Soda Ash Funding for Education Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8728 To require that royalties derived from the production of sodium compounds and related products are disbursed to the State in which production occurred and to the Secretary of Education for educational grants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2020 Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To require that royalties derived from the production of sodium compounds and related products are disbursed to the State in which production occurred and to the Secretary of Education for educational grants, 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 referred to as the ‘‘Soda Ash Fund- 4 ing for Education Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8728.IH H8728 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8728 IH SEC. 2. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 1 (a) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS FROM ROYALTIES ON SO- 2 DIUM COMPOUNDS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 3 of law, royalties collected on the quantity or gross value 4 of the output of sodium compounds and related products 5 (as such term is used in the Soda Ash Royalty Reduction 6 Act of 2006 (30 U.S.C. 262 note)) from Federal land shall 7 be paid into the Treasury of the United States. 8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Of funds deposited in the 9 Treasury under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas- 10 ury shall— 11 (1) disburse 50 percent to the State within 12 which such leased land is located; and 13 (2) deposit 50 percent in the Fund. 14 (c) SODA ASH EDUCATIONAL EQUALIZATION 15 FUND.— 16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 17 the Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Soda Ash 18 Education Equalization Fund’’, to be administered 19 by the Secretary of Education to provide resources 20 to local educational agencies (as such term is defined 21 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) impacted 23 by changes in sodium royalty rates or changes in 24 soda ash production levels. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8728.IH H8728 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8728 IH (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary of 1 Education shall use funds available in the Fund to 2 provide grants to local school districts that meet the 3 following conditions: 4 (A) The Secretary determines such school 5 has received not less than 50 percent of its an- 6 nual budget from payments attributable to so- 7 dium royalty payments for at least 2 of the pre- 8 vious 5 fiscal years. 9 (B) The Secretary determines that funding 10 for the school for the current fiscal year attrib- 11 utable to royalties on sodium compounds and 12 related products has fallen below the average 13 payment for the past 5 years, determined by 14 dropping the highest and lowest year from the 15 average. 16 (3) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary 17 of Education may not issue a grant to a school for 18 an amount in excess of the average calculated in 19 paragraph (2)(B). 20 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUND.—The Secretary of 21 the Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 22 as such Secretary determines appropriate in inter- 23 est-bearing obligations of the United States. The in- 24 terest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemp- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8728.IH H8728 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8728 IH tion of, any obligation held in the Fund shall be 1 credited to and form a part of the Fund. 2 (5) FUND.—In this section, the term ‘‘Fund’’ 3 means the Soda Ash Education Equalization Fund 4 established in paragraph (1). 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8728.IH H8728 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS