[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9618-S9619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE IMPACT AID TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS OF 1996
______
KASSEBAUM (AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 5155
Mr. STEVENS (for Mrs. Kassebaum, for herself, Mr. Pressler, Mr.
D'Amato, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Simpson, and Mrs. Frahm)
proposed an amendment to the bill (H.R. 3269) to amend the Impact Aid
program to provide for a hold-harmless with respect to amounts for
payments relating to the Federal acquisition of real property and for
other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. HOLD-HARMLESS AMOUNTS FOR PAYMENTS RELATING TO
FEDERAL ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.
Section 8002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsections:
``(g) Former Districts.--
``(1) In general.--Where the school district of any local
educational agency described in paragraph (2) is formed at
any time after 1938 by the consolidation of two or more
former school districts, such agency may elect (at any time
such agency files an application under section 8005) for any
fiscal year after fiscal year 1994 to have (A) the
eligibility of such local educational agency, and (B) the
amount which such agency shall be eligible to receive,
determined under this section only with respect to such of
the former school districts comprising such consolidated
school districts as such agency shall designate in such
election.
``(2) Eligible local educational agencies.--A local
educational agency referred to in paragraph (1) is any local
educational agency that, for fiscal year 1994 or any
preceding fiscal year, applied for and was determined
eligible under section 2(c) of the Act of September 30, 1950
(Public Law 874, 81st Congress) as such section was in effect
for such fiscal year.
``(h) Hold-Harmless Amounts.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2)(A),
the total amount that the Secretary shall pay under
subsection (b) to a local educational agency that is
otherwise eligible for a payment under this section--
``(A) for fiscal year 1995 shall not be less than 85
percent of the amount such agency received for fiscal year
1994 under section 2 of the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public
Law 874, 81st Congress) as such section was in effect on
September 30, 1994; or
``(B) for fiscal year 1996 shall not be less than 85
percent of the amount such agency received for fiscal year
1995 under subsection (b).
``(2) Ratable reductions.--(A)(i) If necessary in order to
make payments to local educational agencies in accordance
with paragraph (1) for any fiscal year, the Secretary first
shall ratably reduce payments under subsection (b) for such
year to local educational agencies that do not receive a
payment under this subsection for such year.
``(ii) If additional funds become available for making
payments under subsection (b) for such year, then payments
that were reduced under clause (i) shall be increased on the
same basis as such payments were reduced.
``(B)(i) If the sums made available under this title for
any fiscal year are insufficient to pay the full amounts that
all local educational agencies in all States are eligible to
receive under paragraph (1) after the application of
subparagraph (A) for such year, then the Secretary shall
ratably reduce payments under paragraph (1) to all such
agencies for such year.
``(ii) If additional funds become available for making
payments under paragraph (1) for such fiscal year, then
payments that were reduced under clause (i) shall be
increased on the same basis as such payments were reduced.''.
SEC. 2. APPLICATIONS FOR INCREASED PAYMENTS.
(a) Payments.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
(1) the Bonesteel-Fairfax School District Number 26-5,
South Dakota, and the Wagner Community School District Number
11-4, South Dakota, shall be eligible to apply for payment
for fiscal year 1994 under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of
September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) (as such
section was in effect on September 30, 1994); and
(2) the Secretary of Education shall use a subgroup of 10
or more generally comparable local educational agencies for
the purpose of calculating a payment described in paragraph
(1) for a local educational agency described in such
paragraph.
(b) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a
payment described in subsection (a), a school district
described in such subsection shall apply for such payment
within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require a local educational agency that received
a payment under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September
30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) (as such section was
in effect on September 30, 1994) for fiscal year 1994 to
return such payment or a portion of such payment to the
Federal Government.
SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE FEDERALLY CONNECTED CHILDREN
RESIDING ON MILITARY INSTALLATION HOUSING
UNDERGOING RENOVATION.
(a) In General.--Section 8003(a) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) Military installation housing undergoing
renovation.--For purposes of computing the amount of a
payment for a local educational agency for children described
in paragraph (1)(D)(i), the Secretary shall consider such
children to be children described in paragraph (1)(B) if the
Secretary determines, on the basis of a certification
provided to the Secretary by a designated representative of
the Secretary of Defense, that such children would have
resided in housing on Federal property in accordance with
paragraph (1)(B) except that such housing was undergoing
renovation on the date for which the Secretary determines the
number of children under paragraph (1).''.
(b) Effective Date.--Paragraph (4) of section 8003(a) of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added
by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal years
after fiscal year 1995.
SEC. 4. COMPUTATION OF PAYMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE FEDERALLY
CONNECTED CHILDREN IN STATES WITH ONLY ONE
LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.
(a) In General.--Section 8003(b) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(b)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) States with only one local educational agency.--
``(A) In general.--In any of the 50 States of the United
States in which there is only one local educational agency,
the Secretary shall, for purposes of paragraphs (1)(B),
(1)(C), and (2) of this subsection, and subsection (e),
consider each administrative school district in the State to
be a separate local educational agency.
``(B) Computation of maximum amount of basic support
payment and threshold payment.--In computing the maximum
payment amount under paragraph (1)(C) and the learning
opportunity threshold payment under paragraph (2)(B) for an
administrative school district described in subparagraph
(A)--
``(i) the Secretary shall first determine the maximum
payment amount and the total current expenditures for the
State as a whole; and
``(ii) the Secretary shall then--
``(I) proportionately allocate such maximum payment amount
among the administrative school districts on the basis of the
respective weighted student units of such districts; and
``(II) proportionately allocate such total current
expenditures among the administrative school districts on the
basis of the respective number of students in average daily
attendance at such districts.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Paragraph (3) of section 8003(b) of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added
by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal years
after fiscal year 1994.
SEC. 5. DATA AND DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE FUNDS.
(a) Data.--Paragraph (4) of section 8003(f) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7703(f)) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by striking ``Current year'';
(2) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
``(A) shall use student, revenue, and tax data from the
second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the
local educational agency is applying for assistance under
this subsection;''; and
(3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``such year'' and
inserting ``the fiscal year for which the local educational
agency is applying for assistance under this subsection''.
(b) Determination of Available Funds.--Paragraph (3) of
section 8003(f) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(f)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subclause (I) of subparagraph
(A)(iii), by inserting ``, except
[[Page S9619]]
as provided in subparagraph (C),'' after ``but''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Determination of available funds.--When determining
the amount of funds available to the local educational agency
for current expenditures for purposes of subparagraph
(A)(iii) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall include, with
respect to the local educational agency's opening cash
balance for such fiscal year, the portion of such balance
that is the greater of--
``(i) the amount that exceeds the maximum amount of funds
for current expenditures that the local educational agency
was allowed by State law to carry over from the prior fiscal
year, if State restrictions on such amounts were applied
uniformly to all local educational agencies in the State; or
``(ii) the amount that exceeds 30 percent of the local
educational agency's operating costs for the prior fiscal
year.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a)
and (b) shall apply with respect to fiscal years after fiscal
year 1996.
SEC. 6. PAYMENTS RELATING TO FEDERAL PROPERTY.
Section 8002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7702) (as amended by section 1) is further
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new
subsection:
``(i) Priority Payments.--Notwithstanding subsection
(b)(1)(B), and for any fiscal year beginning with fiscal year
1997 for which the amount appropriated to carry out this
section exceeds the amount so appropriated for fiscal year
1996, the Secretary shall first use such excess amount to
increase the payment that would otherwise be made under this
section to not more than 50 percent of the maximum amount
determined under subsection (b) for any local educational
agency that--
``(1) received a payment under this section for fiscal year
1996;
``(2) serves a school district that contains all or a
portion of a United States military academy;
``(3) serves a school district in which the local tax
assessor has certified that at least 60 percent of the real
property is federally owned; and
``(4) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary
that such agency's per-pupil revenue derived from local
sources for current expenditures is not less than that
revenue for the preceding fiscal year.''.
SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF IMPACT AID PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education shall treat any
State as having met the requirements of section 5(d)(2)(A) of
the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress)
for fiscal year 1991 (as such section was in effect for such
fiscal year), and as not having met those requirements for
each of the fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994 (as such
section was in effect for fiscal year 1992, 1993, and 1994,
respectively), if--
(1) the State's program of State aid was not certified by
the Secretary under section 5(d)(2)(C)(i) of the Act of
September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for any
fiscal year prior to fiscal year 1991;
(2) the State submitted timely notice under that section of
the State's intention to seek that certification for fiscal
year 1991;
(3) the Secretary determined that the State did not meet
the requirements of section 5(d)(2)(A) of such Act for fiscal
year 1991; and
(4) the State made a payment to each local educational
agency in the State (other than a local educational agency
that received a payment under section 3(d)(2)(B) of such Act
for fiscal year 1991) in an amount equal to the difference
between the amount such agency received under such Act for
fiscal year 1991 and the amount such agency would have
received under such Act for fiscal year 1991 if payments
under such Act had not been taken into consideration in
awarding State aid to such agencies for fiscal year 1991.
(b) Repayment Not Required.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, any local educational agency in a State
that meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (4) of
subsection (a) and that received funds under section
3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874,
81st Congress) for fiscal year 1991 (as such section was in
effect for such fiscal year) shall not, by virtue of
subsection (a), be required to repay those funds to the
Secretary of Education.
SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR
THE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY SERVING THE NORTH
HANOVER TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NEW JERSEY,
UNDER PUBLIC LAW 874, 81ST CONGRESS.
The Secretary of Education shall not consider any funds
that the Secretary of Education determines the local
educational agency serving the North Hanover Township Public
Schools, New Jersey, has designated for a future liability
under an early retirement incentive program as funds
available to such local educational agency for purposes of
determining the eligibility of such local educational agency
for a payment for fiscal year 1994, or the amount of any such
payment, under section 3(d)(2)(B) of the Act of September 30,
1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress), as such section was in
effect for such fiscal year.
SEC. 9. CORRECTED LOCAL CONTRIBUTION RATE.
(a) Computation.--The Secretary of Education shall compute
a payment for a local educational agency under the Act of
September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for each
of the fiscal years 1991 through 1994 (as such Act was in
effect for each of those fiscal years, as the case may be)
using a corrected local contribution rate based on generally
comparable school districts, if--
(1) an incorrect local contribution rate was submitted to
the Secretary of Education by the State in which such agency
is located, and the incorrect local contribution rate was
verified as correct by the Secretary of Education; and
(2) the corrected local contribution rate is subject to
review by the Secretary of Education.
(b) Payment.--Using funds appropriated under the Act of
September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) for fiscal
years 1991 through 1994 that remain available for obligation
(if any), the Secretary of Education shall make payments
based on the computations described in subsection (a) to the
local educational agency for such fiscal years.
SEC. 10. STATE EQUALIZATION PLANS.
Subparagraph (A) of section 8009(b)(2) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7709(b)(2)) is
amended by striking ``more than'' and all that follows
through the period and inserting ``more than 25 percent.''.
____________________