# Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act: What You Need to Know

This bill creates a new federal funding program to help certain school districts fix, renovate, or build school buildings. The money specifically goes to school districts that qualify for something called "Impact Aid"—a federal program that helps districts where the federal government owns a lot of land (like military bases, Native American reservations, or national parks) that can't be taxed to fund schools.

The core problem the bill addresses is real and significant. Many of these federally impacted school districts have aging, deteriorating buildings that pose health and safety risks to students and teachers. According to surveys mentioned in the bill, about 65 percent of these districts say their facilities are in fair to poor condition, and 26 percent have buildings over 80 years old. The challenge is that these districts often can't raise money the normal way—through property taxes—because so much of their land is federally owned and therefore not taxable. The bill proposes $250 million per year for four years to help fix this problem.

Here's how the money would work: Schools in the worst condition get priority. The federal government would pay the full cost for districts that literally cannot issue bonds (borrow money) at all. For other districts with some financial capacity, the federal government would cover 75 to 90 percent of project costs, with the district paying 10 to 25 percent depending on how much federal land is in their area. The money can be used for construction, renovation, or repairs of school buildings, and schools can count volunteer labor and donated materials toward their share of costs. The program would run for four years, after which it would expire unless Congress extends it.

Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act

Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership ActThis bill authorizes certain construction grants under the Impact Aid program for four fiscal years. The Impact Aid program provides funding to local educational agencies (LEAs) that have lost property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal property or to those that have experienced increased expenditures due to enrollment of federally connected children (e.g., children living on Indian lands or military bases).Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Education (ED), based on applications submitted by LEAs that are eligible to receive payments under the Impact Aid program, to establish a priority listing for grant awards based on facility condition.Further, ED must comply with specified requirements when making grant payments under this bill. For example, ED must provide a grant in full to&nbsp;an LEA that (1) has a facility in violation of a building code that represents a health hazard and which fails to meet other standards, and (2) has no capacity to issue bonds. ED must also require an LEA that has the capacity to issue bonds to pay a percentage of the total cost of the project supported with grant funds.ED must annually report to Congress on the projects carried out under this bill and make the report publicly available.