance with this subparagraph. 5 ‘‘(iv) MATCHING FUNDS.—To receive 6 a grant under this subparagraph, a State 7 shall provide— 8 ‘‘(I) non-Federal matching funds 9 for the cost of the activities for which 10 the grant is awarded in an amount 11 that is not less than 25 percent of the 12 amount of the grant; or 13 ‘‘(II) an assurance to the Sec- 14 retary that the State will use an 15 amount of non-Federal funds that is 16 not less than 25 percent of the 17 amount of the grant to carry out ac- 18 tivities similar to the activities de- 19 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i) during 20 the grant period of the grant awarded 21 to the State. 22 ‘‘(v) STATE PLANS.—To receive a 23 grant under this subparagraph, a State 24 shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4673 IH ‘‘(I) in the case of a State that 1 has published a State plan pursuant 2 to subparagraph (C), amend the State 3 plan to include any information that 4 the Secretary may require for the 5 State to receive a grant under this 6 subparagraph; and 7 ‘‘(II) in the case of a State that 8 has not published a State plan pursu- 9 ant to subparagraph (C), develop and 10 publish a State plan pursuant to sub- 11 paragraph (C), which includes any in- 12 formation that the Secretary may re- 13 quire for the State to receive a grant 14 under this subparagraph. 15 ‘‘(vi) WAIVER.—A State desiring a 16 grant under this subparagraph to use in 17 accordance with clause (i), but requiring a 18 waiver of any provision of this subpara- 19 graph due to an aspect of State govern- 20 mental structure that is incompatible with 21 this subparagraph, may request such a 22 waiver as part of its State plan under sub- 23 paragraph (C). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4673 IH ‘‘(K) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Not later 1 than 1 year after the first grant is awarded 2 under subparagraph (J), and annually there- 3 after, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 4 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 5 Representatives and the Committee on Health, 6 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 7 a report on the effectiveness of disbursements 8 made from high cost funds for the most recent 9 fiscal year, which shall include— 10 ‘‘(i) the amount of grant funds award- 11 ed to each State under subparagraph (J); 12 ‘‘(ii) the number of States that re- 13 ceived a waiver pursuant to subparagraph 14 (J)(vi); 15 ‘‘(iii) an identification of each State 16 that did not receive a grant under sub- 17 paragraph (J), but made disbursements 18 from a high cost fund established under 19 subparagraph (A)(i) solely using the funds 20 the State reserved pursuant to subpara- 21 graph (A)(i); and 22 ‘‘(iv) an identification of each State 23 that did not receive a grant under sub- 24 paragraph (J), but made disbursements 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4673 IH from a high cost fund similar to a high 1 cost fund established under subparagraph 2 (A)(i) solely using non-Federal funds.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4673.IH H4673 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS