Emergency Support for STEM Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4516 To establish a Governor’s Emergency STEM Promotion Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a Governor’s Emergency STEM Promotion Fund, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Support 4 for STEM Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The COVID–19 pandemic has caused tre- 8 mendous repercussions within the kindergarten 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4516 IS through grade 12 education system of the United 1 States. 2 (2) It is imperative to support hands-on learn- 3 ing opportunities in science, technology, engineering, 4 and mathematics (referred to in this section as 5 ‘‘STEM’’) education through programs that— 6 (A) provide innovative experiences for stu- 7 dents; 8 (B) have strong track records of success; 9 and 10 (C) typically include nonprofit partnerships 11 among the schools, nonprofit organizations, and 12 private businesses. 13 (3) Due to the severe economic damage caused 14 by the COVID–19 pandemic to organizations offer- 15 ing STEM programs, these programs now face sig- 16 nificant funding challenges. 17 (4) The long-term effects of the COVID–19 18 pandemic will be felt for years to come without pub- 19 lic economic educational support to help these types 20 of STEM opportunities. 21 (5) Lack of investment in these critical pro- 22 grams will lead to limited innovative learning oppor- 23 tunities in the STEM fields, causing a drastic loss 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4516 IS of technical and professional skills training for this 1 generation of students. 2 SEC. 3. GOVERNOR’S EMERGENCY STEM PROMOTION 3 FUND. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 6 school’’, ‘‘high school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 7 ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec- 8 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 10 (2) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT PROGRAM.—The 11 term ‘‘eligible nonprofit program’’— 12 (A) means a nonprofit program serving 13 prekindergarten, elementary school, or sec- 14 ondary school students; and 15 (B) includes a program described in sub- 16 paragraph (A) that covers the continuum of 17 education from prekindergarten through high 18 school and is available in every State. 19 (3) ELIGIBLE PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘eli- 20 gible public school’’ means a public elementary 21 school or secondary school. 22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of Education. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4516 IS (5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 1 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 2 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 4 able under subsection (e), the Secretary shall make 5 Emergency STEM Promotion grants to the Gov- 6 ernor of each State with an approved application. 7 (2) TIMING.—The Secretary shall issue a notice 8 inviting applications not later than 30 days after the 9 date of enactment of this Act and shall award grants 10 by not later than 30 days after the issuance of the 11 notice. 12 (3) AMOUNT.—Each State with an approved 13 application shall receive a grant under paragraph (1) 14 in an amount that bears the same relation to the 15 amounts made available under subsection (e) as the 16 number of children aged 5 through 17 in the State 17 bears to the number of such children in all States 18 with approved applications. 19 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 21 under subsection (b)— 22 (A) shall use not less than 90 percent of 23 such grant funds to provide subgrants to eligi- 24 ble public schools or eligible nonprofit programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4516 IS to support hands-on learning opportunities in 1 STEM education, including via remote learning, 2 after-school activities, and innovative learning 3 opportunities such as robotics competitions; and 4 (B) may reserve— 5 (i) not more than one-half of 1 per- 6 cent for administrative costs; and 7 (ii) the remainder of any funds not 8 used in accordance with clause (i) or sub- 9 paragraph (A) for emergency needs, as de- 10 termined by the State educational agency. 11 (2) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding subgrants 12 under this subsection, a State shall ensure that the 13 majority of subgrant funds provided by the State are 14 to— 15 (A) eligible public schools that— 16 (i) are implementing comprehensive 17 support and improvement activities and 18 targeted support and improvement activi- 19 ties under section 1111(d) of the Elemen- 20 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 21 (20 U.S.C. 6311(d)); or 22 (ii) serve high percentages of students 23 who are eligible for a free or reduced price 24 lunch under the Richard B. Russell Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4516 IS tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 1 et seq.) (which, in the case of a high 2 school, may be calculated using comparable 3 data from the schools that feed into the 4 high school); or 5 (B) eligible nonprofit programs serving 6 students that attend eligible public schools de- 7 scribed in subparagraph (A). 8 (3) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible public 10 school or eligible nonprofit program receiving a 11 subgrant under this subsection shall provide, to- 12 ward the cost of the activities assisted under 13 the subgrant, an amount equal to 100 percent 14 of the amount of the subgrant funds. 15 (B) PAYMENT BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 16 AGENCY.—The matching funds required under 17 subparagraph (A) for an eligible public school 18 may be provided by the eligible public school or 19 by the local educational agency that serves such 20 school. 21 (d) REALLOCATION.—A State shall return to the Sec- 22 retary any funds received under this section that the State 23 does not award within 2 years of receiving such funds and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4516 IS the Secretary shall reallocate such funds to the remaining 1 States in accordance with subsection (b). 2 (e) AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 4 appropriated to carry out this section, and there are 5 appropriated, out of any amounts in the Treasury 6 not otherwise appropriated, $200,000,000 for fiscal 7 year 2020. 8 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available 9 under this subsection shall remain available until ex- 10 pended. 11 (3) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided 13 by this section are designated as an emergency 14 requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the 15 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 16 U.S.C. 933(g)). 17 (B) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the 18 Senate, this section is designated as an emer- 19 gency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) 20 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the con- 21 current resolution on the budget for fiscal year 22 2018. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Sep 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4516.IS S4516 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS